An interagency criminal task force investigating former lobbyist Jack Abramoff has subpoenaed a Republican group founded by Interior Secretary Gale Norton and now run by her former aides, sources with knowledge of the investigation say.

The subpoena was issued to the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy (CREA), a nonprofit group created in 1997 by Norton and Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, and long denounced by environmental organizations as a front group for industry interests.

[...]

CREA was one of several groups that received contributions from tribes represented by Abramoff. The Coushatta tribe of Louisiana gave $50,000 in 2001 and $100,000 in 2002, according to published reports. The Texas Tigua gave $25,000 in 2002.

Lobbyists with knowledge of Abramoff’s dealings with CREA said that the tribes did not give to CREA in an effort to support its environmental mission. Rather, they said Abramoff directed donations to CREA in return for the help of Federici, CREA’s president and formerly an aide to Norton during her 1996 Senate bid, in the tribes’ lobbying of the Interior Department.

Federici contacted top officials in the Interior Department, including former Deputy Secretary Steve Griles, on behalf of several of Abramoff’s tribes, at times drawing on one-page talking-points memos provided by Abramoff, the lobbyists said.

“It was a you-scratch-my-back, I’ll-scratch-yours situation,” one source with knowledge of the arrangement said. “CREA was seen as being close to Interior.” According to IRS filings, the manager of Norton’s Senate race, former Colorado state representative Jeanne Adkins, is CREA’s treasurer.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 9:42 PM | | Basie! Home

Emanuel’s higher vulnerability standards also indicate that the DCCC, under his direction, will implement a more calibrated strategy toward channeling member-to-member donations and will not ask lawmakers to part with campaign cash simply to pad skittish incumbents’ margins of victory.

The DCCC declined to confirm the names on the list, but numerous sources throughout the caucus, including aides for lawmakers who have been told of their Frontline status, said that Reps. Melissa Bean (Ill.), Leonard Boswell (Iowa), Chet Edwards (Texas), Stephanie Herseth (S.D.), Brian Higgins (N.Y.), Jim Matheson (Utah), Charlie Melancon (La.), Dennis Moore (Kan.), and John Salazar (Colo.) were informed last week that they will receive direct donations from their fellow incumbents, in addition to other campaign assistance.

[...]

This year’s shortened list could still grow by two or three lawmakers, several caucus sources said, pending redistricting in Georgia, where two marginal Democrats — freshman Rep. John Barrow and second-term Rep. Jim Marshall — will likely see their districts become more Republican.

Reps. Marshall, Tim Bishop (N.Y.), Lincoln Davis (Tenn.), Tim Holden (Pa.), Darleen Hooley (Ore.), Paul Kanjorksi (Pa.), Rick Larsen (Wash.), Mike Michaud (Maine) and Earl Pomeroy (N.D.) received the Frontline designation last cycle but were not included on Emanuel’s initial list. It was unclear if last cycle’s beneficiaries had been formally notified that they would not be included in this year’s program.

The pared-down list also reflects the Democrats’ confidence that several of their members who had been considered vulnerable are in fact safely ensconced in their districts, even if some of them have failed to throttle past the 55 percent ceiling. In previous cycles, the 55 percent high-water mark almost always guaranteed that an incumbent House Democrat would receive a crush of contributions from the chamber’s safer members.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 9:24 PM | | Basie! Home

Republicans in the Georgia Legislature have reached consensus on new Congressional boundaries, moving a proposed map forward that would shore up Rep. Phil Gingrey's (R) swing district and potentially complicate the re-election efforts of Democratic Reps. John Barrow and Jim Marshall.

The state House and Senate redistricting committees passed the same version of a new Congressional map Friday, bringing an end to a week of behind-the-scenes wrangling over how to reconcile the chambers' two competing plans.

[...]

State Democrats privately expressed relief after seeing the compromise map Friday, as they admitted that the redrawing of lines could have hit them much harder politically.

"It could be worse," said a Georgia Democratic operative. "My guess is if everybody ran for re-election, we'd end up with the exact same delegation we've got right now."

Still, Democrats are likely to mount legal challenges if the new lines are approved.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 6:44 PM | | Basie! Home

A liberal interest group began running television ads Monday criticizing Rep. Jim McCrery of Louisiana, House Republicans' self-described "point man" on a Social Security overhaul, while House Democrats released a report that they said documents the use of the Social Security Administration to promote President Bush's proposal for the program. A group of Senate Democrats, meanwhile, planned a news conference tomorrow to "share the community reaction" to the proposal voiced over the recess.

The moves indicate that Democrats and their allies plan to keep up a steady pressure on Republicans, who are returning to the Capitol from a recess during which they heard much criticism of Bush's plan from their constituents and little support. The president, meanwhile, plans to return to the road Friday to sell his proposal for personal investment accounts created through a diversion of payroll taxes.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 11:07 AM | | Basie! Home

This is how a top Republican lawmaker sums up President Bush’s attitude toward Congress: “Come let us reason together — and do it my way.” He meant to be critical, but the observation also shows how Bush gets things done — in Congress, and in the world at large.

[...]

[H]is “my way or the highway” leadership style is wearing thin for the second term, especially among conservative Republicans. On Social Security, budget deficits and immigration policy, many could publicly break ranks with him.

[...]

Some Republicans who are friendly to Bush’s [Social Security] plan, but not to the idea of making wealthier taxpayers contribute more, now privately hope it goes away without a vote. They fear that the president will go too far to win the Democratic votes he’ll need to thwart a Senate filibuster.

“If we get investment accounts by increasing taxes on our base voters, forget about it,” one GOP staffer said.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 9:26 AM | | Basie! Home

A Republican congressman will try to repeal President Bush's policy on embryonic stem-cell research when the House Energy and Commerce committee considers a bill to reauthorize the National Institutes of Health budget.

Rep. Charles Bass, New Hampshire Republican, will offer a proposal to repeal the policy Mr. Bush outlined in an August 2001 speech.

[...]

Supporters of the bill say embryonic stem-cell research holds the key to breakthrough cures and that the government should invest as much as possible in it. Their effort to roll back Mr. Bush's policy appears to have momentum, but conservative forces are gearing up to fight it.

"We will be up on the Hill stopping Mr. Bass' bill," said Connie Mackey, vice president for governmental relations at the Family Research Council. "We are preparing what we can to stop him in that effort."

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 7:55 AM | | Basie! Home

"We've had more mudslides than the Bush twins on spring break."

-- Bill Maher, on the weather in California, on HBO's Real Time

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 7:32 AM | | Basie! Home

"He's not as easy to watch as [Peter] Jennings or [Tom] Brokaw."

-- Mike Wallace, of 60 Minutes fame, on Dan Rather

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 7:29 AM | | Basie! Home

A suicide bomber detonated a car near police recruits and a crowded market south of Baghdad Monday, killing 115 people and wounding 148 in the single bloodiest attack in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

The bomber blew the car up next to a line of recruits waiting at a health center to take an eye test so they could join the Iraqi police force in the town of Hilla, 100 km (62 miles) south of the capital, witnesses said.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 2:40 AM | | Basie! Home

The same survey found the President's job approval rating falling to 46% after hovering around 49% to 50% since the November election.

[...]

Pollster John Zogby: "The President has had wonderful opportunities in the past four months to build a majority coalition, but he has not done so. Even with elections in Iraq and democracy spreading in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Palestine—all consistent with the President's goals in his inaugural—the President's numbers have plummeted.

"The good news for Mr. Bush is that the Democrats have no majority coalition either. Even though they receive good marks for healthcare and jobs, where is their alternative plan? They even outscore the President on foreign policy. What foreign policy? We are right back where we have been for the past two years: an evenly-divided nation and neither side hugging the center to get a majority. This isn't gridlock and stalemate, this is the politics of checkmate. The only winners in this poll are the third parties—who would get more votes today than on November 2.

"As for the War in Iraq, our polling just before the war in March 2003 showed support would plummet with the loss of hundreds of American lives and thousands of Iraqi civilian casualties."

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 10:13 PM | | Basie! Home

A civil trial scheduled to open here on Monday involving allegations of illegal campaign contributions to Republican members of the Texas House is likely to attract almost as much attention in the halls of Congress as it will on the floor of the State Legislature.

The reason is the House majority leader, Tom DeLay, the Texas Republican who is among the most powerful men on Capitol Hill and his party's most potent fund-raiser in Congress. While not named as a defendant in the civil trial or placed on the witness list, Mr. DeLay is still likely to find himself a focus of attention in the Travis County courthouse, with Congressional Democrats looking for any sign that his legal troubles back home could be widening.

[...]

The trial in Travis County, which includes most of the state capital, Austin, was prompted by a lawsuit brought by defeated Democratic candidates who charged that political operatives of Mr. DeLay used illegal fund-raising tactics to engineer a Republican takeover of the Legislature. The takeover benefited Mr. DeLay and his colleagues in Washington by enabling Texas Republicans to redraw Congressional districts, solidifying Republican control of the House.

Two of Mr. DeLay's major political operatives in Washington and another political ally in Texas were indicted last year in the grand jury investigation, accused of participating in what local prosecutors described as a scheme to make illegal corporate donations to Republican candidates for the Legislature.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 8:33 PM | | Basie! Home

The property-rights law, which was approved overwhelmingly by voters last fall and is known as Measure 37, is on the brink of wrecking Oregon's best-in-the-nation record of reining in sprawl, according to state officials and national planning experts. They say the new law illustrates a nationwide paradox in public opinion: While voters tend to favor protection of farmland and open space, they vote down these protections if they perceive them as restrictions on personal rights.

[...]

Measure 37 was sold to voters last year as a matter of fairness. On ubiquitous radio ads, the frail, woebegone voice of Dorothy English, who bought land in 1953, explained how land-use laws had blocked her from dividing up her 40 acres for her children. "I'm 91 years old, my husband is dead and I don't know how much longer I can fight," she said. The ballot measure won with 61 percent of the vote.

State financial records, though, show that small family farmers contributed virtually nothing to the Family Farm Preservation political action committee that bankrolled Measure 37. Most of the money came from timber companies and real estate interests that stand to profit if, as many here expect, large tracts of forests and farmland are unlocked for development.

This mirrors a national pattern, according to Jacobs, at the University of Wisconsin. He says that property rights campaigns are often sold to voters as compensation for struggling small landholders, while the support money comes from large companies seeking ways around regulations that limit resource extraction and property development.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 7:45 PM | | Basie! Home

A newly-released poll for National Public Radio gives Democratic congressional candidates an early lead in the 2006 congressional campaign. The poll, conducted by Public Opinion Strategies and Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research 2/15-17 indicated that 42 percent of repondents would vote for the Democratic candidate and 36 percent would vote for the Republican candidate in their district, "if the election for Congress were held today."

The 6 point Democratic advantage was in line with a GQRR poll conducted in January that gave the Dems a 5 point advantage in '06. A December Ipsos-Public Affairs poll gave the Dems a 7 point advantage in response to the question "And if the election for congress were held today, would you want to see the Republicans or Democrats win control of Congress?"

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 5:48 PM | | Basie! Home

Gov. Ted Kulongoski is planning on running for a second term, a key adviser, Peter Bragdon, said.

There have been rumors that the Democrat might choose against running for re-election in 2006 because he has not said with certainty that he will. But all the signs point to Kulongoski as a candidate.

He has formed a political committee called Kulongoski for Governor 2006 that's raising money for a campaign.

It's overseen by Bragdon, who was Kulongoski's chief of staff until mid-2004.

Bragdon said Kulongoski was making re-election plans as early as last summer, when Bragdon left the governor's office to return to private business.

"When I walked out the door, he asked me to take the lead in pulling together his operation" for a campaign, Bragdon said.

Kulongoski has recruited a campaign manager -- Paige Richardson, director of John Kerry's presidential campaign in Oregon last year. She managed the campaign of Bev Stein, who ran for governor against Kulongoski in the 2002 Democratic primary.

Kulongoski has not yet said whether he's going to run.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 11:47 AM | | Basie! Home

"Republicans at their town halls are getting treated like off-pitch singers on the Gong Show and the Democrats should cut a phase-out deal that gives the president what until a couple months ago was supposed to be all that he wanted (i.e., 2 percent of payroll)?"

-- Joshua Micah Marshall of Talking Points Memo, on the battle over Social Security

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 11:29 AM | | Basie! Home

Mr. Bush had long been intrigued by the idea of allowing workers to put part of their Social Security taxes into stocks and bonds. One Tuesday in the summer of 1978, in the heat of his unsuccessful race for a House seat from West Texas, Mr. Bush went to Midland Country Club to give a campaign speech to local real estate agents and discussed the issue in terms not much different from those he uses now.

Social Security "will be bust in 10 years unless there are some changes," he said, according to an account published the next day in The Midland Reporter-Telegram. "The ideal solution would be for Social Security to be made sound and people given the chance to invest the money the way they feel."

Two decades later, Mr. Bush's desire to change Social Security intersected with the promotion of private accounts by well-financed interest groups and conservative research organizations, which viewed the concept as innovative if ideologically explosive. What was once a fringe proposal has been propelled to the forefront of the national agenda in one of the biggest gambles of Mr. Bush's political career, and in one of the most concerted challenges since the New Deal to liberal assumptions about the relationship of individuals, the government and the market.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 8:33 PM | | Basie! Home

Alarmed by soaring Medicaid costs, the nation's governors say they are enchanted with some of President Bush's proposals to restructure the program, but they adamantly oppose budget cuts sought by the White House and Republican leaders of Congress.

[...]

Republican governors, like Democrats, reject President Bush's proposals to cut back federal contributions to Medicaid, which is financed jointly by the federal government and the states, at a cost exceeding $300 billion a year.

"Simply cutting the Medicaid budget is unacceptable," said Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, a Republican who is vice chairman of the governors association. [emphasis added]

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 8:25 PM | | Basie! Home

Republicans

Arnold Schwarzenegger (Calif): Needs constitutional amendment -- quickly.

Mitt Romney (Mass.): Prettier than John Edwards.

George E. Pataki (N.Y.) : He'll have to outfox Rudy.

Jeb Bush (Fla.): Many hope he'll break his promise not to run.

Haley Barbour (Miss.): Deep ties to Washington steakhouse of dubious value.

Mike Huckabee (Ark.): Recent weight loss increases speculation.

Mark Sanford (S.C.): Can't run if his friend John McCain does.

Bill Owens (Colo.): Embarrassed by Democratic victories in his state in '04.

Democrats

Tom Vilsack (Iowa): Early favorite to win the Iowa caucuses.

Mark R. Warner (Va.): A southern Democrat.

Phil Bredesen (Tenn.): Could do better in his state than Al Gore did.

Bill Richardson (N.M.): Dogged by his Energy Department tenure.

Jennifer M. Granholm (Mich.): Waiting for the Schwarzenegger amendment to pass.

Janet Napolitano (Ariz.): Her home state may be too red for Democrats to win.

Rod Blagojevich (Ill.): His home state may be too blue to matter.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 8:13 PM | | Basie! Home

Oregon lawmakers basked in waves of welcome news Friday.

First, a new revenue estimate promised $202 million more for the state budget. And they dodged a $113 million bullet when the Oregon Supreme Court ruled that the Legislature's decision four years ago to keep a portion of the income-tax kicker rebate was legal.

"All of a sudden, we have more money on the table than we ever dreamed of," said Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem. "I can at last hope again."

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 7:59 PM | | Basie! Home

A major oil fire raged Saturday after insurgents blew up a pipeline in the north of the country. The family of an anchorwoman for a U.S.-funded state television station — a mother of four who was repeatedly shot in the head — found her body dumped on a street in the northern city of Mosul.

Insurgents, meanwhile, killed two civilians in a roadside bombing west of Baghdad, a suicide car bomber killed an Iraqi national guardsman and injured 7 people southwest of the capital and the U.S. military announced the death Friday an American soldier killed in a massive security sweep in the Sunni Triangle.

As part of the offensive, residents in Ramadi, the Sunni-dominated city 70 miles west of Baghdad, reported clashes between insurgents and American forces, but the military provided no details. U.S. troops have been conducting an offensive in the region for nearly a week.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 5:02 PM | | Basie! Home

"The Social Security trust fund really does exist."

-- David Espo, Special Correspondent to the AP covering Social Security.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 11:02 AM | | Basie! Home

The Bush administration cites public safety in trying to block admission of cheaper prescription drugs from Canada, but has agreed to expand imports of Canadian beef and cattle despite cases of mad cow disease, Montana's Democratic governor complained Saturday.

"President Bush was recently here in Montana and we had just one question for him," Gov. Brian Schweitzer said in his party's weekly radio address. "Why allow bad beef to enter the U.S. from Canada and not allow safe medicine?"

Schweitzer, who was elected in November as the state's first Democratic governor in 16 years, has been a staunch proponent of allowing drug imports from Canada, saying they could dramatically cut costs for senior citizens and others on fixed incomes.

[...]

During an earlier, unsuccessful campaign for a Senate seat, Schweitzer became known for chartering buses to take older people to Canada to buy their prescription drugs.

He said he often gave those on board clipboards and asked them to make note of the number of Canadian trucks headed into the United States carrying cattle, hogs and lumber.

"Yet prescription drugs made in the U.S., shipped to Canada, aren't allowed back across the border. This makes no sense," Schweitzer said.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 10:57 AM | | Basie! Home

FOX NEWS SUNDAY: Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.); Cardinal Francis George of Chicago; and Ray Flynn, former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican.

THIS WEEK (ABC): Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-Calif.) and Democratic strategist Donna Brazile.

FACE THE NATION (CBS): Sens. John E. Sununu (R-N.H.) and Jon S. Corzine (D-N.J.); and former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski.

MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Sens. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) and Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.).

LATE EDITION (CNN): Sens. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.); Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.); German Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger; French Ambassador Jean-David Levitte; British Ambassador David Manning; Brzezinski; and former defense secretary William S. Cohen.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 8:41 PM | | Basie! Home

The Federal Communications Commission, in an abrupt about-face, has decided to reconsider a staff decision that allowed a prominent Oklahoma politician convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice to sell a group of radio stations, officials said on Friday.

The decision to approve the sale was considered by some media experts to be a significant deregulation of the broadcast ownership rules, because the agency has long required the forfeiture of radio licenses to the commission by those who fail a character test. The character test, which requires truthfulness in dealing with the government, is an integral part of the media rules, because owners of radio licenses hold a public trust and are obliged to act in "the public interest."

The commission had never considered a case involving a conviction of perjury before a federal agency, according to officials.

But the commission has revoked licenses for a variety of other crimes, from sexual abuse of a minor to fraud to dealing in illegal narcotics. The character guidelines also make clear that truthfulness is a central element of the rules.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 8:33 PM | | Basie! Home

A majority of Americans now say they believe U.S. troops will have to stay in Iraq for at least two more years, compared with 44 percent of people who felt that way last summer, a poll released Thursday finds.

The Jan. 30 elections in Iraq appear to have improved perceptions in the United States about the possibility of a stable Iraq, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. But that has not convinced the public that U.S. troops are coming home any sooner.

The poll found that 54 percent of those surveyed think U.S. troops will have to stay in Iraq for two more years, while 22 percent put the time at longer than five years.

[...]

The poll found that President Bush’s overall approval rate was 46 percent, compared with 50 percent in January. Bush’s approval rate on Iraq was 40 percent, compared with 45 percent in January.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 5:20 PM | | Basie! Home

A suicide bomber blew himself up among Israelis waiting outside a nightclub near Tel Aviv's beachfront promenade just before midnight Friday, killing several people, wounding dozens and shattering an unofficial Mideast truce.

The area was crowded with young Israelis. About 20 to 30 people were waiting to get into the "Stage" club on Herbert Samuel street, close to the promenade. "I was near the club. There were about 20 people outside. Suddenly, there was an enormous explosion," said a witness, identified only as Tsahi.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. However, militants in the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a violent group with ties to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement, said the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah was involved in the attack.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 2:22 PM | | Basie! Home

In a move that is likely to bring it into conflict with Catholic and Evangelical Christian groups, the largest Jewish organization in America is launching a push for pro-stem-cell-research legislation in state houses around the country.

Hadassah, the 300,000-member women's Zionist organization, is bringing hundreds of advocates to the capitals of 47 states this spring to agitate for legislation authorizing state funding for stem-cell research, which scientists hope will lead to cures for many chronic diseases, including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

Hadassah has identified 10 states — including Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Missouri, Florida and Maryland — as the central focus of its effort. The organization will launch their new campaign with a March 1 trip to Albany, during which Hadassah members will make their case to New York lawmakers.

[...]

Hadassah's advocacy of stem-cell research is not incidental: The group supports the Hadassah Medical Center, located in Jerusalem, at which advanced stem-cell research is conducted.

"This goes to the core of Hadassah's mission because Hadassah is a world leader in stem-cell research at our hospital in Israel," Klein said. "We have a hundred-year history of advocating for health. Our position is not a partisan issue. It's about saving lives. As a Jewish women's organization, we want to make the point that religions aren't monolithic about this. There are plenty of religious voices on the side of stem-cell research."

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 12:01 PM | | Basie! Home

Sen. H. Russell Potts Jr., a Republican from Winchester, plans to announce Friday morning that he is mounting an independent bid for governor but will not formally leave the party he says is gripped by conservative social issues and anti-tax rhetoric.

Potts, an irascible politician who has become a voice of the GOP moderates as chairman of the Senate's Education and Health Committee, has scheduled a news conference at the State Capitol to announce his decision.

He declined to comment publicly Thursday, but aides and colleagues said Potts has informed them that he is certain to run as an "independent Republican" in the 2005 campaign.

[...]

His entry will transform the Virginia governor's campaign into a three-way race between Potts and the two likely major-party candidates, former attorney general Jerry W. Kilgore (R) and Lt. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D).

Some political observers said Potts could hand the race to Kaine if enough voters see the Winchester senator as an alternative to Kilgore's conservative policies.

His friends have called him crazy.

But Chris Bell doesn't care. He's formed an exploratory committee for the 2006 governor's race anyway.

The Houston Democrat, defeated last year after a single term in the U.S. House, admits he has a lot of work ahead of him. Not only will he have to build his name recognition statewide, but he's also considering a run when no Democrat holds a statewide office.

Though Republicans call it wishful thinking, Democrats hope the state's growing Hispanic population will fuel a comeback by the party as soon as 2008 or perhaps by 2012.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 9:35 AM | | Basie! Home

A far right-wing group is comparing Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, to Osama bin Laden in a new flier that says: "Not all terrorists wear turbans."

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 8:57 AM | | Basie! Home

In new bombshell claims, a former Watergate investigator says the break-in was motivated by President Nixon's paranoia that the Democrats would find out that he had taken a $50,000 bribe from Howard Hughes.

Terry Lenzner, revealing fresh details after more than 30 years, told "60 Minutes" that Nixon was obsessed with finding out whether Democratic National Committee boss Larry O'Brien knew that the billionaire recluse had sent him a stash of cash.

The money — delivered in a bulging envelope — was spent on a putting green and a pool table at Nixon's Florida residence, investigators believe.

"I am absolutely certain it was a significant part of the president's thinking that [finding out what the Democrats knew had] to be done," Lenzner told correspondent Lesley Stahl in a broadcast to be aired Sunday.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 8:53 AM | | Basie! Home

The nation's former security chief, Tom Ridge, will champion duct tape once again -- this time as a director on Home Depot's board.

Atlanta-based Home Depot, the nation's largest home improvement retailer with 1,892 stores, appointed Ridge to its board yesterday, replacing Roger Penske, who steps down when his term expires in May.

Ridge, 59, former secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and governor of Pennsylvania, is expected to lend cachet to Home Depot's board just as the chain looks to China for growth.

[...]

Home Depot chief Bob Nardelli is a big supporter of -- and contributor to -- the Republican Party.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 8:47 AM | | Basie! Home

A roadside bomb killed three U.S. soldiers and wounded eight others north of Baghdad on Friday, the military said, while the government announced the capture of three figures associated with Iraq's bloody insurgency.

[...]

The attack, which occurred around midday in Tarmiyah, about 20 miles north of the capital, raised the U.S. military death toll in Iraq to at least 1,489, according to an Associated Press count since the war began in March 2003. On Thursday, the military said three U.S. soldiers were killed in separate attacks.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 8:33 AM | | Basie! Home

James B. Lockhart III, the deputy commissioner at the Social Security Administration, said Thursday that he had appeared with four Republican members in recent days to provide information, not to endorse the diversion of some payroll taxes to personal accounts.

But several Democrats are objecting to Mr. Lockhart's role in an aggressive campaign to promote administration proposals for restructuring Social Security.

"The administration is running one of the most sophisticated grassroots lobbying strategies in history, and they are using federal employees and taxpayer dollars to do it," said Senator Frank R. Lautenberg, Democrat of New Jersey. "Social Security employees should be spending their time serving the needs of Social Security recipients, not advancing a political agenda."

Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, said the agency "is supposed to serve all the people and should not be giving the appearance that it is taking sides."

"It is absolutely inappropriate for officials from the Social Security Administration to hit the hustings in support of the president's plan," Mr. Schumer said in a statement.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 9:36 PM | | Basie! Home

The battle lines in the coming war over Social Security have finally been drawn with the creation last week of a new umbrella group that will coordinate attacks on President Bush's drive to create personal investment accounts.

At the urging of Democratic leaders in Congress, a few political campaign veterans have formed Americans United to Protect Social Security. The nonprofit organization with close ties to organized labor plans to raise $25 million to $50 million to pressure lawmakers to vote against Bush's proposal.

[...]

About 200 organizations will coordinate their efforts through the new group. The Media Fund, which raised and spent millions of dollars on anti-Bush advertisements last year, is considering joining, according to one of its principals, Harold Ickes, a former deputy chief of staff to President Bill Clinton.

The largest single opponent of the president's plan, the seniors lobby AARP, will operate separately.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 9:27 PM | | Basie! Home

A Zogby survey conducted for the Democratic firm WhatsNext Communications shows [Hillary] Clinton with a big lead on the overall 2008 field -- both women and men. When asked who they would vote for if the Democratic primary were held today, 32 percent of respondents named the New York senator. (John Kerry came in second with 16 percent and former Vice President Al Gore earned 12 percent. Former vice-presidential candidate John Edwards -- who some think has already started campaigning for the ticket's top spot in 2008 -- got 9 percent of the vote.)

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 3:15 PM | | Basie! Home

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter said today that he will "exercise every last ounce of my energy" to strike a deal with Democrats on President Bush's judicial nominations. Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., has threatened to execute a parliamentary move that has become known as the "nuclear option" to short-circuit Democratic filibusters of Bush's judicial picks. Frist would need the support of at least half the senators present and voting in one or more procedural votes. It is not clear Frist has the votes he needs. Specter, R-Pa., has avoided taking a public position on the "nuclear option," but he is clearly reluctant to see the Senate's tradition of minority rights eroded. "I think historically if you were to flash ahead 100 years from now, this controversy over judges would be miniscule. It would not be a major matter in the life of the country. But minority rights are," Specter said.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 11:20 AM | | Basie! Home

First it lost "Jeff Gannon" as its White House correspondent. Then it scrubbed all of his articles from its site. Now Talon News is going dark.

The Web site, closely linked to Texas Republican activist Bobby Eberle and his GOPUSA.com, posted a message on its home page today announcing that Talon was going offline for, as it said, a "top-to-bottom" review.

James Guckert, better known by his pen name Jeff Gannon, got press credentials for two years at the White House under his alias, first under the auspices of GOPUSA, then Talon News. He has since been linked to male escorts sites and has refused to deny working as a prostitute, most recently on this morning's NBC "Today" show.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 9:22 AM | | Basie! Home

A man wearing a police uniform drove a car bomb inside the main police compound in Saddam Hussein's hometown north of Baghdad on Thursday, setting off a massive explosion that killed 15 police and wounded 22, officials and witnesses said.

At least four other police were killed in separate attacks across the country, including another suicide car bomb assault on a police convoy in Iskandariyah, 30 miles south of the capital.

In the capital, gunmen opened fire on a bakery in eastern Baghdad, killing two people and wounding a third, police said.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 9:18 AM | | Basie! Home

The debate over changing Social Security can be a mind-numbing actuarial exercise, with calculations and projections that reach into the trillions of dollars and unfold over decades. But for President Bush, the most important number right now might be one.

That's how many Democrats he needs - and still lacks - to claim that his plan is bipartisan.

"This can't be done without Democrats," says Norm Ornstein, a congressional scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank here. "They need the political cover of both parties."

[...]

But some moderates who have voted at times with the president, such as Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, may be wary of crossing party lines again. Landrieu was one of nine Senate Democrats to vote for Bush's 10-year, $1.35 trillion tax cut in 2001. The next year, Republicans spent millions - unsuccessfully - to oust her.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 9:08 AM | | Basie! Home

"[He's] not some wild-eyed, left-wing nut."

-- Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) defending new DNC Chair Howard Dean

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 8:39 AM | | Basie! Home

Barbara Hafer and conducted by Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin & Associates shows the Republican-turned-Democrat former Treasurer Barbara Hafer tied 44- 44 with Senator Rick Santorum in a hypothetical matchup. The poll shows Santorum losing to Treasuer Bobby Casey Jr. 40-47.

Over the course of the next several months, I will begin to have a conversation with the people of Pennsylvania regarding a potential campaign. I will spend time introducing myself to communities across the Commonwealth, and listening to the people of Pennsylvania. As I consider my personal decision regarding the upcoming gubernatorial race, we will also explore the potential political and financial support for my candidacy. With the support of friends and family, I have authorized the formation of "Team 88" to help accomplish these goals.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 8:06 AM | | Basie! Home

Usually Hollywood borrows from Washington for on-screen drama, but now studios and stars are using cutthroat political campaign strategies to win the Oscar. The latest twist: Washington-trained campaign strategists have been hired for the battle for best actress. Insiders say they're involved in a vicious whispering, E-mail, and rumor campaign to help--or sink--Hilary Swank, star of Warner Bros.' Million Dollar Baby, and Annette Bening, star of Sony's Being Julia. It's so hot, said one consultant, that the attacks could lead to a surprise winner.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 11:37 PM | | Basie! Home

The public relations war over President Bush's Social Security plan escalated on Wednesday, as a liberal advocacy group attacked the Republican chairman of the House Social Security subcommittee, and conservative groups fought among themselves over strategy.

The advocacy group, Campaign for America's Future, accused the subcommittee chairman, Representative Jim McCrery of Louisiana, of conflict of interest, saying he had accepted nearly $200,000 in contributions over four years from securities firms and commercial banks that could benefit from Mr. Bush's plan to let workers invest in retirement accounts.

On Thursday, the group will begin running newspaper advertisements against Mr. McCrery under the headline "Who Does This Man Work For?" in his hometown, Shreveport. In addition, it is using the Internet to raise money for television advertisements.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 11:08 PM | | Basie! Home

The nonprofit Congressional Management Foundation, which helps educate Congress on running its business, says at least four members - Mr. Pence; Representatives Mark Kirk, Republican of Illinois, and Katherine Harris, Republican of Florida; and Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont - have taken up the task on a continuing basis. (Others have used temporary blogs to document trips, said Brad Fitch, the foundation's deputy director.)

The Congressional bloggers praise the power, popularity and potential of blogging, citing it as one of the most frequently visited parts of their Congressional Web sites.

"It shows your constituents that you're going to be updating your Web site regularly, and the next time they log on, they will see something new," Mr. Kirk said.

While popular political blogs like Wonkette, MyDD and Daily Kos serve as an alternative to traditional news sources and allow their authors to purvey commentary, Congressional blogs are extremely tame. In many cases, staff members - not the legislators themselves - post entries, and they rarely link to other blogs, as most blogs do.

[...]

At this stage, he added, members of Congress are primarily experimenting with blogs as a creative means to reach voters, not as a way to attract the attention of the blogosphere - the bloggers' realm, which can sometimes be an incubator of ideas and news. "The Hill has yet to really reach that level of sophistication" with the Internet, he said, but "there are people that do get it."

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 10:15 PM | | Basie! Home

"Senate Democratic leaders will target two Republican leaders seeking re-election in 2006 by visiting their states in a two-day blitz next week that’s designed to drum up opposition to President Bush’s effort to overhaul Social Security," Roll Call reports.

"Specifically, Democrats will single out Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum (R) and Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl (R) for seconding Bush’s contention that the system is in “crisis” — a notion Democrats roundly dispute."

"Democrats say they plan to mount vigorous challenges to both GOP Senators in 2006, in a bid to wrest control of the Senate from Republican hands."

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 6:39 PM | | Basie! Home

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Gov. Rick Perry are continuing to trade "subtle and not so subtle digs" against each other as they position themselves for the 2006 Texas gubernatorial race, according to the Dallas Morning News. Hutchison was scheduled to speak at the Harris County GOP's annual dinner on Tuesday night, but hours before she took the podium, Perry released a list of endorsements from Houston-area Republican leaders. "If it sounded like the dinner's guest roster, it was no accident," reports the paper. Even county GOP chairman Jared Woodfill -- the master of ceremonies for the program -- was on the list. Hutchison has not made her candidacy official, and she did not speak directly about Perry at the dinner. But she has established a campaign team that by all counts would be overkill if she is planning to return to the Senate, the paper reports.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 10:59 AM | | Basie! Home

"Then why did he go to the New York Times? ... he should have gone on 'This Week with George Stephanopoulos,' then he would have been sure no one would ever see them."

-- Jay Leno, on Doug Wead's claim he didn't want to make the Bush tapes public.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 9:04 AM | | Basie! Home

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's job approval ratings -- though still high -- have deflated markedly among state voters, who now see him as partisan and more tied to special interests, a new Field Poll shows.

The poll shows that 55 percent of the state's voters approve today of the job Republican Schwarzenegger is doing -- compared to 35 percent who disapprove and 11 percent who hold no opinion.

But that is a 10 percentage point drop from just six months ago, when 65 percent of the voters saw him positively and only 22 percent viewed his job performance negatively.

"Schwarzenegger's readings are coming down from the stratosphere,'' said Field Poll Director Mark DiCamillo. "It's almost like he's coming down to earth, where most politicians reside.''

In another important measure of public mood, the poll also shows that a majority of registered voters -- 53 percent -- believe the state is headed in the wrong direction, with 35 percent saying California is heading in the right direction. That is a significant increase from September, when 46 percent said the state was on the right track and just 38 percent said the wrong track.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 9:01 AM | | Basie! Home

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) will be making trips to New Hampshire and Iowa this spring, but not necessarily to launch a presidential campaign.

Gingrich, who is promoting his new book, Winning the Future, told reporters yesterday at a breakfast sponsored by The Christian Science Monitor that he will travel to the presidential primary battlegrounds to ensure that his conservative ideals remain relevant in the 2008 presidential campaign.

Asked if he will ever run for elected office again, Gingrich said, “It strikes me as implausible,” adding that he would not rule anything out.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 10:30 PM | | Basie! Home

A new Florida poll is prompting fresh speculation that Rep. Katherine Harris (R-Fla.) will challenge Sen. Bill Nelson (D) next year.

In the survey, conducted Feb. 16-20 by the GOP firm Strategic Vision, Harris garnered 38 percent of Republican voters. Trailing the second-term congresswoman were state Attorney General Charlie Crist, with 19 percent, and state Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher, with 13 percent.

The poll also showed Harris beating other well-known politicians in the race for the GOP Senate nomination, including former Rep. Bill McCollum, who has run unsuccessfully for the Senate twice; Reps. Mark Foley and Dave Weldon; and Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings.

[...]

In a general-election match-up, Nelson easily defeated Harris, with 46 percent backing the Democrat, 39 the Republican and 15 undecided.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 10:13 PM | | Basie! Home

Senate Democrats hope to use this week to block President Bush's Social Security public relations campaign, countering state visits by Bush, Cabinet members and congressional Republicans with a series of town hall meetings, roundtables and "real people press conferences," Democratic sources said. According to Senate aides, Minority Leader Harry Reid asked each member of the Senate Democratic Caucus to hold at least one event during this week's Presidents' Day recess focusing on Democratic charges that Bush's Social Security plan would reduce benefits and increase the national debt. In a memo sent to all 45 Democratic senators' press secretaries late last week, Reid aide Jim Manley warned staff that, "With the administration aggressively making their case to the American people through presidential visits and Cabinet secretary travel, it is important that we do our best to drive our message into the states when we can."

Manley outlined the types of events Senate Democrats could host, ranging from a traditional news conference to rolling out the party's "debt calculator" to the "real people press conference." At those, members of various age groups would be held up "to illustrate the serious questions -- benefit cuts in particular -- raised by the president's privatization proposal." Manley also provides talking points that mirror the recent shift in Democratic rhetoric away from denouncing Bush's argument that Social Security is facing a "crisis" to a willingness to "strengthen" the program.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 8:53 PM | | Basie! Home

Jonathan Singer: You were part of a generation of Democrats in the Senate -- including other people like Frank Church, George McGovern, Birch Bayh, Gaylord Nelson -- who helped enact a large body of progressive legislation that makes America great today. But now, the President and the Republicans are trying to overturn much of your work. How do the Democrats regain that momentum?

Walter Mondale: It is true that the agenda of the Bush administration and of many in the Congress is a radical assault on the legacy of Roosevelt and the Lyndon Johnson Great Society years and many of the fundamental reforms that were put in place in the period that I served in the Senate and the White House. But I must say I don't know what the Democrats do to regain momentum.

We got through the last election. The President won, albeit by a minor edge, but he did win. We dropped four or five seats in the Senate and we're now in a position where [it's] not even clear that we're going to be successful in blocking legislation through Rule 22.

Certain people have to rethink this thing, and realize what's happening to them and to their lives, and more importantly to their children and their opportunities for mobility and progress. I don't think that's happened yet. I hope it will. Until it does, I'm afraid we're going to have a deeply divided nation. At least as of now, the Democrats will be blanked out of the South, out of the Mountain states and out of a good deal of the Midwest, which means that it's going to be very hard to get the Senate back. Now this can change quickly, but talking right now, I don't have an answer to your question.

Singer: Speaking of Rule 22, during your service as Vice President in the late 70s, you issued a number of parliamentary rulings that affected the rules surrounding the filibuster. Given this experience, what are your feelings towards Senate Majority Leader Frist's consideration of the so-called "Nuclear Option," ridding the Senate of judicial filibusters?

Mondale: I'm very much opposed to it and I don't believe it's very good law.

My view is that the Senate can shape its own rules, and the Rule 22 now requires that 60 percent of the -- 60 votes in the Senate are required to impose cloture, and I think where nominations are concerned it may be a little higher (I'm a little vague on that right now). But I think if we ever went to majority rule it would really undermine the capacity of the Senate [to] advise and consent, and I think the people who voted for it would see that the Senate as a unique institution in the world would rapidly diminish in stature.

The Constitution talks about "advise and consent." A President doesn't appoint judges, he nominates judges. The President only has half the action. The other half [of the] action is the independent discretion of the Senate. If it was just a case of majority rule, they'd be able to jam all the stuff through without the traditional ability of the Senate to ventilate these issues. So I'm very much opposed to it.

A long time ago when I was Vice President I once ruled that a majority could change the rules. I changed my mind while I was in the Senate and a few years ago gave a speech at the Senate Leadership Conference saying that I believe majority rule would undermine the Senate in a profound way. So I'm very much opposed to it.

Singer: Now speaking of your term as Vice President, John Nance Garner famously said the Vice Presidency is -- we'll say it as -- "not worth a warm bucket of spit*." You're widely credited with reshaping the office and gaining real clout in the White House. As subsequent Vice Presidents have taken more and more power in the government, culminating in the central role of Dick Cheney in this administration, do you feel the balance of power needs to begin moving in the other direction? Do Vice Presidents hold too much power today?

Mondale: I believe that we did change the Vice Presidency, principally Jimmy Carter. We did what we call "executive-ized" it. Before then, the Vice President was both in the Executive and Legislative branches, but wanted by neither. Under Carter, the Vice President moved into the White House and became a principal aide with the President. I think that's been a very useful, important institutional change in American government.

What I'm worried about now is that under Cheney, a very important line I think has been breached. In other words, I don't consider that there are two Presidents. I don't think there should be a President and a Prime Minister. I think only the President should have Presidential executive authority. And what I'm worried about is that this Vice President has set up, in effect, his only National Security Council. He feels free to go anywhere -- including into the CIA and so on -- and directly press government officials to respond to his views. I'm afraid that the necessity of these agencies and these key officials in providing the President with their own honest advice may be compromised and undermined by this, what I consider to be, excessive use of the Vice [Presidency].

I think the Vice President should never, ever put himself in the position within the administration to appear to be speaking for the President unless he actually has been authorized to do so by the President. Otherwise, I think there's a tendency if he's not careful, that he will chill or intimidate the open advice given to him by key leaders in the administration. And from what I hear, that's going on now.

Singer: Now moving on to your run for the President in 1984, a central part of your platform was reducing the immense Reagan deficit. With a burgeoning deficit today that is set to explode in the years after Bush's term is completed -- in 2009, it could reach into the 500-700 billion range -- is there any possibility of restoring fiscal balance.

Mondale: I think it's a very, very serious problem. We have unprecedented deficits now, and with these massive tax cuts and these other out year commitments -- and the President has been very careful to let the good news arrive during his time and pay for it after he's gone -- that the rising deficits could have really catastrophic consequences for our economy. I noticed today that the dollar is dropping, the market has taken a big hit -- and part of it is that the price of oil has gone up -- but the big story is the South Koreans started selling American dollars and buying European currency. I think there's an increasing shakiness in confidence in the American dollar, which is essential to America's strength.

So I think we've got to do something about these deficits. I would take back those big tax cuts for the wealthy. I would restore what we used to have, a pay-go system where anything you want to do in the budget, you've got to pay for if it costs money, so you have the discipline at the time you do something popular that involves trying to keep the budget in good balance.

In my opinion -- and I worked hard for the Budget Act and I was on the Budget Committee and I did some work on this from the White House -- in my opinion, the use of the budget making process by this administration is becoming increasingly cynical. The Budget doesn't really tell you what the administration knows. It didn't include the cost of what they call the Supplemental for the War in Iraq. It doesn't include the cost of amending the Alternative Minimum Tax that costs in the hundreds of billions of dollars. Lots of things in that Budget that mislead and undermine an honest discussion of the Budget. So we need honest budgeting and we need a much stronger Congress that uses its Congressional Budget Committees and offices to hit back harder than they're doing now.

It can happen. You know it was just three years ago when we were running a $300 billion -- four years ago -- a $300 billion surplus. So this is a self-inflicted and irresponsible action that's undermining the strength of our country.

Singer: Well you certainly have a wealth of experience in dealing with this and I know your party turned to you three years ago, two and a half year ago, to be its standard bearer after the death of Paul Wellstone. But The Washington Post's Michael Leahy wrote an article this weekend on the treatment given to former presidential nominees, focusing on George McGovern. Do you feel that people like McGovern, Bob Dole, Michael Dukakis and yourself receive the appreciation and respect from their parties that they -- that you -- deserve?

Mondale: I think it's just fine. You know, those of us who run are just American citizens who happen to be nominated to run for an office. Some of us get elected, some of us don't. But I think it's a very healthy thing in America to remember that all of us are just citizens. We're not entitled to anything extra.

Having said that, I think people like George McGovern, with their wonderful public careers, in his case, a wonderful war hero record and all that he's done for our country and the world, I think he deserves respect for that, and not just because he happened to be a nominee. I wouldn't think that's worth much.

Singer: Speaking of the nominee, John Kerry, this year's nominee, lost the election quite narrowly, and the Democrats, as you said, lost quite a few seats in the Senate, but the House was about even, especially when you consider what happened in Texas with the redistricting. How do you read the results of the November election? Was it as much of a blowout or a mandate as the Republicans have made it seem?

Mondale: I thought it was a marginal, but disastrous election for us. Marginal because it wasn't won by much. In fact in the House the number of seats in the House only reflected the games that were played in Texas; if it hadn't been redistricted between censuses, we would have exactly the same number of Congressmen we had last time. Nevertheless, that four or five seats we lost in the Senate, four or five we've lost in the House, plus the election of the election -- the President this time won, unlike the last one -- I think has given them momentum and ability to shape things that is disastrous.

Singer: Now looking ahead to 2006, the chances of retaking the Senate are perhaps slim, but they're very much contingent on keeping the close seats that are held now. Your Senator Mark Dayton recently announced he will not seek another term, and a number of leading Minnesota Democrats, including Al Franken and yourself, have declined to take a run. Any feelings on who might pick up the nomination? Will the Democrats even be able to hold the seat?

Mondale: There's a long list of them, and it's getting longer as we talk. I'd just as soon not get into particular names, but there's ten or fifteen out there that are thinking about it. I think we've got a pretty good chance of holding the seat. The Democrats simply must hold it. Minnesota is, I think, by a narrow margin, but by a palpable margin, still a Democratic state. And I think if we get a good nominee, and I think we will, we'll win, but I'd just as soon not get into names right now.

Singer: Just one last question about Minnesota politics, then I'll let you go. Minnesota has long been a breeding ground for national politicians from both parties, such as Harold Stassen, Warren Burger, Hubert Humphrey and of course yourself. What do you think of the next generation of Minnesotans? Are they fit to carry the mantle that you--

Mondale: Yeah. I think we've got some good leadership coming up. We elected a lot of new members of the state legislature, we've got good leadership in the state Senate, we've got people like Amy Klobuchar, the County Attorney, Betty McCollum, the Congresswoman from St. Paul. I don't want to get into names, because it gets me in a trap here, but we've got several gifted, impressive young public leaders coming up.

Singer: That's good to hear. Again, I can't tell you how much of an honor it is to speak with you. Thank you so much for taking the time and have a wonderful day.

Mondale: I'm very glad to do it and I wish you the best.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 3:39 PM | | Basie! Home

Sen. Rick Santorum said today he plans to introduce a bill next week to increase the minimum wage by $1.10 over the next two years. "My sense is this is probably a good time [to increase the wage] with the economy growing the way it has," Santorum, R-Pa., said during a question and answer session at a forum on Social Security at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Republicans last year blocked Democratic attempts to increase the minimum wage, which has remained at $5.15 an hour since 1997, to $7 an hour over two years. Santorum's proposal is similar to an alternative Republican plan discussed last Congress to raise the minimum wage to a lesser amount -- Democratic aides put the figure at $6.25. But that Republican alternative was never offered as stand-alone legislation or as an amendment.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 11:05 AM | | Basie! Home

President Bush earlier this month dispatched top White House official Frances Fragos Townsend to head an official U.S. delegation attending an "anti-terrorism" conference in Saudi Arabia -- a conference that aired vile anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist canards. Saudi Cleric Aed Al-Qarni noted at the conference that "The first to kill and use terrorism in the world were the Jews," according to a translation by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI); the cleric went on to describe September 11th as "an American terror attack."

According to White House press secretary Scott McClellan, President Bush spoke with Saudi Crown Prince Abdallah on February 14th and "complimented the Crown Prince on last week's successful counter-terrorism conference in Saudi Arabia."

In addition to the American delegation led by Townsend, who serves as President Bush's Homeland Security Advisor with the rank of Assistant to the President, the conference included participation from nations including Iran, Syria and Sudan -- all state sponsors of terrorism, according to the Department of State. Senator Frank Lautenberg (NJ) first warned President Bush to avoid the conference in a February 4th letter to Bush.

Throughout and surrounding the conference, various Saudi clerics noted that "Jews and the Christians are Allah's enemies," and that Jihad -- including attacks by insurgents in Iraq -- is appropriate. In a poem read before Saudi Defense Minister Prince Sultan, it was noted that Osama bin Laden "was sent by the Jews."

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 10:07 AM | | Basie! Home

"It perpetuates this myth that every Filipino is eating it [...] But they're not."

Hawaii State Rep. Alex Sonson, on a bill to "ban the slaughter of dogs and cats for food"

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 9:39 AM | | Basie! Home

"I think I know what Bush meant when he said he had a 'mandate.'"

-- Bill Maher, on gay escort Jeff Gannon/J.D. Guckert being allowed in the White House as a reporter

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 9:35 AM | | Basie! Home

Americans are split down the middle on President Bush's job performance, with 49% approving his conduct of office and 50% disapproving, despite doubts about his handling of the Iraq war, a new Zogby International survey finds. The same survey found a slight jump in the percentage that believe the nation is on the wrong track, with 48% choosing that option and 46% saying the nation is heading the right direction. The poll of 921 likely voters was conducted nationwide from February 14 through 17, 2005 and has a margin of error of +/-3.3 percentage points.

The survey also found that while a slight majority (52%) support the war in Iraq, nearly three-in-five (57%) likely voters rate President Bush's handling of that war negatively.

"The President's approval ratings have been on a plateau since the election—the nation remains evenly-split on his performance in office," said pollster John Zogby. "What is interesting, though, is the growing majority of Americans who do not believe President Bush—and his administration—have properly conducted the war in Iraq. And remember, this poll comes just two weeks after elections that were viewed positively."

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 9:25 AM | | Basie! Home

The Supreme Court said Tuesday it will hear a challenge to the nation's only assisted suicide law, taking up the Bush administration's appeal to stop doctors from helping terminally ill patients die more quickly.

Justices will review a lower court ruling that said the U.S. government cannot sanction or hold doctors criminally liable for prescribing overdoses under Oregon's voter-approved Death with Dignity Act. Since 1998, more than 170 people — most with cancer — have used the law to end their lives.

Arguments will be heard in the court's next term, beginning in October.

Former Attorney General John Ashcroft filed the appeal last November, on the day his resignation was announced by the White House. He argued that physician-assisted suicide is not a "legitimate medical purpose" and that doctors take an oath to heal patients, not help them die.

Oregon lawyers counter that regulation of doctors generally has been the sole responsibility of states. The U.S. attorney general has no authority under the federal Controlled Substances Act to punish doctors because Congress intended the law only to prevent illegal drug trafficking, they say.

A panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Oregon last May.

"The attorney general's unilateral attempt to regulate general medical practices historically entrusted to state lawmakers interferes with the democratic debate about physician-assisted suicide," wrote Judge Richard Tallman in the 2-1 opinion.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 9:20 AM | | Basie! Home

A powerful earthquake shook central Iran on Tuesday, destroying villages, cutting power to the area, killing at least 175 people and injuring more than 330, state-run television reported.

TV footage showed a village in Kerman province almost flattened by the 6.4-magnitude earthquake, with few mud-built walls standing. Residents were shown digging frantically amid collapsed slabs of concrete and piles of dirt in a bid to find buried friends and relatives.

"All hospitals in Zarand are filled to capacity with the injured. Hospitals in the town cannot receive any more of the injured," the broadcast said, showing images of elderly women and men lying on beds with various injuries.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 1:23 AM | | Basie! Home

In the fall of 1983, Cato made clear that it was preparing for a protracted fight. It published a paper by Heritage Foundation scholars Stuart M. Butler and Peter Germanis that called for "guerrilla warfare against both the current Social Security system and the coalition that supports it." They compared the drive to Nikolai Lenin's effort to undermine capitalism: "Lenin well knew to be a successful revolutionary one must also be patient and consistently plan for real reform." [emphasis added]

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 10:33 PM | | Basie! Home