Friday, April 22, 2005
DeLay Counterattack: Ethics problems alleged: They’ve gone after Ms. Tubbs Jones who joined Barbara Boxer in forcing congressional debate of the 2004 election and now Boxer. From consecutive issues of the Right / Moonie-owned Washington Times:
Stephanie Tubbs Jones, an Ohio Democrat who sits on the House ethics committee, took a 2001 trip to Puerto Rico that was paid for by a registered lobbyist firm -- an apparent violation of the chamber's ethics rules -- according to documents that she filed with the House clerk.
A spokeswoman for Mrs. Jones disputed those records yesterday, saying "human error" led a staffer to list the name of D.C. lobbyist firm Smith, Dawson & Andrews as having paid the $3,366 tab for Mrs. Jones and her husband to travel to the Puerto Rican island of Vieques in the Caribbean.
"Smith Dawson was put on the form in error," Jones spokeswoman Nicole Williams said. "The invitation came from Todo Puerto Rico con Vieques. They hired Smith Dawson to handle logistics for the trip." http://insider.washingtontimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050420-124450-3932r
House Republicans yesterday called on Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to provide documentation to prove that a Washington lobbyist firm did not pay for a trip she and other Democrats took to Puerto Rico in 2001.
"We feel that such lingering questions undermine the integrity of the institution and we hope [the questions] will be cleared up as soon as possible," wrote Republican Reps. Patrick T. McHenry of North Carolina and Lynn Westmoreland of Georgia.
The Washington Times reported earlier this week that Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Ohio Democrat and member of the House ethics committee, listed a registered lobbyist as the trip's sponsor. House rules prohibit registered lobbyists from paying for travel by members. http://insider.washingtontimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050421-115645-8030r
What’s Happening, Iraq: Some media (e.g. NPR) have noted that an escalation back to the pre-January election level, including the first time insurgents have succeeded in bringing down a civilian aircraft.
Some of the larger attacks have been noticed.
A retired Army general just back from a fact-finding trip to Iraq has warned the U.S.-led multinational coalition that insurgents may be planning spectacular large-scale attacks to slow the momentum of recent military and political gains there.
“The insurgency is viable and resilient and has the capacity to achieve significant surprise,” Gen. John Keane told The Hill this week. “We can expect more attacks. They have the capacity to plan a coherent operation for large-scale effect.” http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/042105/iraq3.html
Recruiting for Iraq: It’s Going Well…for “them.”
More than 400 young men and women have volunteered to carry out suicide bombing attacks against Americans in Iraq and targets in Israel, a militant group said Wednesday.
The recruiting effort was detailed during a ceremony organized by the Headquarters for Commemorating Martyrs of the Global Islamic Movement, a shadowy group that has been seeking attackers for nearly a year.
The Iranian government has distanced itself from the organization. But the event was attended by Mahdi Rahimian, the head of the Martyr's Foundation and the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee, both quasi-government organizations run by hard-liners loyal to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2005/04/20/international/i164839D98.DTL&type=printable
Large Embassy. …speaks for itself
The U.S. Senate agreed on Wednesday to spend $592 million on a huge new embassy Baghdad, setting up a showdown with the House of Representatives, which rejected funding for the project because of the high cost.
Senators approved the embassy funding 54-45 as part of an $81 billion emergency spending bill to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and help fund tsunami relief. The House of Representatives removed the money for the Baghdad compound, which would be the largest U.S. embassy in the world, when it passed its version of the bill last month. http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=102447
Missing Nukes: LA Times report on nuke components that were headed for Libya but were diverted to …? Apparently these component parts originated with the Pakistani distributor A.Q.Khan.
Critical components and specialized tools destined for Libya's nuclear weapons program disappeared before arrival in 2003 and international investigators now suspect that they were diverted to another country, according to court records and investigators.
Efforts to find the missing equipment have led to dead ends, raising what investigators said was the strong likelihood that the sophisticated material was sold to an unidentified customer by members of the international smuggling ring that had been supplying nuclear technology and weapons designs to Libya. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-network22apr22,0,7993491.story?coll=la-home-headlines
DeLay and Ethics: More are backing away from him. The p.r. re his being investigated may not be working. The WaPost agrees with the Democrats’ position.
Ultimately, though, yesterday's offer isn't good enough. The plan presented by the panel chairman, Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), would leave in place the troubling rules rammed through the House earlier this year in a departure from the traditional method of changing ethics committee rules based on bipartisan agreement. The rules require that an ethics complaint be automatically dismissed if no action is taken within 45 days. Under the previous rules, a majority vote was needed to dismiss a complaint. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6181-2005Apr20.html
Frist Criticized by Protestants for evangelical embrace
As the Senate battle over judicial confirmations became increasingly entwined with religious themes, officials of several major Protestant denominations on Thursday accused the Senate Republican leader, Bill Frist, of violating the principles of his own Presbyterian church and urged him to drop out of a Sunday telecast that depicts Democrats as "against people of faith." http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/22/politics/22frist.html?hp&ex=1114228800&en=d7164aea7c3706ed&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Bolton Trashed by Powell. He may have sold the invasion, but, at last, some integrity seems to be seeping out. It’s highly unusual to go public with such reservations.
Former secretary of state Colin L. Powell is emerging as a behind-the-scenes player in the battle over John R. Bolton's nomination as ambassador to the United Nations, privately telling at least two key Republican lawmakers that Bolton is a smart but very problematic government official, according to Republican sources. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7420-2005Apr21.html
The associates said Mr. Powell, in private telephone conversations, had made clear his concerns about Mr. Bolton on several fronts, including his harsh treatment of subordinates. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/22/politics/22bolton.html?hp&ex=1114228800&en=5adf3782efa3813c&ei=5094&partner=homepage
…as the evidence piles up:
But Bolton's fate grew even murkier, as one of the president's own former ambassadors, told CBS News Correspondent Gloria Borger that Bolton had been less than truthful in his recent confirmation hearings.
The episode revolves around a speech Bolton gave in South Korea in the summer of 2003, in which he said, "For many in North Korea, life is a hellish nightmare."
When asked about the hard-line speech, Bolton said Ambassador Thomas Hubbard had approved it.
"I can tell you what our ambassador to South Korea, Tom Hubbard, said after the speech. He said, "Thanks a lot for that speech, John. It'll help us a lot out here.'"
Well, that's not what Hubbard says. In fact, the ambassador told CBS News that he specifically objected to the tone of the speech and actually found it unhelpful in dealing with North Korea. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/21/politics/main690018.shtml
Deficits to be controlled…by doing what?
U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said on Wednesday the Bush administration was making progress in ratcheting down U.S. budget deficits, but linked it to action on an overhaul of the Social Security system.
"Insisting on the first while ignoring the second would be hypocritical and irresponsible," Snow said in prepared remarks for delivery to the Bond Market Association.
Snow said Treasury expects the budget deficit in fiscal 2005 that ends on Sept. 30 to come in at 3.5 percent of the value of total national economic output, "substantially lower than the 4.5-6 percent experienced at times in the 1980s and 1990s." http://www.reuters.com/financeNewsArticle.jhtml?type=bondsNews&storyID=8240678
Just how will he do this? Cut where? Social Security?
Nuclear Option: Frist may still not have the votes, but the stage is being set.
Moving the Senate closer to a historic confrontation, the Republican-controlled Judiciary Committee yesterday endorsed two of President Bush's most controversial nominees to federal appellate court, and Democrats vowed once again to use the filibuster to block their confirmation.
The committee, voting 10 to 8 along party lines, endorsed Janice Rogers Brown of California for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, and Priscilla Richman Owen of Texas for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. Both were nominated, endorsed by the Judiciary Committee and ultimately blocked by the Democrats in Bush's first term, along with eight other appeals court nominees. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6621-2005Apr21.html
Terminology: Nuclear option = Fairness Option “Constitutional option” didn’t poll well, nor did “filibuster reform”. So, they’ve settled on “fairness.” Fits with “The judicial war on faith”, the subject of this Sunday’s conference. http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/490oaetg.asp
Democrats Fighting Back: A sign…
Sen. Mark Pryor lashed out Wednesday at the Christian evangelicals who have joined the attack on Democratic filibusters of President Bush’s judicial nominees.
Their tactics threaten "to make the followers of Jesus Christ just another special-interest group," Pryor said in a conference call with Arkansas reporters. "It is presumptuous of them to think that they represent all Christians in America, even to say they represent all evangelical Christians," added Pryor, 42, a first-term Democrat who has considered himself an evangelical Christian for 25 years. http://www.nwanews.com/story_print.php?paper=adg&National=section&storyid=114091
Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., lashed out at Focus on the Family on Thursday, saying the appointments.
Salazar defended Democrats' right to filibuster what they consider objectionable nominees and blasted the Colorado Springs-based evangelical Christian group for recent ads urging him to "STOP the nonsense." http://insidedenver.com/drmn/state/article/0,1299,DRMN_21_3717209,00.html
NASA Lowers its Standards. Scientists- and anyone else who cares- are not happy with the increasing of risk so as to get the shuttle back up. This change was effected “because we cannot meet” the established requirements.
NASA officials have loosened the standards for what constitutes an acceptable risk of damage from the kind of debris that led to the disintegration of the shuttle Columbia as it was returning from space two years ago, internal documents show.
The move has set off a debate within the agency about whether the changes are a reasonable reassessment of the hazards of flight or whether they jettison long-established rules to justify getting back to space quickly. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/22/science/22nasa.html?
-R
Stephanie Tubbs Jones, an Ohio Democrat who sits on the House ethics committee, took a 2001 trip to Puerto Rico that was paid for by a registered lobbyist firm -- an apparent violation of the chamber's ethics rules -- according to documents that she filed with the House clerk.
A spokeswoman for Mrs. Jones disputed those records yesterday, saying "human error" led a staffer to list the name of D.C. lobbyist firm Smith, Dawson & Andrews as having paid the $3,366 tab for Mrs. Jones and her husband to travel to the Puerto Rican island of Vieques in the Caribbean.
"Smith Dawson was put on the form in error," Jones spokeswoman Nicole Williams said. "The invitation came from Todo Puerto Rico con Vieques. They hired Smith Dawson to handle logistics for the trip." http://insider.washingtontimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050420-124450-3932r
House Republicans yesterday called on Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to provide documentation to prove that a Washington lobbyist firm did not pay for a trip she and other Democrats took to Puerto Rico in 2001.
"We feel that such lingering questions undermine the integrity of the institution and we hope [the questions] will be cleared up as soon as possible," wrote Republican Reps. Patrick T. McHenry of North Carolina and Lynn Westmoreland of Georgia.
The Washington Times reported earlier this week that Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Ohio Democrat and member of the House ethics committee, listed a registered lobbyist as the trip's sponsor. House rules prohibit registered lobbyists from paying for travel by members. http://insider.washingtontimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050421-115645-8030r
What’s Happening, Iraq: Some media (e.g. NPR) have noted that an escalation back to the pre-January election level, including the first time insurgents have succeeded in bringing down a civilian aircraft.
Some of the larger attacks have been noticed.
A retired Army general just back from a fact-finding trip to Iraq has warned the U.S.-led multinational coalition that insurgents may be planning spectacular large-scale attacks to slow the momentum of recent military and political gains there.
“The insurgency is viable and resilient and has the capacity to achieve significant surprise,” Gen. John Keane told The Hill this week. “We can expect more attacks. They have the capacity to plan a coherent operation for large-scale effect.” http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/042105/iraq3.html
Recruiting for Iraq: It’s Going Well…for “them.”
More than 400 young men and women have volunteered to carry out suicide bombing attacks against Americans in Iraq and targets in Israel, a militant group said Wednesday.
The recruiting effort was detailed during a ceremony organized by the Headquarters for Commemorating Martyrs of the Global Islamic Movement, a shadowy group that has been seeking attackers for nearly a year.
The Iranian government has distanced itself from the organization. But the event was attended by Mahdi Rahimian, the head of the Martyr's Foundation and the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee, both quasi-government organizations run by hard-liners loyal to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2005/04/20/international/i164839D98.DTL&type=printable
Large Embassy. …speaks for itself
The U.S. Senate agreed on Wednesday to spend $592 million on a huge new embassy Baghdad, setting up a showdown with the House of Representatives, which rejected funding for the project because of the high cost.
Senators approved the embassy funding 54-45 as part of an $81 billion emergency spending bill to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and help fund tsunami relief. The House of Representatives removed the money for the Baghdad compound, which would be the largest U.S. embassy in the world, when it passed its version of the bill last month. http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=102447
Missing Nukes: LA Times report on nuke components that were headed for Libya but were diverted to …? Apparently these component parts originated with the Pakistani distributor A.Q.Khan.
Critical components and specialized tools destined for Libya's nuclear weapons program disappeared before arrival in 2003 and international investigators now suspect that they were diverted to another country, according to court records and investigators.
Efforts to find the missing equipment have led to dead ends, raising what investigators said was the strong likelihood that the sophisticated material was sold to an unidentified customer by members of the international smuggling ring that had been supplying nuclear technology and weapons designs to Libya. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-network22apr22,0,7993491.story?coll=la-home-headlines
DeLay and Ethics: More are backing away from him. The p.r. re his being investigated may not be working. The WaPost agrees with the Democrats’ position.
Ultimately, though, yesterday's offer isn't good enough. The plan presented by the panel chairman, Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), would leave in place the troubling rules rammed through the House earlier this year in a departure from the traditional method of changing ethics committee rules based on bipartisan agreement. The rules require that an ethics complaint be automatically dismissed if no action is taken within 45 days. Under the previous rules, a majority vote was needed to dismiss a complaint. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6181-2005Apr20.html
Frist Criticized by Protestants for evangelical embrace
As the Senate battle over judicial confirmations became increasingly entwined with religious themes, officials of several major Protestant denominations on Thursday accused the Senate Republican leader, Bill Frist, of violating the principles of his own Presbyterian church and urged him to drop out of a Sunday telecast that depicts Democrats as "against people of faith." http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/22/politics/22frist.html?hp&ex=1114228800&en=d7164aea7c3706ed&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Bolton Trashed by Powell. He may have sold the invasion, but, at last, some integrity seems to be seeping out. It’s highly unusual to go public with such reservations.
Former secretary of state Colin L. Powell is emerging as a behind-the-scenes player in the battle over John R. Bolton's nomination as ambassador to the United Nations, privately telling at least two key Republican lawmakers that Bolton is a smart but very problematic government official, according to Republican sources. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7420-2005Apr21.html
The associates said Mr. Powell, in private telephone conversations, had made clear his concerns about Mr. Bolton on several fronts, including his harsh treatment of subordinates. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/22/politics/22bolton.html?hp&ex=1114228800&en=5adf3782efa3813c&ei=5094&partner=homepage
…as the evidence piles up:
But Bolton's fate grew even murkier, as one of the president's own former ambassadors, told CBS News Correspondent Gloria Borger that Bolton had been less than truthful in his recent confirmation hearings.
The episode revolves around a speech Bolton gave in South Korea in the summer of 2003, in which he said, "For many in North Korea, life is a hellish nightmare."
When asked about the hard-line speech, Bolton said Ambassador Thomas Hubbard had approved it.
"I can tell you what our ambassador to South Korea, Tom Hubbard, said after the speech. He said, "Thanks a lot for that speech, John. It'll help us a lot out here.'"
Well, that's not what Hubbard says. In fact, the ambassador told CBS News that he specifically objected to the tone of the speech and actually found it unhelpful in dealing with North Korea. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/21/politics/main690018.shtml
Deficits to be controlled…by doing what?
U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said on Wednesday the Bush administration was making progress in ratcheting down U.S. budget deficits, but linked it to action on an overhaul of the Social Security system.
"Insisting on the first while ignoring the second would be hypocritical and irresponsible," Snow said in prepared remarks for delivery to the Bond Market Association.
Snow said Treasury expects the budget deficit in fiscal 2005 that ends on Sept. 30 to come in at 3.5 percent of the value of total national economic output, "substantially lower than the 4.5-6 percent experienced at times in the 1980s and 1990s." http://www.reuters.com/financeNewsArticle.jhtml?type=bondsNews&storyID=8240678
Just how will he do this? Cut where? Social Security?
Nuclear Option: Frist may still not have the votes, but the stage is being set.
Moving the Senate closer to a historic confrontation, the Republican-controlled Judiciary Committee yesterday endorsed two of President Bush's most controversial nominees to federal appellate court, and Democrats vowed once again to use the filibuster to block their confirmation.
The committee, voting 10 to 8 along party lines, endorsed Janice Rogers Brown of California for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, and Priscilla Richman Owen of Texas for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. Both were nominated, endorsed by the Judiciary Committee and ultimately blocked by the Democrats in Bush's first term, along with eight other appeals court nominees. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6621-2005Apr21.html
Terminology: Nuclear option = Fairness Option “Constitutional option” didn’t poll well, nor did “filibuster reform”. So, they’ve settled on “fairness.” Fits with “The judicial war on faith”, the subject of this Sunday’s conference. http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/490oaetg.asp
Democrats Fighting Back: A sign…
Sen. Mark Pryor lashed out Wednesday at the Christian evangelicals who have joined the attack on Democratic filibusters of President Bush’s judicial nominees.
Their tactics threaten "to make the followers of Jesus Christ just another special-interest group," Pryor said in a conference call with Arkansas reporters. "It is presumptuous of them to think that they represent all Christians in America, even to say they represent all evangelical Christians," added Pryor, 42, a first-term Democrat who has considered himself an evangelical Christian for 25 years. http://www.nwanews.com/story_print.php?paper=adg&National=section&storyid=114091
Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., lashed out at Focus on the Family on Thursday, saying the appointments.
Salazar defended Democrats' right to filibuster what they consider objectionable nominees and blasted the Colorado Springs-based evangelical Christian group for recent ads urging him to "STOP the nonsense." http://insidedenver.com/drmn/state/article/0,1299,DRMN_21_3717209,00.html
NASA Lowers its Standards. Scientists- and anyone else who cares- are not happy with the increasing of risk so as to get the shuttle back up. This change was effected “because we cannot meet” the established requirements.
NASA officials have loosened the standards for what constitutes an acceptable risk of damage from the kind of debris that led to the disintegration of the shuttle Columbia as it was returning from space two years ago, internal documents show.
The move has set off a debate within the agency about whether the changes are a reasonable reassessment of the hazards of flight or whether they jettison long-established rules to justify getting back to space quickly. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/22/science/22nasa.html?
-R
