Friday, April 29, 2005
Press Conference by the smirking one, Our Embarrassment.
I learned some things. I didn’t know that Clinton, Bush Sr., Reagan…all failed to develop an energy policy, but that Junior has done so. Also picked up that he’s been a victimized outsider-observer of the disappointing mean-spirited tone in D.C.
Other: They propose: Social Security benefits to be cut, aside from the cuts from privatization. Bone thrown to poor- yours will be cut less. Also: Bolton’s great, we’re making progress in Iraq, etc. Press corps: polite
Budget: The House passed theirs. Cuts $10 billion from Medicaid, as we don’t have the dough. But, we did have enough cash to fork over another $106 billion in tax cuts. Makes sense. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-budget29apr29,0,660387,print.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Bolton: Support fading, so it necessitates other strategies. Here’s one:
Republican lawmakers are considering bringing John Bolton's nomination as United Nations ambassador to a full Senate vote whether or not the Foreign Relations Committee approves him -- another sign of White House determination to fight for the controversial nominee.
Several Republican staffers said momentum has shifted in Mr. Bolton's favor because of a concerted administration campaign to solidify support for him before the Senate adjourns for a week tomorrow. Vice President Dick Cheney, Bush advisor Karl Rove and Mr. Bolton himself have lobbied individual senators.
Privately, several lawmakers acknowledged concerns that Mr. Bolton could be rejected by the foreign-relations panel. That committee delayed a vote on him last week after some Republican members asked for more time to study accusations that he bullied subordinates and exaggerated intelligence assessments. http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111464601996618962,00.html?mod=home_whats_news_us
Abu Ghraib: As we know, not the only example of abuse / torture. Human Rights Watch summarizes and characterizes Abu Ghraib as “the tip of an iceberg.”
The crimes at Abu Ghraib are part of a larger pattern of abuses against Muslim detainees around the world, Human Rights Watch said on the eve of the April 28 anniversary of the first pictures of U.S. soldiers brutalizing prisoners at the Iraqi jail. Human Rights Watch released a summary of evidence of U.S. abuse of detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, as well as of the programs of secret CIA detention, "extraordinary renditions," and "reverse renditions."
"Abu Ghraib was only the tip of the iceberg," said Reed Brody, special counsel for Human Rights Watch. "It's now clear that abuse of detainees has happened all over-from Afghanistan to Guantánamo Bay to a lot of third-country dungeons where the United States has sent prisoners. And probably quite a few other places we don't even know about."
Human Rights Watch called this week for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the culpability of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and ex-CIA Director George Tenet, as well as Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, formerly the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Gen. Geoffrey Miller, the former commander of the prison camp at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba in cases of crimes against detainees. http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/HRW/0a95a728282ef1cf141236fe2b3827fb.htm
What’s Happening, Iraq: New Government. The laughing stock, Ahmad Chalabi, is in!
Mr. Chalabi, a former Pentagon favorite who helped make the case for invading Iraq, may be the most controversial figure in the new Iraqi administration. He is widely disliked in Iraq, particularly among Sunnis, who have been angered by his campaign to oust former Baathists from government.
His new perch could help him carry out that agenda, particularly with an ally as the new head of Iraq's Interior Ministry, Bayan Salagh, who belongs to a Shiite political party that shares Dr. Chalabi's anti-Baathist agenda. Many of Iraq's critical anti-terrorist battalions are based in the Interior Ministry, and members of Mr. Salagh's party have sworn to purge some of the former Baathists who are among the top commanders there.
Dr. Chalabi has also been named as temporary head of the oil ministry until a full-time minister can be found. That appointment could raise alarms in light of Dr. Chalabi's conviction in Jordan on charges that he embezzled $30 million from a Jordanian bank. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/28/international/middleeast/28cnd-iraq.html?position=&ei=5094&en=b451f614b9e12620&hp=&ex=1114747200&adxnnl=1&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print&adxnnlx=1114697063-fEfyOWzo5luoT6lAFONbfA
What’s Happening, Venezuela: Chavez thumbs his nose. Keeping track...
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will visit Cuba on Thursday to discuss bilateral relations with Cuban leader Fidel Castro. The populist Venezuelan president's latest trip to the communist nation comes at a time of increasing strain with the United States.
During his visit to Havana, President Chavez plans to discuss energy and trade issues with Mr. Castro, but the two leftist leaders are likely to also team up in condemning U.S. policy.
In particular, President Chavez has taunted President Bush over the asylum appeal of Luis Posada Carriles, who is wanted in Venezuela in connection with the bombing of a Cuban passenger plane in 1973 that killed 73 people.
Posada Carriles is currently in the United States seeking asylum, after having been released from prison in Panama where he was convicted of a plot to kill Fidel Castro at a summit held there in the year 2000.
President Chavez maintains that it would be hypocritical for President Bush to pardon a man convicted of terrorist acts, while at the same time carrying on a war against terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan. http://www.politinfo.com/articles/article_2005_04_27_1642.html
Kerry and 2008: Whither reality testing?
As Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry and his wife prepare to visit Minneapolis on May 3, Sen. Mark Dayton said he has little doubt that Kerry is planning to run for president again in 2008.
When New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton attended the DFL Humphrey Day Dinner in Minneapolis less than two weeks ago, Dayton, D-Minn., told the crowd he hoped he was introducing "the next great president of the United States of America."
Two days later on the floor of the U.S. Senate, Dayton said Kerry approached him "with daggers in his eyes and said, 'What are you doing endorsing my 2008 presidential opponent?'... He was very serious."
Kerry's office disputes Dayton's account. David Wade, his spokesman, said "there was nothing but joshing on the Senate floor" between Dayton and Kerry, who have been friends for 35 years. http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5362878.html
Will DeLay get a fair hearing? Depends on what you call “fair”
All five Republicans on the House ethics committee have financial links to Tom DeLay that could raise conflict-of-interest issues should the panel investigate the GOP majority leader.
Public records show DeLay's leadership political action committee (PAC) gave $15,000 to the campaign of Rep. Melissa Hart, R-Pa. — $10,000 in 2000 and $5,000 in 2002. Hart would chair a panel to investigate DeLay if the committee moves forward with a probe.
The same political committee, Americans for a Republican Majority, also has donated to the campaigns of ethics Chairman Doc Hastings of Washington, Judy Biggert of Illinois and Tom Cole of Oklahoma. They are among scores of Republicans DeLay has contributed to. Cole and the remaining committee Republican, Lamar Smith of Texas, contributed to DeLay's legal defense fund. (Related link: Donations from Americans for Republican Majority)
Hart said there is no appearance problem. "That's just normal" for leaders to contribute to campaigns, she said. http://usatoday.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=USATODAY.com+-+Donations+link+DeLay%2C+ethics+panel&expire=&urlID=14039098&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usatoday.com%2Fnews%2Fwashington%2F2005-04-26-delay-donations-ethics_x.htm&p
The lengths they go to: Republicans have gone into the Congressional record to rewrite Democrat proposals, ostensibly to make them look loony, crass, anti-American [values], etc.
The Republican-written rewrites, along with the Democratic description of the amendments, follows. RAW STORY has also learned that Republicans have not rewritten similar amendments in the past. A copy from the Congressional record in 2002 is included below, showing the "neutral" language used in a previous Congress.
The following amendments were offered and voted down by recorded votes in the Judiciary Committee markup of H.R. 748-The Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (CIANA):
DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT
AMENDMENT DESCRIPTION IN HOUSE REPORT 109-51
DEMS: a Nadler amendment allows an adult who could be prosecuted under the bill to go to a Federal district court and seek a waiver to the state’s parental notice laws if this remedy is not available in the state court. (no 11-16)
GOP REWRITE:. Mr. Nadler offered an amendment that would have created an additional layer of Federal court review that could be used by sexual predators to escape conviction under the bill. By a roll call vote of 11 yeas to 16 nays, the amendment was defeated.
http://rawstory.com/exclusives/byrne/gop_rewrites_dem_amendments_427.htm
Arnold: For all who feared the Constitution was about to be re-written so as to make him prez, his free-fall continues.
But in recent months, such talk has diminished considerably. Schwarzenegger showed during the recall that conventional politicians in a hurry-up campaign are no match for someone of his outsized personality. But governing has proven far different. He has been forced to pare back much of his second-year reform agenda. His poll numbers are sagging, and newly emboldened Democrats are challenging the governor at every turn. Now, the question is whether Schwarzenegger can make the transition from a cartoon-like character, all swagger and bluster, into a political leader capable of using his fame and considerable charm to achieve something lasting and meaningful. http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2005/0505.barabak.html
London Rail. Attention, those headed ‘overseas’. How far they’ve fallen
British commuters pay up to five times more than rail passengers on the Continent, a study has found.
While an annual season ticket from Hemel Hempstead to London costs £2,504 for a 23-mile journey, the equivalent would cost just £510 in Berlin.
Season tickets restricted to specific journeys within the South-east even cost considerably more than a permit to travel anywhere at any time throughout the Netherlands and Germany.
Off peak Travelcards come out no better, according to research conducted by the RMT rail union. For travel within a 15-mile radius from the centre of London the fare would about to £1,580, compared to within a 40-miles radius of Madrid at £510, Berlin (40-mile radius) at £829 and Paris (20-mile) at £950.
The news emerges after the Government announced price increases above the inflation rate. On some London commuter routes up to one out of every four trains runs late. It is also thought that further increases are in the pipeline. http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/transport/story.jsp?story=634071
British Inequality. Sounds familiar
Thousands of people are dying prematurely in deprived inner cities as the gap between rich and poor in Britain widens. The difference in life expectancy between the poorest and most affluent parts of the country has grown to 11 years and is now more pronounced than in Victorian times, researchers say. http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/story.jsp?story=634036
-R
I learned some things. I didn’t know that Clinton, Bush Sr., Reagan…all failed to develop an energy policy, but that Junior has done so. Also picked up that he’s been a victimized outsider-observer of the disappointing mean-spirited tone in D.C.
Other: They propose: Social Security benefits to be cut, aside from the cuts from privatization. Bone thrown to poor- yours will be cut less. Also: Bolton’s great, we’re making progress in Iraq, etc. Press corps: polite
Budget: The House passed theirs. Cuts $10 billion from Medicaid, as we don’t have the dough. But, we did have enough cash to fork over another $106 billion in tax cuts. Makes sense. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-budget29apr29,0,660387,print.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Bolton: Support fading, so it necessitates other strategies. Here’s one:
Republican lawmakers are considering bringing John Bolton's nomination as United Nations ambassador to a full Senate vote whether or not the Foreign Relations Committee approves him -- another sign of White House determination to fight for the controversial nominee.
Several Republican staffers said momentum has shifted in Mr. Bolton's favor because of a concerted administration campaign to solidify support for him before the Senate adjourns for a week tomorrow. Vice President Dick Cheney, Bush advisor Karl Rove and Mr. Bolton himself have lobbied individual senators.
Privately, several lawmakers acknowledged concerns that Mr. Bolton could be rejected by the foreign-relations panel. That committee delayed a vote on him last week after some Republican members asked for more time to study accusations that he bullied subordinates and exaggerated intelligence assessments. http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111464601996618962,00.html?mod=home_whats_news_us
Abu Ghraib: As we know, not the only example of abuse / torture. Human Rights Watch summarizes and characterizes Abu Ghraib as “the tip of an iceberg.”
The crimes at Abu Ghraib are part of a larger pattern of abuses against Muslim detainees around the world, Human Rights Watch said on the eve of the April 28 anniversary of the first pictures of U.S. soldiers brutalizing prisoners at the Iraqi jail. Human Rights Watch released a summary of evidence of U.S. abuse of detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, as well as of the programs of secret CIA detention, "extraordinary renditions," and "reverse renditions."
"Abu Ghraib was only the tip of the iceberg," said Reed Brody, special counsel for Human Rights Watch. "It's now clear that abuse of detainees has happened all over-from Afghanistan to Guantánamo Bay to a lot of third-country dungeons where the United States has sent prisoners. And probably quite a few other places we don't even know about."
Human Rights Watch called this week for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the culpability of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and ex-CIA Director George Tenet, as well as Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, formerly the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Gen. Geoffrey Miller, the former commander of the prison camp at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba in cases of crimes against detainees. http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/HRW/0a95a728282ef1cf141236fe2b3827fb.htm
What’s Happening, Iraq: New Government. The laughing stock, Ahmad Chalabi, is in!
Mr. Chalabi, a former Pentagon favorite who helped make the case for invading Iraq, may be the most controversial figure in the new Iraqi administration. He is widely disliked in Iraq, particularly among Sunnis, who have been angered by his campaign to oust former Baathists from government.
His new perch could help him carry out that agenda, particularly with an ally as the new head of Iraq's Interior Ministry, Bayan Salagh, who belongs to a Shiite political party that shares Dr. Chalabi's anti-Baathist agenda. Many of Iraq's critical anti-terrorist battalions are based in the Interior Ministry, and members of Mr. Salagh's party have sworn to purge some of the former Baathists who are among the top commanders there.
Dr. Chalabi has also been named as temporary head of the oil ministry until a full-time minister can be found. That appointment could raise alarms in light of Dr. Chalabi's conviction in Jordan on charges that he embezzled $30 million from a Jordanian bank. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/28/international/middleeast/28cnd-iraq.html?position=&ei=5094&en=b451f614b9e12620&hp=&ex=1114747200&adxnnl=1&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print&adxnnlx=1114697063-fEfyOWzo5luoT6lAFONbfA
What’s Happening, Venezuela: Chavez thumbs his nose. Keeping track...
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will visit Cuba on Thursday to discuss bilateral relations with Cuban leader Fidel Castro. The populist Venezuelan president's latest trip to the communist nation comes at a time of increasing strain with the United States.
During his visit to Havana, President Chavez plans to discuss energy and trade issues with Mr. Castro, but the two leftist leaders are likely to also team up in condemning U.S. policy.
In particular, President Chavez has taunted President Bush over the asylum appeal of Luis Posada Carriles, who is wanted in Venezuela in connection with the bombing of a Cuban passenger plane in 1973 that killed 73 people.
Posada Carriles is currently in the United States seeking asylum, after having been released from prison in Panama where he was convicted of a plot to kill Fidel Castro at a summit held there in the year 2000.
President Chavez maintains that it would be hypocritical for President Bush to pardon a man convicted of terrorist acts, while at the same time carrying on a war against terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan. http://www.politinfo.com/articles/article_2005_04_27_1642.html
Kerry and 2008: Whither reality testing?
As Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry and his wife prepare to visit Minneapolis on May 3, Sen. Mark Dayton said he has little doubt that Kerry is planning to run for president again in 2008.
When New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton attended the DFL Humphrey Day Dinner in Minneapolis less than two weeks ago, Dayton, D-Minn., told the crowd he hoped he was introducing "the next great president of the United States of America."
Two days later on the floor of the U.S. Senate, Dayton said Kerry approached him "with daggers in his eyes and said, 'What are you doing endorsing my 2008 presidential opponent?'... He was very serious."
Kerry's office disputes Dayton's account. David Wade, his spokesman, said "there was nothing but joshing on the Senate floor" between Dayton and Kerry, who have been friends for 35 years. http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5362878.html
Will DeLay get a fair hearing? Depends on what you call “fair”
All five Republicans on the House ethics committee have financial links to Tom DeLay that could raise conflict-of-interest issues should the panel investigate the GOP majority leader.
Public records show DeLay's leadership political action committee (PAC) gave $15,000 to the campaign of Rep. Melissa Hart, R-Pa. — $10,000 in 2000 and $5,000 in 2002. Hart would chair a panel to investigate DeLay if the committee moves forward with a probe.
The same political committee, Americans for a Republican Majority, also has donated to the campaigns of ethics Chairman Doc Hastings of Washington, Judy Biggert of Illinois and Tom Cole of Oklahoma. They are among scores of Republicans DeLay has contributed to. Cole and the remaining committee Republican, Lamar Smith of Texas, contributed to DeLay's legal defense fund. (Related link: Donations from Americans for Republican Majority)
Hart said there is no appearance problem. "That's just normal" for leaders to contribute to campaigns, she said. http://usatoday.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=USATODAY.com+-+Donations+link+DeLay%2C+ethics+panel&expire=&urlID=14039098&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usatoday.com%2Fnews%2Fwashington%2F2005-04-26-delay-donations-ethics_x.htm&p
The lengths they go to: Republicans have gone into the Congressional record to rewrite Democrat proposals, ostensibly to make them look loony, crass, anti-American [values], etc.
The Republican-written rewrites, along with the Democratic description of the amendments, follows. RAW STORY has also learned that Republicans have not rewritten similar amendments in the past. A copy from the Congressional record in 2002 is included below, showing the "neutral" language used in a previous Congress.
The following amendments were offered and voted down by recorded votes in the Judiciary Committee markup of H.R. 748-The Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (CIANA):
DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT
AMENDMENT DESCRIPTION IN HOUSE REPORT 109-51
DEMS: a Nadler amendment allows an adult who could be prosecuted under the bill to go to a Federal district court and seek a waiver to the state’s parental notice laws if this remedy is not available in the state court. (no 11-16)
GOP REWRITE:. Mr. Nadler offered an amendment that would have created an additional layer of Federal court review that could be used by sexual predators to escape conviction under the bill. By a roll call vote of 11 yeas to 16 nays, the amendment was defeated.
http://rawstory.com/exclusives/byrne/gop_rewrites_dem_amendments_427.htm
Arnold: For all who feared the Constitution was about to be re-written so as to make him prez, his free-fall continues.
But in recent months, such talk has diminished considerably. Schwarzenegger showed during the recall that conventional politicians in a hurry-up campaign are no match for someone of his outsized personality. But governing has proven far different. He has been forced to pare back much of his second-year reform agenda. His poll numbers are sagging, and newly emboldened Democrats are challenging the governor at every turn. Now, the question is whether Schwarzenegger can make the transition from a cartoon-like character, all swagger and bluster, into a political leader capable of using his fame and considerable charm to achieve something lasting and meaningful. http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2005/0505.barabak.html
London Rail. Attention, those headed ‘overseas’. How far they’ve fallen
British commuters pay up to five times more than rail passengers on the Continent, a study has found.
While an annual season ticket from Hemel Hempstead to London costs £2,504 for a 23-mile journey, the equivalent would cost just £510 in Berlin.
Season tickets restricted to specific journeys within the South-east even cost considerably more than a permit to travel anywhere at any time throughout the Netherlands and Germany.
Off peak Travelcards come out no better, according to research conducted by the RMT rail union. For travel within a 15-mile radius from the centre of London the fare would about to £1,580, compared to within a 40-miles radius of Madrid at £510, Berlin (40-mile radius) at £829 and Paris (20-mile) at £950.
The news emerges after the Government announced price increases above the inflation rate. On some London commuter routes up to one out of every four trains runs late. It is also thought that further increases are in the pipeline. http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/transport/story.jsp?story=634071
British Inequality. Sounds familiar
Thousands of people are dying prematurely in deprived inner cities as the gap between rich and poor in Britain widens. The difference in life expectancy between the poorest and most affluent parts of the country has grown to 11 years and is now more pronounced than in Victorian times, researchers say. http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/story.jsp?story=634036
-R
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
What’s Happening, Venezuela: The Chavez government suspends military cooperation with the U.S., the Administration says it’s more than concerned with the flirtation with China and Cuba. Ongoing.
President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela veers toward greater confrontation with Washington, the Bush administration is weighing a tougher approach, including funneling more money to foundations and business and political groups opposed to his leftist government, American officials say.
The Bush administration has already begun to urge Venezuela's neighbors to distance themselves from Mr. Chávez and to raise concerns about press freedoms, judicial independence and the Venezuelan government's affinity for leftist groups abroad, including Colombian guerrillas.
But it has found no allies so far in its attempts to isolate the Venezuelan leader, and it has grown more and more frustrated by Mr. Chávez's strident anti-American outbursts and policies that seem intended to fly in the face of Washington. On Sunday, Mr. Chávez ended a 35-year military cooperation agreement and ordered out four American military instructors he accused of fomenting unrest. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/26/international/americas/26venezuela.html?pagewanted=print&position=
Final, Final WMD Report: Confirming that they didn’t exist and weren’t transferred to Syria.
Although Syria helped Iraq evade U.N.-imposed sanctions by shipping military and other products across its borders, the investigators "found no senior policy, program, or intelligence officials who admitted any direct knowledge of such movement of WMD."
....Iraqi officials whom the group was able to interview "uniformly denied any knowledge of residual WMD that could have been secreted to Syria," the report said. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/04/25/AR2005042501554.html
Slowly, very slowly, ‘the people’ realize it’s all lies:
Half of Americans, exactly 50%, now say the Bush administration deliberately misled Americans about whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, the Gallup Poll organization reported this morning.
“This is the highest percentage that Gallup has found on this measure since the question was first asked in late May 2003,” Gallup observed. “At that time, 31% said the administration deliberately misled Americans. This sentiment has gradually increased over time, to 39% in July 2003, 43% in January/February 2004, and 47% in October 2004.” http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000894970
What’s Happening, Iraq: Desertions
Iraqi army and police units are deserting their posts after the recent escalation in insurgent attacks, according to reports from around the country yesterday.
The end of a relative period of calm after the election has posed the first real test for the embryonic security forces since coalition troops started cutting back on their military operations in February.
On average 20 Iraqis and two coalition soldiers have died every day this month. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/04/25/wirq25.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/04/25/ixnewstop.html
Former chairs of the 9/11 Commission: Stop the dilly-dalling
Congress and President Bush aren't moving fast enough to protect the nation from terrorist attacks, the leaders of the commission that investigated 9/11 said Tuesday.
Former commission chairman Thomas Kean and co-chairman Lee Hamilton said they are planning a half-dozen hearings in June and July to assess the government's progress in responding to the commission's 567-page report, released last summer. Commission members will issue a “report card” in July.
Kean and Hamilton told reporters and editors at USA TODAY that important recommendations from the report haven't been addressed. Among them are improved efforts to spread American values in the Muslim world and appointing a civil liberties board to monitor the nation's intelligence and security policies.
“We know many of these recommendations are going to be implemented,” Kean said. “The question is whether they're going to be implemented before the next attack or after it.” http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20050427/1a_lede27x_dom.art.htm
Otherwise: Higher oil prices forever, slumping economy and stock market, environment in increasing trouble, other critical needs ignored. Veteran journalist Robert Scheer notes:
Already the red state of Missouri is set to end its Medicaid program entirely within the next three years because of a lack of funds. As the Los Angeles Times reported, that will save the state $5 billion, but at the cost of ending healthcare for the more than 1 million Missourians enrolled in the program. That sum is less than half of what Halliburton, Vice President Dick Cheney's old company, alone has been paid for reconstruction efforts in Iraq, without much to show for it in terms of improving the Iraqis' quality of life.
Similarly, with roughly 10% of what we've spent in Iraq, we could make up the $27-billion federal funding shortfall in paying for Bush's controversial No Child Left Behind Act, which tells public schools that they will be all but scrapped if they don't improve — yet it doesn't provide the means to do so. This number comes from a lawsuit filed by school districts in Texas, Michigan and Vermont and the National Education Assn., the nation's largest teachers organization. http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-scheer26apr26,0,2052689.column?coll=la-home-utilities
Environment:
Scientists have discovered a massive acceleration in the breakdown of the ozone above the Arctic, with a 30% reduction over the winter.
At altitudes of 18km, 50% of the ozone has been wiped out by a combination of a build-up of clouds and, particularly, cold weather, which has created perilous conditions for the earth's protective layer of gases. http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,9830,1470809,00.html
New Yorker: Elizabeth Kolbert’s 3 part story, beginning with Disappearing islands, thawing permafrost, melting polar ice. How the earth is changing reminds us that we’ve struggled with acknowledging global warming since 1979, when the first definitive study concluded that it was very real, with very real affects.
The Ad Hoc Study Group on Carbon Dioxide and Climate, or the Charney panel, as it became known, met for five days at the National Academy of Sciences’ summer study center, in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Its conclusions were unequivocal. Panel members had looked for flaws in the modellers’ work but had been unable to find any. “If carbon dioxide continues to increase, the study group finds no reason to doubt that climate changes will result and no reason to believe that these changes will be negligible,” the scientists wrote. http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?050425fa_fact3
Polls: Bush in the tank
As the Senate moves toward a major confrontation over judicial appointments, a strong majority of Americans oppose changing the rules to make it easier for Republican leaders to win confirmation of President Bush's court nominees, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News Poll. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2004/10/26/AR2005032201677.html
And, the public disapproves all of his efforts- save “terrorism” by healthy margins. The poll also asks, ‘which party better represents your personal values’? The result: Democrats 47%, Republicans 38%.
Opposition to Bush Gaining: Why? Bolton’s in trouble, DeLay’s in trouble, the Right’s nutty privatization scheme for Social Security is in trouble. And, the Democrats are showing some spine. What’s happening? Robert Parry factors in “the rise of progressive media, most notably progressive AM talk radio.”
Certainly part of the explanation is Republican miscalculation, starting with Bush’s post-election decision to make partial privatization of Social Security his major domestic policy initiative. Bush also brazenly named the undiplomatic Bolton to a sensitive diplomatic job as U.N. ambassador.
Congressional Republicans overplayed their hand, too. They changed the ethics process to protect House Majority Leader DeLay from more reprimands. They appeared to pander to the Christian Right by intervening in the case of Terri Schiavo, a brain-damaged woman whose feeding tube was removed. The Republicans even let the Schiavo debacle taint the battle over confirming right-wing judges.
But another part of the answer lies with the Democrats. They appear less defensive, more willing to make their arguments without so many equivocations. Though there are still flashbacks to the old Democrats – for instance, Sen. Joe Biden’s reference to Alberto Gonzales as “old buddy” at the Attorney General’s confirmation hearing – those examples are rarer.
One explanation for the Democrats’ turnabout is the rise of progressive media, most notably progressive AM talk radio which has expanded rapidly over the past several months. Finally, Democratic leaders can go on sympathetic radio shows and make their case directly to listeners. http://www.consortiumnews.com/Print/2005/042605.html
End of Regulation? New scheme. Rolling Stone's Osha Gray Davidson on the Administration’s plan “to achieve what Ronald Reagan only dreamed of: the end of government regulation as we know it."
If you've got something to hide in Washington, the best place to bury it is in the federal budget. The spending plan that President Bush submitted to Congress this year contains 2,000 pages that outline funding to safeguard the environment, protect workers from injury and death, crack down on securities fraud and ensure the safety of prescription drugs. But almost unnoticed in the budget, tucked away in a single paragraph, is a provision that could make every one of those protections a thing of the past.
The proposal, spelled out in three short sentences, would give the president the power to appoint an eight-member panel called the "Sunset Commission," which would systematically review federal programs every ten years and decide whether they should be eliminated. Any programs that are not "producing results," in the eyes of the commission, would "automatically terminate unless the Congress took action to continue them."
The administration portrays the commission as a well-intentioned effort to make sure that federal agencies are actually doing their job. "We just think it makes sense," says Clay Johnson, deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget, which crafted the provision. "The goal isn't to get rid of a program -- it's to make it work better."
In practice, however, the commission would enable the Bush administration to achieve what Ronald Reagan only dreamed of: the end of government regulation as we know it. With a simple vote of five commissioners -- many of them likely to be lobbyists and executives from major corporations currently subject to federal oversight -- the president could terminate any program or agency he dislikes. No more Environmental Protection Agency. No more Food and Drug Administration. No more Securities and Exchange Commission. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/_/id/7265052?pageid=rs.Home&pageregion=single7&rnd=1114114700265&has-player=true&version=6.0.12.1059
Who are These Judges?
Janice Rogers Brown, perhaps the worst of the crew, notes that these are “perilous times for people of faith” in the U. S., believes minimum wage regulations should be outlawed, that Social Security can be equated with “cannibalism.”
Just days after a bitterly divided Senate committee voted along party lines to approve her nomination as a federal appellate court judge, California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown told an audience Sunday that people of faith were embroiled in a “war” against secular humanists who threatened to divorce America from its religious roots, according to a newspaper account of the speech.
Brown’s remarks come as a partisan battle over judges has evolved into a national debate over the proper mix of God and government and as Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) ponders changing the chamber’s rules to prevent Democrats from using procedural moves to block confirmation of conservative jurists such as Brown.
Her comments to a gathering of Roman Catholic legal professionals in Darien, Conn., came on the same day as “Justice Sunday: Stop the Filibuster Against People of Faith,” a program produced by evangelical leaders and simulcast on the Internet and in homes and churches around the country. It was designed to paint opponents of Bush’s judicial nominees as intolerant of believers. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-brown26apr26,1,2263009.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
-R
President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela veers toward greater confrontation with Washington, the Bush administration is weighing a tougher approach, including funneling more money to foundations and business and political groups opposed to his leftist government, American officials say.
The Bush administration has already begun to urge Venezuela's neighbors to distance themselves from Mr. Chávez and to raise concerns about press freedoms, judicial independence and the Venezuelan government's affinity for leftist groups abroad, including Colombian guerrillas.
But it has found no allies so far in its attempts to isolate the Venezuelan leader, and it has grown more and more frustrated by Mr. Chávez's strident anti-American outbursts and policies that seem intended to fly in the face of Washington. On Sunday, Mr. Chávez ended a 35-year military cooperation agreement and ordered out four American military instructors he accused of fomenting unrest. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/26/international/americas/26venezuela.html?pagewanted=print&position=
Final, Final WMD Report: Confirming that they didn’t exist and weren’t transferred to Syria.
Although Syria helped Iraq evade U.N.-imposed sanctions by shipping military and other products across its borders, the investigators "found no senior policy, program, or intelligence officials who admitted any direct knowledge of such movement of WMD."
....Iraqi officials whom the group was able to interview "uniformly denied any knowledge of residual WMD that could have been secreted to Syria," the report said. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/04/25/AR2005042501554.html
Slowly, very slowly, ‘the people’ realize it’s all lies:
Half of Americans, exactly 50%, now say the Bush administration deliberately misled Americans about whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, the Gallup Poll organization reported this morning.
“This is the highest percentage that Gallup has found on this measure since the question was first asked in late May 2003,” Gallup observed. “At that time, 31% said the administration deliberately misled Americans. This sentiment has gradually increased over time, to 39% in July 2003, 43% in January/February 2004, and 47% in October 2004.” http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000894970
What’s Happening, Iraq: Desertions
Iraqi army and police units are deserting their posts after the recent escalation in insurgent attacks, according to reports from around the country yesterday.
The end of a relative period of calm after the election has posed the first real test for the embryonic security forces since coalition troops started cutting back on their military operations in February.
On average 20 Iraqis and two coalition soldiers have died every day this month. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/04/25/wirq25.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/04/25/ixnewstop.html
Former chairs of the 9/11 Commission: Stop the dilly-dalling
Congress and President Bush aren't moving fast enough to protect the nation from terrorist attacks, the leaders of the commission that investigated 9/11 said Tuesday.
Former commission chairman Thomas Kean and co-chairman Lee Hamilton said they are planning a half-dozen hearings in June and July to assess the government's progress in responding to the commission's 567-page report, released last summer. Commission members will issue a “report card” in July.
Kean and Hamilton told reporters and editors at USA TODAY that important recommendations from the report haven't been addressed. Among them are improved efforts to spread American values in the Muslim world and appointing a civil liberties board to monitor the nation's intelligence and security policies.
“We know many of these recommendations are going to be implemented,” Kean said. “The question is whether they're going to be implemented before the next attack or after it.” http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20050427/1a_lede27x_dom.art.htm
Otherwise: Higher oil prices forever, slumping economy and stock market, environment in increasing trouble, other critical needs ignored. Veteran journalist Robert Scheer notes:
Already the red state of Missouri is set to end its Medicaid program entirely within the next three years because of a lack of funds. As the Los Angeles Times reported, that will save the state $5 billion, but at the cost of ending healthcare for the more than 1 million Missourians enrolled in the program. That sum is less than half of what Halliburton, Vice President Dick Cheney's old company, alone has been paid for reconstruction efforts in Iraq, without much to show for it in terms of improving the Iraqis' quality of life.
Similarly, with roughly 10% of what we've spent in Iraq, we could make up the $27-billion federal funding shortfall in paying for Bush's controversial No Child Left Behind Act, which tells public schools that they will be all but scrapped if they don't improve — yet it doesn't provide the means to do so. This number comes from a lawsuit filed by school districts in Texas, Michigan and Vermont and the National Education Assn., the nation's largest teachers organization. http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-scheer26apr26,0,2052689.column?coll=la-home-utilities
Environment:
Scientists have discovered a massive acceleration in the breakdown of the ozone above the Arctic, with a 30% reduction over the winter.
At altitudes of 18km, 50% of the ozone has been wiped out by a combination of a build-up of clouds and, particularly, cold weather, which has created perilous conditions for the earth's protective layer of gases. http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,9830,1470809,00.html
New Yorker: Elizabeth Kolbert’s 3 part story, beginning with Disappearing islands, thawing permafrost, melting polar ice. How the earth is changing reminds us that we’ve struggled with acknowledging global warming since 1979, when the first definitive study concluded that it was very real, with very real affects.
The Ad Hoc Study Group on Carbon Dioxide and Climate, or the Charney panel, as it became known, met for five days at the National Academy of Sciences’ summer study center, in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Its conclusions were unequivocal. Panel members had looked for flaws in the modellers’ work but had been unable to find any. “If carbon dioxide continues to increase, the study group finds no reason to doubt that climate changes will result and no reason to believe that these changes will be negligible,” the scientists wrote. http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?050425fa_fact3
Polls: Bush in the tank
As the Senate moves toward a major confrontation over judicial appointments, a strong majority of Americans oppose changing the rules to make it easier for Republican leaders to win confirmation of President Bush's court nominees, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News Poll. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2004/10/26/AR2005032201677.html
And, the public disapproves all of his efforts- save “terrorism” by healthy margins. The poll also asks, ‘which party better represents your personal values’? The result: Democrats 47%, Republicans 38%.
Opposition to Bush Gaining: Why? Bolton’s in trouble, DeLay’s in trouble, the Right’s nutty privatization scheme for Social Security is in trouble. And, the Democrats are showing some spine. What’s happening? Robert Parry factors in “the rise of progressive media, most notably progressive AM talk radio.”
Certainly part of the explanation is Republican miscalculation, starting with Bush’s post-election decision to make partial privatization of Social Security his major domestic policy initiative. Bush also brazenly named the undiplomatic Bolton to a sensitive diplomatic job as U.N. ambassador.
Congressional Republicans overplayed their hand, too. They changed the ethics process to protect House Majority Leader DeLay from more reprimands. They appeared to pander to the Christian Right by intervening in the case of Terri Schiavo, a brain-damaged woman whose feeding tube was removed. The Republicans even let the Schiavo debacle taint the battle over confirming right-wing judges.
But another part of the answer lies with the Democrats. They appear less defensive, more willing to make their arguments without so many equivocations. Though there are still flashbacks to the old Democrats – for instance, Sen. Joe Biden’s reference to Alberto Gonzales as “old buddy” at the Attorney General’s confirmation hearing – those examples are rarer.
One explanation for the Democrats’ turnabout is the rise of progressive media, most notably progressive AM talk radio which has expanded rapidly over the past several months. Finally, Democratic leaders can go on sympathetic radio shows and make their case directly to listeners. http://www.consortiumnews.com/Print/2005/042605.html
End of Regulation? New scheme. Rolling Stone's Osha Gray Davidson on the Administration’s plan “to achieve what Ronald Reagan only dreamed of: the end of government regulation as we know it."
If you've got something to hide in Washington, the best place to bury it is in the federal budget. The spending plan that President Bush submitted to Congress this year contains 2,000 pages that outline funding to safeguard the environment, protect workers from injury and death, crack down on securities fraud and ensure the safety of prescription drugs. But almost unnoticed in the budget, tucked away in a single paragraph, is a provision that could make every one of those protections a thing of the past.
The proposal, spelled out in three short sentences, would give the president the power to appoint an eight-member panel called the "Sunset Commission," which would systematically review federal programs every ten years and decide whether they should be eliminated. Any programs that are not "producing results," in the eyes of the commission, would "automatically terminate unless the Congress took action to continue them."
The administration portrays the commission as a well-intentioned effort to make sure that federal agencies are actually doing their job. "We just think it makes sense," says Clay Johnson, deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget, which crafted the provision. "The goal isn't to get rid of a program -- it's to make it work better."
In practice, however, the commission would enable the Bush administration to achieve what Ronald Reagan only dreamed of: the end of government regulation as we know it. With a simple vote of five commissioners -- many of them likely to be lobbyists and executives from major corporations currently subject to federal oversight -- the president could terminate any program or agency he dislikes. No more Environmental Protection Agency. No more Food and Drug Administration. No more Securities and Exchange Commission. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/_/id/7265052?pageid=rs.Home&pageregion=single7&rnd=1114114700265&has-player=true&version=6.0.12.1059
Who are These Judges?
Janice Rogers Brown, perhaps the worst of the crew, notes that these are “perilous times for people of faith” in the U. S., believes minimum wage regulations should be outlawed, that Social Security can be equated with “cannibalism.”
Just days after a bitterly divided Senate committee voted along party lines to approve her nomination as a federal appellate court judge, California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown told an audience Sunday that people of faith were embroiled in a “war” against secular humanists who threatened to divorce America from its religious roots, according to a newspaper account of the speech.
Brown’s remarks come as a partisan battle over judges has evolved into a national debate over the proper mix of God and government and as Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) ponders changing the chamber’s rules to prevent Democrats from using procedural moves to block confirmation of conservative jurists such as Brown.
Her comments to a gathering of Roman Catholic legal professionals in Darien, Conn., came on the same day as “Justice Sunday: Stop the Filibuster Against People of Faith,” a program produced by evangelical leaders and simulcast on the Internet and in homes and churches around the country. It was designed to paint opponents of Bush’s judicial nominees as intolerant of believers. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-brown26apr26,1,2263009.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
-R
Monday, April 25, 2005
What’s Happening, Iraq: Lack of Armor (continued) Since Kerry and the Democrats were slow and weak in publicizing, the soldiers have taken it on.
In returning home, the leaders and Marine infantrymen have chosen to break an institutional code of silence and tell their story, one they say was punctuated not only by a lack of armor, but also by a shortage of men and planning that further hampered their efforts in battle, destroyed morale and ruined the careers of some of their fiercest warriors. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/25/international/middleeast/25marines.html?hp&ex=1114488000&en=93b6d57bb86038e0&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Contractors Thriving... when surviving. Amidst the chaos, they’re making big bucks, at great risk
Indeed, with an estimated 240 deaths among some 20,000 armed private security contractors in Iraq, Rich's work is as risky or riskier than that of the U.S. military, as firms such as Blackwater take on an unprecedented role in the Iraq war. Blackwater has an average of 1,300 employees on a given day, spread out over seven countries, the firm says. That number includes hundreds in Iraq. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10547-2005Apr22.html
Escalation Worries More acknowledgement that ‘the corner’ hasn’t been turned, with attacks up by as much as 40 percent in some areas since the end of March. The Post reports that "hundreds of Iraqis and foreigners have died in the last week" as "insurgents run relatively free."
Violence is escalating sharply in Iraq after a period of relative calm that followed the January elections. Bombings, ambushes and kidnappings targeting Iraqis and foreigners, both troops and civilians, have surged this month while the new Iraqi government is caught up in power struggles over cabinet positions.
Many attacks have gone unchallenged by Iraqi forces in large areas of the country dominated by insurgents, according to the U.S. military, Iraqi officials and civilians and visits by Washington Post correspondents. Hundreds of Iraqis and foreigners have either been killed or wounded in the last week.
"Definitely, violence is getting worse," said a U.S. official in Baghdad, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "My strong sense is that a lot of the political momentum that was generated out of the successful election, which was sort of like a punch in the gut to the insurgents, has worn off." The political stalemate "has given the insurgents new hope," the official added, repeating a message Americans say they are increasingly giving Iraqi leaders. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12417-2005Apr23.html
A largely absent Iraqi security force and a tentative “Government” have been key factors to the insurgency's renewed success.
The protracted delay in forming an Iraqi government is imperiling the appointment of its prime minister, providing a new impetus for the insurgency and fanning renewed suspicion of the U.S. role here, Iraqi and Western observers say.
Doubts are growing that the government, once formed, will have time to complete the constitution-writing process — its principal task — by the mid-August deadline. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-fg-iraq24apr24,0,6987317.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Those Prison Abuses: Limited Accountability. Just the woman commander is targeted
A high-level Army investigation has cleared four of the five top Army officers overseeing prison policies and operations in Iraq of responsibility for the abuse of detainees there, Congressional and administration officials said Friday.
Among the officers was Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, who was the top commander in Iraq from June 2003 to July 2004. He was the highest-ranking officer to face allegations of leadership failure in connection with the scandal, but he was not accused of criminal misconduct. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/23/politics/23abuse.html?hp&ex=1114315200&en=4722c2e923dd850a&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Bolton More doubts
The nomination of John Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations was cast in further doubt on Friday when a fourth Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said more time was needed to review his record.
A spokeswoman for Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said the senator felt the committee "did the right thing delaying the vote on Bolton in light of the recent information presented to the committee."
Asked if Bolton, an outspoken critic of the United Nations, had Murkowski's support, spokeswoman Kristin Pugh said, "I can't speculate on how she would vote." [...] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10449-2005Apr22.html
States and Health Care:
In Tennessee, Gov. Phil Bredesen plans to end coverage for more than 320,000 adults, many of them elderly. In California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to shift more Medicaid recipients into managed care and require some to pay monthly premiums.
Minnesota may stop insuring 27,000 college students and adults without children. Washington state may require senior citizens to pay $3 for each prescription that Medicaid used to provide for free.
....In Missouri, where nearly one in five residents is enrolled in Medicaid, Gov. Matt Blunt is poised to sign the most drastic overhaul of all: a bill that would eliminate the program entirely in three years. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-medicaid24apr24,0,3416218.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Taxes: Moving Towards a Flat Tax Christian Science Monitor:
Bigger tax breaks for wealth produces a system in which the middle class pays about the same as the rich.
Billionaires are paying not much more taxes, proportionately, than those Americans who are merely prosperous.
It's a sign that, even without the formal adoption of a so-called "flat tax," America's tax system is getting flatter.
Ever since the introduction of the modern income tax in 1913, US policy has been guided by the notion that the rich should pay a larger of their income in federal taxes, since they arguably owe something extra to a government that protects their greater wealth, and to a society that has helped them prosper.
But a debate has long waged over just where to draw the line, with populists pushing to "soak the rich" and conservatives arguing that a too-progressive tax structure creates a disincentive for the creation of jobs and wealth that benefit the whole nation.
Chalk up President Bush as not just a tax cutter but also a tax flattener. Under Mr. Bush and a Republican Congress, big tax cuts since 2001 have given major tax reductions to those wealthy individuals presumed, up to now, to be able to afford paying a bigger chunk of their income in taxes. By one measure of the federal, state, and local tax burden, just 3.4 percentage points separate the effective tax rate paid by the top 1 percent of earners from the other 99 percent of American households.
"That's the goal of the president and Congress - to shift the tax and debt burden to middle-income Americans," charges Bob McIntyre, director of Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ), a liberal Washington think tank that crunched the numbers. http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0414/p03s01-usgn.html
Prisons: Full
Adding about 900 inmates per week between mid-2003 and mid-2004, the nation's prisons and jails held 2.1 million people, or one in every 138 U.S. residents, the government reported yesterday.
By last June 30, there were 48,000, or 2.3 percent, more inmates than the year before, according to the latest figures from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. The total inmate population has hovered around 2 million for the past few years, reaching 2.1 million on June 30, 2002, and just below that mark a year later.
Although the crime rate has fallen over the past decade, the number of people in prison and jail is outpacing the number of inmates released, said Paige Harrison, the report's co-author. The number of admissions to federal prisons in 2004 exceeded releases by more than 8,000, the study found. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/04/24/AR2005042401383.html
Dean: Blunt
Since taking over as chairman of the Democratic National Committee earlier this year, the former presidential candidate has been quoted in newspapers making unusually caustic remarks about Republicans.
Dean has suggested that they are "evil." That they are "corrupt." He called them "brain-dead" during a stop in Toronto -- and while the Terri Schiavo case was still in the news. He has tagged Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) as a "liar." Last week, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that he mimicked a "drug-snorting Rush Limbaugh" at an event there. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/04/24/AR2005042401160_pf.html
DeLay: More trouble. Some old, some new reports
The airfare to London and Scotland in 2000 for then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) was charged to an American Express card issued to Jack Abramoff, a Washington lobbyist at the center of a federal criminal and tax probe, according to two sources who know Abramoff's credit card account number and to a copy of a travel invoice displaying that number.
DeLay's expenses during the same trip for food, phone calls and other items at a golf course hotel in Scotland were billed to a different credit card also used on the trip by a second registered Washington lobbyist, Edwin A. Buckham, according to receipts documenting that portion of the trip. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12416-2005Apr23.html
A series of new allegations surfaced Sunday against John Bolton, adding fuel to the dispute surrounding President Bush's pick for U.N. ambassador and further calling into question whether he will ultimately get the post.
Newsweek reported, in its May 2 edition, that British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw complained about Bolton to then-U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in November 2003. Citing a "former Bush administration official who was there," Newsweek said Straw told Powell that Bolton -- Powell's undersecretary for arms control and international security -- was making it impossible to reach an agreement on Iran's nuclear program.
According to the official, Newsweek reports, Powell then turned to an aide and said, "Get a different view on [the Iranian problem]. Bolton is being too tough." http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/04/24/bolton.nomination/index.html
Social Security Update: The fainthearted Democrats who still aren’t solid against the privatization scam- Kent Conrad (N. Dakota), Ben Nelson (Nebraska) and Mark Pryor (Arkansas) in the Senate, Allen Boyd (Fla), Robrt Cramer (Alabama),Colin Peterson (Minnesota) note that while there still is no plan to discuss, they haven’t ruled out doing biz with the White House.
Senator Grassley still talks of putting out legislation:
"I'm going to put together a Republican-only bill as a first step to getting bipartisan support because I can't lose time waiting for the Democrats to come to the table." http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/22/politics/22bush.html?ex=1271822400&en=e086725aa606644d&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
-R
In returning home, the leaders and Marine infantrymen have chosen to break an institutional code of silence and tell their story, one they say was punctuated not only by a lack of armor, but also by a shortage of men and planning that further hampered their efforts in battle, destroyed morale and ruined the careers of some of their fiercest warriors. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/25/international/middleeast/25marines.html?hp&ex=1114488000&en=93b6d57bb86038e0&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Contractors Thriving... when surviving. Amidst the chaos, they’re making big bucks, at great risk
Indeed, with an estimated 240 deaths among some 20,000 armed private security contractors in Iraq, Rich's work is as risky or riskier than that of the U.S. military, as firms such as Blackwater take on an unprecedented role in the Iraq war. Blackwater has an average of 1,300 employees on a given day, spread out over seven countries, the firm says. That number includes hundreds in Iraq. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10547-2005Apr22.html
Escalation Worries More acknowledgement that ‘the corner’ hasn’t been turned, with attacks up by as much as 40 percent in some areas since the end of March. The Post reports that "hundreds of Iraqis and foreigners have died in the last week" as "insurgents run relatively free."
Violence is escalating sharply in Iraq after a period of relative calm that followed the January elections. Bombings, ambushes and kidnappings targeting Iraqis and foreigners, both troops and civilians, have surged this month while the new Iraqi government is caught up in power struggles over cabinet positions.
Many attacks have gone unchallenged by Iraqi forces in large areas of the country dominated by insurgents, according to the U.S. military, Iraqi officials and civilians and visits by Washington Post correspondents. Hundreds of Iraqis and foreigners have either been killed or wounded in the last week.
"Definitely, violence is getting worse," said a U.S. official in Baghdad, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "My strong sense is that a lot of the political momentum that was generated out of the successful election, which was sort of like a punch in the gut to the insurgents, has worn off." The political stalemate "has given the insurgents new hope," the official added, repeating a message Americans say they are increasingly giving Iraqi leaders. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12417-2005Apr23.html
A largely absent Iraqi security force and a tentative “Government” have been key factors to the insurgency's renewed success.
The protracted delay in forming an Iraqi government is imperiling the appointment of its prime minister, providing a new impetus for the insurgency and fanning renewed suspicion of the U.S. role here, Iraqi and Western observers say.
Doubts are growing that the government, once formed, will have time to complete the constitution-writing process — its principal task — by the mid-August deadline. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-fg-iraq24apr24,0,6987317.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Those Prison Abuses: Limited Accountability. Just the woman commander is targeted
A high-level Army investigation has cleared four of the five top Army officers overseeing prison policies and operations in Iraq of responsibility for the abuse of detainees there, Congressional and administration officials said Friday.
Among the officers was Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, who was the top commander in Iraq from June 2003 to July 2004. He was the highest-ranking officer to face allegations of leadership failure in connection with the scandal, but he was not accused of criminal misconduct. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/23/politics/23abuse.html?hp&ex=1114315200&en=4722c2e923dd850a&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Bolton More doubts
The nomination of John Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations was cast in further doubt on Friday when a fourth Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said more time was needed to review his record.
A spokeswoman for Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said the senator felt the committee "did the right thing delaying the vote on Bolton in light of the recent information presented to the committee."
Asked if Bolton, an outspoken critic of the United Nations, had Murkowski's support, spokeswoman Kristin Pugh said, "I can't speculate on how she would vote." [...] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10449-2005Apr22.html
States and Health Care:
In Tennessee, Gov. Phil Bredesen plans to end coverage for more than 320,000 adults, many of them elderly. In California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to shift more Medicaid recipients into managed care and require some to pay monthly premiums.
Minnesota may stop insuring 27,000 college students and adults without children. Washington state may require senior citizens to pay $3 for each prescription that Medicaid used to provide for free.
....In Missouri, where nearly one in five residents is enrolled in Medicaid, Gov. Matt Blunt is poised to sign the most drastic overhaul of all: a bill that would eliminate the program entirely in three years. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-medicaid24apr24,0,3416218.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Taxes: Moving Towards a Flat Tax Christian Science Monitor:
Bigger tax breaks for wealth produces a system in which the middle class pays about the same as the rich.
Billionaires are paying not much more taxes, proportionately, than those Americans who are merely prosperous.
It's a sign that, even without the formal adoption of a so-called "flat tax," America's tax system is getting flatter.
Ever since the introduction of the modern income tax in 1913, US policy has been guided by the notion that the rich should pay a larger of their income in federal taxes, since they arguably owe something extra to a government that protects their greater wealth, and to a society that has helped them prosper.
But a debate has long waged over just where to draw the line, with populists pushing to "soak the rich" and conservatives arguing that a too-progressive tax structure creates a disincentive for the creation of jobs and wealth that benefit the whole nation.
Chalk up President Bush as not just a tax cutter but also a tax flattener. Under Mr. Bush and a Republican Congress, big tax cuts since 2001 have given major tax reductions to those wealthy individuals presumed, up to now, to be able to afford paying a bigger chunk of their income in taxes. By one measure of the federal, state, and local tax burden, just 3.4 percentage points separate the effective tax rate paid by the top 1 percent of earners from the other 99 percent of American households.
"That's the goal of the president and Congress - to shift the tax and debt burden to middle-income Americans," charges Bob McIntyre, director of Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ), a liberal Washington think tank that crunched the numbers. http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0414/p03s01-usgn.html
Prisons: Full
Adding about 900 inmates per week between mid-2003 and mid-2004, the nation's prisons and jails held 2.1 million people, or one in every 138 U.S. residents, the government reported yesterday.
By last June 30, there were 48,000, or 2.3 percent, more inmates than the year before, according to the latest figures from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. The total inmate population has hovered around 2 million for the past few years, reaching 2.1 million on June 30, 2002, and just below that mark a year later.
Although the crime rate has fallen over the past decade, the number of people in prison and jail is outpacing the number of inmates released, said Paige Harrison, the report's co-author. The number of admissions to federal prisons in 2004 exceeded releases by more than 8,000, the study found. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/04/24/AR2005042401383.html
Dean: Blunt
Since taking over as chairman of the Democratic National Committee earlier this year, the former presidential candidate has been quoted in newspapers making unusually caustic remarks about Republicans.
Dean has suggested that they are "evil." That they are "corrupt." He called them "brain-dead" during a stop in Toronto -- and while the Terri Schiavo case was still in the news. He has tagged Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) as a "liar." Last week, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that he mimicked a "drug-snorting Rush Limbaugh" at an event there. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/04/24/AR2005042401160_pf.html
DeLay: More trouble. Some old, some new reports
The airfare to London and Scotland in 2000 for then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) was charged to an American Express card issued to Jack Abramoff, a Washington lobbyist at the center of a federal criminal and tax probe, according to two sources who know Abramoff's credit card account number and to a copy of a travel invoice displaying that number.
DeLay's expenses during the same trip for food, phone calls and other items at a golf course hotel in Scotland were billed to a different credit card also used on the trip by a second registered Washington lobbyist, Edwin A. Buckham, according to receipts documenting that portion of the trip. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12416-2005Apr23.html
A series of new allegations surfaced Sunday against John Bolton, adding fuel to the dispute surrounding President Bush's pick for U.N. ambassador and further calling into question whether he will ultimately get the post.
Newsweek reported, in its May 2 edition, that British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw complained about Bolton to then-U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in November 2003. Citing a "former Bush administration official who was there," Newsweek said Straw told Powell that Bolton -- Powell's undersecretary for arms control and international security -- was making it impossible to reach an agreement on Iran's nuclear program.
According to the official, Newsweek reports, Powell then turned to an aide and said, "Get a different view on [the Iranian problem]. Bolton is being too tough." http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/04/24/bolton.nomination/index.html
Social Security Update: The fainthearted Democrats who still aren’t solid against the privatization scam- Kent Conrad (N. Dakota), Ben Nelson (Nebraska) and Mark Pryor (Arkansas) in the Senate, Allen Boyd (Fla), Robrt Cramer (Alabama),Colin Peterson (Minnesota) note that while there still is no plan to discuss, they haven’t ruled out doing biz with the White House.
Senator Grassley still talks of putting out legislation:
"I'm going to put together a Republican-only bill as a first step to getting bipartisan support because I can't lose time waiting for the Democrats to come to the table." http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/22/politics/22bush.html?ex=1271822400&en=e086725aa606644d&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
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