Democrats Say Freedom' s Watch A 'Political Group'

The campaign committee for House Democrats has asked the IRS to investigate the activities of a conservative advocacy group.

There's a special election for an open House seat in Louisiana, and Freedom's Watch is running an ad attacking Democrat Don Cazayoux as a big-spending liberal.

"Where does Don Cazayoux stand? With Barack Obama for a big government scheme. Their plan raises...." the ad proclaims.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee accuses Freedom's Watch of being a political operation, that's getting away with the tax breaks meant for non-partisan organizations.

Freedom's Watch is financed by big donors. Democrats say it's doing work that the National Republican Congressional Committee can't do, because its contributions are down.

But a spokesman for Freedom's Watch says the Democrats don't understand the law.

Freedom's Watch spokesman Ed Patru says the group's tax-exempt status permits some political work. And his organization is careful to stay on the right side of the law.

-- Peter Overby

1:02 PM ET | 04-30-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

Obama, Clinton Pick Up More Superdelegates

As we mentioned yesterday, Sen. Hillary Clinton picked up the endorsement of North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley. At the press conferenced announcing his support for Clinton, Easley immediately angered Philadelphia when he called popular film character Rocky Balboa a "pansy" compared to Clinton. (Yea, but could she go three rounds with Apollo Creed?)

But Sen. Barack Obama also had a good day with superdelegates. He picked up the endorsement of Kentucky Rep. Ben Chandler, and Montana farmer Richard Machaceck, who is also a member of the Democratic National Committee.

Clinton's superdelegate lead continues to shrink. Obama is now only 21 behind her 260-239. He already leads in pledged delegates, popular vote and states won.

4:23 PM ET | 04-29-2008 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post

Former DOJ Official Pleads Guilty in Abramoff Case

Sometimes it's not what you know, it's who you know. And it worked in at least two ways for former Justice Department official Robert Coughlin II.

NPR's Peter Overby reports that Coughlin has admitted that he did favors for Jack Abramoff's lobby firm. He pleaded guilty to one count of conflict of interest in federal district court in Washington.

It was a short appearance. The proceeding only took 21 minutes. Coughlin made no statement. He just gave terse answers to questions by the judge.

Coughlin worked at the Justice Department, where he promoted the interests of Kevin Ring, a friend who was on Jack Abramoff's lobbying team. Ring took Coughlin to sports events, concerts, fancy meals and a golf course. The gifts were worth between 48 hundred and 62 hundred dollars.

(Interestingly, the government and defense disagree over the value of skybox seats for Redskins games.)

Coughlin has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. He is the third former Bush administration official to be snared in the probe. One GOP congressman has served prison time. Four others have been defeated or given up their seats.

Abramoff's Republican lobbying network collapsed in 2004, and he's now in prison.

But there's a twist to this tale ...

Now, the DOJ is hardly shy when it comes to prosecuting people involved in the Abramoff case. After all, they've been on this investigation since 2005 and they want us to remember. Typically they send out 2 press releases: one when the indictment or criminal information is filed, another when the defendant pleads.

But here's a case where DOJ said nothing. No press release. No release of the court documents. When DOJ public affairs was asked for the documents by reporters, they never replied to the requests.

There has been 13 prosecutions in the Abramoff probe. This is the only one that has been played in this way.

2:55 PM ET | 04-23-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

Weekend Edition Sunday Announces New Political Blogs

Never a bad time to talk about new NPR political blogs.

Weekend Edition Sunday is launching a new feature, Sunday Soapbox. It's the Web companion to the show's political coverage.

Here is what Davar Ardalan, supervising senior producer, has to say about the blogs.

"We are fortunate to have 3 fantastic experienced bloggers from different persuasions on-board to send us blogs regularly - both text and audio and soon video. Mindy Finn served most recently as Director of eStrategy for Mitt Romney's 2008 presidential campaign, Faye Anderson is a citizen journalist and blogger and new media consultant. She shares news information and trends that resonate with African American voters, and Joshua Levy is a web strategist whose work explores the intersections of technology politics and activism. He is Associate Editor of Personal Democracy Forum and TechPresident, two websites that cover how technology is changing politics, and is a frequent commentator on the use of the web in the 2008 election."

There are two posts available now. Mindy talks about why Sen. John McCain has the momentum right now. (Her thoughts on how online media have changed the dynamic, and ensured McCain coverage during a peroid when he might expect nothing, are eye-opening.)

Josh looks at online trends versus offline polls. While polls can give you one measurement, new online tracking tools can give quite another. For instance: "Despite Clinton's slight lead in the polls in Pennsylvania, Obama's Yahoo Buzz score there is 78% to Hillary's 19%. This means that among online voters searching for a Democratic candidate, folks are looking for Obama by a measure of roughly 4 to 1 -- about the same as Compete's FaceTime findings."

Meanwhile, Faye is in Philadelphia and will be doing some blogging for Weekend Sunday in the days leading up to the April 22nd Pennsylvania poll.

Thoughtful stuff.

Davar says she plans to ask readers to send in questions when the show plans to interview prominent political figures. So let'em know what you think.

6:38 PM ET | 04-19-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

Bloomberg: Next Year Will See An Adult in White House

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg definitely will not be invited to the ranch in Crawford, certainly not after his remarks about President Bush Thursday.

The New York Post reports that Bloomberg, former Democrat, former Republican and now Independent, was "hosting the city's most powerful executives at the Four Seasons for the annual distribution of the 'New York City Card,' a guide to the issues that top the mayor's agenda."

Bloomberg, and his friend California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, fielded questions on topics ranging from redistricting to free trade. During one of those discussions, Bloomberg quipped, "at least we'll have an adult in the White House next year."

Ouch.

Bloomberg himself still hasn't back a candidate yet. "I'm looking for a candidate who is willing to face reality and say we can't have everything."

10:21 AM ET | 04-18-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

Sen. Specter Rediagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease

Sen. Arlen Specter has been diagnosed with a recurrence of Hodgkin's disease, a cancer of the lymph system for which he was treated three years ago.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Specter said the recurrence "was detected during a routine scan of his chest and abdomen. A biopsy confirmed that the cancer had returned in a chest lymph node." Just last month he had talked about beating the disease while doing a tour for his new book, Never Give In: Battling Cancer in the Senate." This time, his stage is considered IIIA, which is "significantly less advanced," according to the statement from Specter's office.

"I consider this just another bump on the road to a successful recovery from Hodgkin's, from which I've been symptom-free for three years," Specter said in the statement. "I've beaten some tough medical problems and tough political opponents and I expect to beat this, too."

Specter has had a history of health problems. In 1993 he underwent surgery to remove a benign brain tumor, which recurred in 1996 and was successfully treated. He also had coronary bypass surgery in 1998.

10:50 AM ET | 04-16-2008 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post

House Lobbying Rules Leave Lots of Loopholes

The House ethics committee has written new rules for lawmakers who want to become lobbyists. There's been a recent spurt in the number of lawmakers leaving Capitol Hill for lobbying jobs.

House members who become lobbyists have to wait one year before they hit on their colleagues. A new law limits their other lobbying in the meantime.

Now the House ethics committee says those limits permit almost anything that's done "behind the scenes." That includes soliciting and advising clients.

The former lawmakers just can't let their names be openly associated with lobbying on Capitol Hill.

Even those new rules haven't kept up with the spinning of the revolving door.

Maryland Democratic Congressman Albert Wynn lost a primary in February. In March, he signed with a law firm that lobbies for 25 different corporations. But he won't make the move till June.

Nothing in the rules addresses Wynn's slow departure. But he promises to avoid conflicts

-- Peter Overby

10:58 AM ET | 04-10-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

Sec. of State Rice: U.S. Has "Birth Defect" About Race

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday that the United States still has trouble dealing with race because of a national "birth defect" that denied blacks the same opportunities as whites when the country was founded.

And Rice, while declining to comment on the current presidential campaign, said it was important for Democratic presidential contender Sen. Barack Obama to give his recent speech on race "for a whole lot of reasons."

"Black Americans were a founding population," she said. "Africans and Europeans came here and founded this country together -- Europeans by choice and Africans in chains. That's not a very pretty reality of our founding."

As a result, Miss Rice told editors and reporters at The Washington Times, "descendants of slaves did not get much of a head start, and I think you continue to see some of the effects of that. That particular birth defect makes it hard for us to confront it, hard for us to talk about it, and hard for us to realize that it has continuing relevance for who we are today," she said.

On the one hand, she told the Times, race in the U.S. "continues to have effects" on public discussions and "the deepest thoughts that people hold." On the other, "enormous progress" has been made, which allowed her to become the nation's chief diplomat.

"What I would like understood as a black American is that black Americans loved and had faith in this country even when this country didn't love and have faith in them -- and that's our legacy," she said.

10:20 AM ET | 03-28-2008 | permalink | comments (46) | e-mail post

Democrats Want To Close KBR Tax Loophole

Several Democratic lawmakers have decided that it's time for KBR Inc., the large U.S. contractor that provides many services to the U.S. military in Iraq (and that until last year was a unit of Halliburton Co.) to pay up.

On March 6th, the Boston Globe reported that KBR "skirted federal requirements to pay payroll taxes for Medicare and Social Security by setting up front companies" in the Cayman Islands.

More than 21,000 people working for KBR in Iraq - including about 10,500 Americans - are listed as employees of two companies that exist in a computer file on the fourth floor of a building on a palm-studded boulevard here in the Caribbean. Neither company has an office or phone number in the Cayman Islands.

The Defense Department has known since at least 2004 that KBR was avoiding taxes by declaring its American workers as employees of Cayman Islands shell companies, and officials said the move allowed KBR to perform the work more cheaply, saving Defense dollars. But the use of the loophole results in a significantly greater loss of revenue to the government as a whole, particularly to the Social Security and Medicare trust funds.

So The Swamp political blog reports that this news has lead Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John Kerry Thursday "to propose legislation that would prohibit companies like KBR from exploiting tax havens to avoid payroll taxes." Reps. Rahm Emanuel of Illinois and and Brad Ellsworth of Indiana are proposing the legislation, known as the Fair Share Act of 2008, in the House.

From the Democrats' press release on the proposed legislation:

"The reform will close the loophole that recently has allowed the defense contractor KBR Inc. to fleece the American taxpayer by almost $100 million a year. It was discovered that KBR has avoided paying its fair share of Social Security and Medicare taxes by creating shell companies in the Cayman Islands. The Fair Share Act of 2008 will end the practice of U.S. government contractors setting up sham companies in foreign jurisdictions to avoid payroll taxes."

4:00 PM ET | 03-13-2008 | permalink | comments (11) | e-mail post

"Doctor Death" to Run For Congress in Michigan

Assisted suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian says he's running for Congress in Michigan.

The Oakland (MI) Press reports that Kevorkian (who will be 80 in May) picked up petitions from the Oakland County Clerk's Office on Tuesday to run as a candidate with no party affiliation.

"I plan to," Kevorkian said Tuesday afternoon. "I wouldn't do this otherwise. We need some honesty and sincerity instead of corrupt government in Washington."

Kevorkian, who spent eight years in prison on second-degree murder charges because of his work with assisted suicides, said he would have more news on his candidacy next week.

Oakland County Prosecutor Dave Gorcyca, whose office was responsible for sending Kevorkian to prison, dismissed Kevorkian decision to run.

"I would place Jack Kevorkian's candidacy in the same ranking with (Texas U.S. Rep.) Ron Paul's (presidential run)," Gorcyca said. "It's probably more of a publicity stunt. To call attention to himself is standard protocol for Jack when he doesn't have the limelight focused on him. I would not consider his candidacy to be a legitimate one."

Michigan law does not prevent Kevorkian from either voting or running for office once he is released from prison. He lives in the 9th Congressional District. The seat is held by eight-term Republican incumbent Rep. Joe Knollenberg.

A clerk in the Oakland County's election office said that no one was quite sure exactly which office Kevorkian was running for (he said most of the time the office doesn't know until the papers are actually filed) but most people assume it's for Congress. If so, Kevorkian will need a minimum of 3000 and a maximum of 6000 registered voters to sign his petition.

In 1998, Kevorkian's attorney, Geoffrey Fieger, was the Democratic candidate for governor of Michigan and (to put it politely) got clobbered.

5:00 PM ET | 03-12-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Gov. Spitzer Says He Will Resign Effective Monday

Update: In a news conference this morning, New York Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer said he will resign his office, effective Monday.

"I'm deeply sorry that I did not live up to what was expected of me," he said in his resignation speech.

--------

The Associated Press is reporting that a top New York state official is saying that Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer has decided to resign, "completing a stunning fall from power after he was nationally disgraced by links to a high-priced prostitution ring."

Spitzer will hold a news conference at 11:30 this morning where he will announce his resignation, according to a second Spitzer official. Spitzer would be replaced by Lt. Gov. David Paterson, who will become New York's first black (and legally blind) governor. ABC News is reporting that transition talks are underway.

10:52 AM ET | 03-12-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

Second Muslim Elected to Congress

Democrat Andre Carson -- who describes himself as an "orthodox, secular, universal Muslim" - won Tuesday's special election to succeed his grandmother, the late U.S. Rep. Julia Carson, and fill out the final 10 months of her term.

The IndyStar.com reports that Carson defeated Republican Jon Elrod 54-43 percent in the battle for Indiana's 7th District. But Carson's struggles are not over. The Star reports that he faces a tough fight in the May 6th Democratic primary, and then another campaign in the fall to become the full-time member for the district and "be more than a footnote to his grandmother's legacy."

Carson's faith was an issue for some during the campaign, the Star also reports.

"And although much has been made of his faith as a Muslim -- as well as the fact that controversial Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan was among those who eulogized Carson's grandmother at her funeral -- Carson said his campaign had benefited from volunteers who crossed all age, racial, religious and social backgrounds."

Carson said in a recent interview that he is not a member of the Nation of Islam, not does he attend one of its mosques.

Elrod declined to concede Tuesday night's special election, saying he would wait until all the votes are counted. He also faces two Republican opponents on May 6th in his ongoing battle for become the first Republican to hold the district since 1975.

8:57 AM ET | 03-12-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

NPR Projects That Obama Wins Mississippi Primary

Based on early returns and exit polls, NPR projects Barack Obama will win the Democratic primary in Mississippi tonight.

8:28 PM ET | 03-11-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

Source: Spitzer Was Initial Target of Investigation

A law enforcement official told The Associated Press Tuesday that the prostitution case involving New York Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer grew out of "a public corruption inquiry triggered by Spitzer's movement of cash to bank accounts operated by the call-girl ring."

"Speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation, the official said that Spitzer was the initial target of the investigation, and that he was tracked using court-ordered wiretaps."

Spitzer was allegedly caught on a federal wiretap "arranging to meet in a Washington hotel room the night before Valentine's Day with a prostitute from a call-girl business known as the Emperor's Club V.I.P."

The New York Daily News reports that Spitzer used the name of friend and political donor George Fox when he signed into the Marriott Renaissance Mayflower Hotel in D.C.

NPR reports that Spitzer has hired the Manhattan law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison, one of the largest in the nation.

10:30 AM ET | 03-11-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

N.Y. Gov. Eliot Spitzer Linked to Prostitution Ring

The New York Times reports that New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer told his senior administration officials that he is linked to a prostitution ring, an official said.

The Times reports that "a person with knowledge of the governor's role said that the person believes the governor is one of the men identified as clients in court papers."

Spitzer is holding a news conference this afternoon to discuss the charges. More details as they emerge ...

Update: NPR reports that Spitzer apologized to his family and the public, but did not elaborate on the details of his involvement with the prostitution ring.

Spitzer says he "acted in a way that violates my obligations to my family" and says he has to spend time with his family. His wife stood at his side, her hands behind her back and her eyes cast downward, as he made the statement.

More: The Times is now reporting that Spitzer was caught on a federal wiretap "with a high-priced prostitute at a Washington hotel last month, according to a person briefed on the federal investigation." The Web site of the escort service, which worked under the name of the Emperors Club VIP, says it is "temporarily unavailable due to high traffic." But there are examples of past home pages at the Internet archive known as the Wayback Machine.

More: New York Newsday have a report on the man who would replace Spitzer if he steps down, Lt. Gov. David Paterson. If Spitzer does step down - as many political experts believe he will - Paterson will become the eighth African-American governor and New York's first.

6:45 PM ET | 03-10-2008 | permalink | comments (50) | e-mail post

Pryor to Run Uncontested For Second Term

Let's see, there was something that Arkansas Republicans were supposed to do today ... hmm, what was it? Hold a fundraiser for Mike Huckabee? ... Nope, already did that ... hold a primary? ... ditto ... oh yea, make sure they had a candidate to run against Democratic Senator Mark Pryor in the fall... oh, shoot!

It seems Pryor will get to run uncontested this year. The Associated Press reports that "Tom Formicola, who lost a bid for a Congressional seat in 2006, decided not to run against Pryor after thinking about it further over the weekend and discussing it with his family. Republican Party Chairman Dennis Milligan says the party does not plan to have a candidate for the U.S. Senate seat."

Huckabee actually had the most interesting comment about the race. When asked in February if he would run for the Senate, he said "There's a greater chance that I would dye my hair green, cover my body with tattoos and go on a rock tour with Amy Winehouse."

4:04 PM ET | 03-10-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Democrat Captures Former GOP Speaker's Seat

Former Republican Speaker of the House Denny Hastert represented his Illinois district in Congress for 21 years. But Saturday what had been a longtime Republican district switched when it elected Democrat Bill Foster in a special election.

The Associated Press reports that Foster, a wealthy businessman and scientist, defeated Republican businessman Jim Oberweis by capturing 53 percent of the nearly 100,000 votes cast in the election.

Republicans were quick to downplay the election's significance for the fall general election.

"The one thing 2008 has shown is that one election in one state does not prove a trend," National Republican Congressional Committee spokeswoman Karen Hanretty said in a statement.

But Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen predicted Foster's win would send out a "political shock wave."

"The message to Republican candidates is that John McCain's not going to be able to save you in this election," said Van Hollen, a Maryland congressman.

6:56 AM ET | 03- 9-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

Could GOP Lose Hastert's Illinois Seat?

An election to replace outgoing Representative (and former Republican Speaker of the House) Dennis Hastert is turning into a knock-em down, drag-em out battle between the GOP and Democrats in Illinois.

The national parties have each poured about $1.5 million into this contest in the last week alone.

As NPR's David Schaper reports the Democrats are pulling out the big guns, including airing ads by Sen. Barack Obama, to help their candidate, physicist Bill Foster. Traditionally, the district has voted for Republicans. The Democrats see a victory here as a real knock against the Bush presidency and a possible bellwether for the fall campaign.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Republican dairy magnate Jim Oberweis is having problems "selling himself to mostly Republican voters in this far west suburban congressional seat ..."

"There's a lot of Republicans who just don't like Jim Oberweis,'' said NIU political science professor Matthew Streb. "He's got more name recognition. He's got slightly more money, and the district leans Republican. There's no reason Jim Oberweis should lose, but there's a very legitimate chance he could lose this election."

Foster, the Sun-Times notes, has adopted an interesting approach to questions about what he would do as a freshman in Congress. "Not much," he admits, noting that new members don't have all that much clout.

Foster, who is new to politics, also runs a theatrical lighting company. Aside from Obama he has the backing of 21 Nobel Prize winners (who apparently love the idea of a scientist winning a seat in Congress). Oberweis chairs an asset management company and three mutual funds. The Sun-Times reports that he "is well-known to voters from controversial ads and statements he made in three previous races for governor and U.S. Senate. In 2001, he compared anti-abortion activists to members of the Taliban."

10:58 AM ET | 03- 7-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

Ron Paul, Kucinich Win Their Primaries

Ohio Democratic Representative Dennis Kucinich and Texas Republican Representative Ron Paul both held off contenders last night to easily win their parties' primaries in their districts.

Morning Edition reports that the two presidential candidates (one who has ended his campaign and one who continues on despite the prize already being won by someone else) were supposed to be in a bit of trouble because they had spent so much time running for the Oval Office. But both men easily defeated challengers.

Top of the Ticket at the Los Angeles Times reports that "With about half the precincts counted (what's the rush--it's Texas) Paul was thumping Friendswood City Councilman Chris Peden by two-to-one."

Meanwhile, Dennis Kucinich was winning too; "The main competitor was City Councilor Joe Cimperman, who trailed Kucinich 52% to 33% in early returns, despite several endorsements by the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The liberal Kucinich dropped out of the Democratic presidential race and, using his list of national donors, most of whom don't live in Cleveland on purpose, Kucinich raised a reported $700,000 to protect his congressional seat."

Paul faces an easier reelection bid in the fall, while Kucinich will face off against Republican state Rep. Jim Trakas.

10:30 AM ET | 03- 5-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

Ron Paul Starts to Spread His Donors List

He won't come close to winning the Republican presidential nomination, but Texas Rep. Ron Paul is using some of the money he raised during his bid to help candidates for other political offices who share his views.

Paul raised $32 million through the end of January, and as CQ Politics points out, he created a massive donors list. He's using that list to help candidates such as Murray Sabrin, a New Jersey Senate candidate, and his fellow representative Walter B. Jones in North Carolina who is also an ardent opponent of the war in Iraq.

Jones said he already has raised about $5,000 from Paul supporters, which is not an insubstantial figure in a relatively inexpensive market. Jones had raised $192,185 through the end of December, and his rival for the GOP nomination, Joe McLaughlin, had collected $78,278.

Paul says lending a hand to his friends is old hat but acknowledges it's a bigger hat these days.

"I've been helping people for a long time. Nothing new about it," he said during a brief interview in the Capitol on Tuesday. "The degree might be different but the principle's the same."

Paul's presidential spokesman, Jesse Benton, said the campaign is still working on idea of how to use its donor list to help candidates who run on a constitutionalist platform. "We put together a movement and that movement is going to continue," Benton said.

6:59 AM ET | 03- 4-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

Anchorage Mayor to Run Against Sen. Stevens

It's been a tough year for Alaska Republican Senator Ted Stevens. Last July, the FBI raided one of his homes as part of a wide-ranging corruption investigation into ties between Alaska politicians and the oil services giant VECO. Stevens has refuted the charge.

The Anchorage Daily News has also reported that "The government is also investigating the extensive connections between Ted Stevens, his son Ben Stevens, who is a former Alaska Senate president, and Alaska and Seattle fishing companies, according to other subpoenas that have become public."

Now comes word that Stevens may face his toughest competitor in years in his 2008 contest to keep his seat in the Senate. Politico.com reports that "Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich is expected to announce this afternoon that he'll be running against Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), setting up a political battle between an iconic figure in Alaska politics against one of the rising Democratic stars statewide."

Stevens faces self-funding businessman David Cuddy in the Republican primary, which will be held August 26. And Begich still has to win his party's nomination, where he is set to face former state Rep. Ray Metcalfe.

2:37 PM ET | 02-27-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

William F. Buckley Dead at 82

The New York Times website reports that leading conservative writer and commentator William F. Buckley has died at age 82.

More details as they come.

Update: The Corner at National Review Online, the web version of the magazine Buckley founded, is collecting readers' comments about Buckley.

More: Here is the YouTube version of the classic talking-duel from the Buckley versus Gore Vidal debate in 1968.

More: Here is an hour-long Charlie Rose show that features many clips of Buckley.

11:20 AM ET | 02-27-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

Boxer: Evidence Proves EPA Chief Overruled Staff

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson is gonna have more 'splaining to do.

At least that the opinion of Sen. Barbara Boxer, the chair of the Senate's Committee on the Environment and Public Works. She released more evidence today that Johnson overruled the almost unanimous opinion of his staff not to block the efforts of California and 15 other states to combat greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks.

As Talking Points Memo notes, the Johnson decision made the White House and the automobile industry happy.

Boxer says the evidence - which includes talking points prepared for a senior official in the EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality for a meeting with Johnson - illustrates how opposed the senior staff was to his decision.

One of the talking points reads: "From what I have read and the people I have talked to, it is obvious to me that there is no legal or technical justification for denying this. The law is very specific about what you are allowed to consider, and even if you adopt the alternative interpretations that have been suggested by the automakers, you still wind up in the same place."

Another reads: "You have to find a way to get this done. If you cannot, you will face a pretty big personal decision about whether you are able to stay in the job under those circumstances. This is a choice only you can make, but I ask you to think about the history and the future of the agency in making it. If you are asked to deny this waiver, I fear the credibility of the agency that we both love will be irreparably damaged."

"These documents paint a picture of an Environmental Protection Agency in crisis," Boxer told a news conference. "They show the dedicated professional staff of the EPA working hard to do what they are paid to do by the American people - protect our health and our environment. At the same time, we see more and more evidence of Administrator Johnson ignoring the science and the facts, and discarding the advice of his professional staff."

Boxer said the decision would be overturned by the next administration, or the courts, but that Johnson "can save the taxpayers time and money, and can get us started cleaning up our air if he would simply follow the law, the facts, and the advice of his agency professionals."

4:54 PM ET | 02-26-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Attorney General to Website: Let's Be Buddies Again

A few month ago, the center-liberal website/blog TMPMuckraker.com ran an article about what it alleged were a series of "false statements DOJ spokesman Brian Roehrkasse had made during the course of the US Attorney scandal before being promoted to Director of the Office of Public Affairs at the end of last summer."

After the article appeared, TPMuckraker and its mothership, Talking Points Memo, suddenly found it was persona non grata with the DOJ and saw its supply of press releases from the department dry up. Josh Marshal says this sudden dry spell also started right around the time Mr. Roehrkasse got his new job as the head of the office that sends them out.

Marshall says that various explanation for the dry spell followed - "like an apparent budget shortfall or bandwidth dearth that made the costs of sending us their email press releases prohibitive."

Well, Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) and others took the matter up with the new Attorney General Michael Mukasey ... and he must have found a few extra dollars in the kitty because on Friday, the press releases once again began pouring into the TPM in-boxes.

Roehrkasse told The New York Times that the issue was whether TPM was a "credentialed" news organization.As Marshall writes in conclusion, " ... suffice it to say that we are no more 'credentialed' today than we were in October. So I'll let people draw their own conclusions."

What Marshall is too modest to mention is that his and TPM's reporting on the DOJ fired-attorney scandal last week won a George K. Polk Award for legal reporting.

4:00 PM ET | 02-25-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

Why The Globe Didn't Run the Times' McCain Story

When The New York Times ran its much-criticized story (even the paper's own ombudsman attacked it in his column on Sunday) about Sen. John McCain and his relationship with a lobbyist named Vicki Iseman, one of the papers that didn't run the Times piece was The Boston Globe. Instead, the Globe went with an update on the story from The Washington Post.

Which was a bit unusual since the Globe is owned by the Times. When asked for a comment on why the Globe did this, editor Marty Baron said "no comment."

But according to an item in the Top of the Ticket blog in the Los Angeles Times political section, there was a reason. Andrew Malcolm wrote that a senior editor from the Globe contacted him with an interesting bit of information. While the Globe's website did contain a link to the original Times story, the Globe editor sent him another link - to a transcript of a chat with Walter V. Robinson, a Globe investigative reporter, Pulitzer Prize winner, editor and now a journalism professor at Northeastern University.

The chat is about a series of articles that Robinson wrote on Jan. 5, Jan. 7 and Jan. 9 in 2000 about McCain's connections to Paxson Communications (one of the firms represented by Iseman) and other special interests.

"Robinson found McCain traveling on corporate jets owned by special interests to give speeches against special interests within days of receiving political contributions from the special interests' executives. McCain and the executives denied any quid pro quo, and noted his actions were legal at the time."

Which, we can now understand [Malcolm writes], is a real reason behind the Globe not publishing the New York Times' "scoop." Because it wasn't news. The Boston paper, a Times subsidiary, had already exposed the same issues and people and denials regarding McCain in articles written by its own reporter fully eight years ago.

"What's it like," one of the online chatters asks the now retired reporter, "to be first on a story and then see some other outfit redo it and get huge national play?"

To which Robinson simply replies, "Imitation is the highest...etc."

2:00 PM ET | 02-25-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

Bob Inglis Knows How to Get Down and Boggie!

OK, it's the age of the Internet video and all of the presidential campaigns have posted numerous made-for-the-'Net videos on video-sharing sites like YouTube. And many outside groups and supporters have created their own videos and musical numbers to celebrate their candidates.

But few of them can top incumbent Republican South Carolina Congressman Bob Inglis for sheer get-down, flunky ... boogy-ness - in a sort of awkward, white-guy kind of way.

The Inglis for Congress Committee has put together a video that would make John Travolta ... give up dancing forever. Under the motto of "To first lead a nation, you must lead a line dance," the congressman for the "reliably conservative" District 4 House seat uses the video to invite folks to an event on Saturday March 8th. It's funny and self-deprecating and well, painful to watch in a "I have this recurring nightmare about high school dances in the 70s" kind of way.

But it's also a great example of how candidates can reach whole new audiences in new ways - especially younger audiences.

So get on your boogie shoes and watch the video!

(Hat tip to NPR's Robert Smith.)

12:17 PM ET | 02-25-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

Report: Karl Rove Wanted Dirt on Alabama Gov.

A former campaign worker has told CBS's 60 Minutes that Karl Rove, President Bush's one-time top adviser, tried to get her to find evidence that former Alabama Gov. Don Siegleman was cheating on his wife. Jill Simpson has long alleged that Rove may have influenced the Justice Department when it sought charges against Siegleman, who is currently serving seven years.

Rove's attorney denied the charges.

The Justice Department has said there is no basis in Simpson's allegations about Rove interfering in the case, and that Siegleman was convicted by a jury. The Associated Press reports that the Justice prosecution of Siegleman "stemmed from his appointment of former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy to an influential hospital regulatory board in exchange for Scrushy arranging contributions to Siegleman's campaign for a state lottery."

But Democrats on Capitol Hill are looking into the case as part of a broader look at how the White House may have influenced cases at the Justice Department. Forty former Attorneys General have also called for a congressional investigation into the case.

10:10 AM ET | 02-22-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

House Proposes New Version of Farm Bill

House lawmakers proposed a new version of the farm bill in an effort to get it approved by the president. The White House has said that the original bill was full of "wasteful spending."

The Associated Press reports that House Agriculture Committee Chairman Democratic Rep. Collin Peterson, and Virginia Rep. Robert Goodlatte, the top Republican on the committee, are proposing stricter limits on subsidies paid to wealthy farmers and slashing extra spending for farm programs.

But it isn't going to be easy. Already several prominent senators from both parties have said they won't support the House bill. Democratic Sen. Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee (which also has jurisdiction over the bill), said the Peterson proposal wasn't going to fly.

(One of the programs that was scheduled for the cutting block in Peterson's new program was a $5 billion fund created by Baucus to subsidize farmers who have lost crops due to weather-related disasters.)

This had been a long-running show - the House passed its version of the bill in July of 2007 and the Senate in December. But the White House said it has too many "extras." The new version by Peterson would reduce extra spending for farm programs by $6 billion over ten years.

But Peterson and Senate Agricultural chairman sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa are playing tough as well. They've said if they can't reach an agreement by March 15, they "might bypass an extension of current law - it expires March 15 - and allow farm policy to revert to permanent statutes last updated in 1949" - which would end subsidies and programs for almost all sectors of the agricultural industry.

4:57 PM ET | 02-14-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

The "Toscanini" of the Telestrator

If you watch cable TV as the primary returns roll in on big voting nights -- and no, boss, I'm not advocating such a radical step when my worthy NPR colleagues are on the air during our special coverage -- it's worth taking a look over at CNN and watch an extraordinary marriage of insight and technology.

I often find the bells and whistles on election nights to be overdone and underwhelming -- a desperate attempt to distract you from the absence of substance. Still, all of the television networks have introduced new graphic looks -- and our high-amped friends at Wired Magazine have beaten us to the punch in describing it down to the last pixil.

But when CNN turns things over to chief national correspondent John King, the man becomes the Toscanini of the Telestrator. He stands before a giant screen and manipulates maps as though they were icons on a giant iPhone display -- highlighting then and shunting aside states -- burrowing down to the county level and then local level --- identifying and magnifying key districts -- even using satellite photos, in one case, to show how the economy of one part of Northern Virginia is dependent on the industry linked to one building: the Pentagon.

As I watched some of the returns earlier this evening, I felt I understood where and how Mike Huckabee's surprising levels of support were emerging in the Republican primary vote in Virginia. Technology that illuminated rather than distracted -- who would have thunk it?

-- David Folkenflik

10:16 PM ET | 02-12-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

No More Money for You!

Drastic times call for drastic actions, and BUILD PAC, the political action committee of the National Association of Home Builders, says it's cutting off contributions to congressional candidates — incumbents and challengers alike.

The reason is visible in almost any neighborhood: The housing market's on the skids. The essential number for home builders, new housing starts, fell 25 percent last year. It was like getting blasted back to 1980.

BUILD PAC's 160-member board said it took the move after watching Congress and the Bush administration fumble the problem for six months. They said the freeze will last "until further notice."

The freeze-out goes against a PAC's raison d'etre. Typically, they're scrutinizing the candidates like judges at the county fair, weighing which pol merits how much money. In fact, in 14 years working this beat for NPR, I can't remember another example.

And BUILD PAC is a serious player in Washington. In 2006, it ranked third in contributions, distributing $2.9 million. (Republicans got 73 percent.) This cycle, it had only given out $865,800 as of Dec. 31 (55 percent to Republicans). It had $1.4 million in the bank.

But unless the housing market comes zooming out of this dive and association members start making money again, BUILD PAC may have much less than usual in its kitty for candidates.

- Peter Overby

6:40 PM ET | 02-12-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Other Races to Watch

While the focus of today's "Potomac Primary" is naturally on the presidential races, Maryland also has two interesting congressional primaries to watch.

In Prince George's County, a Washington, D.C., suburb with a black majority, eight-term Democratic incumbent Albert Wynn is facing a second spirited challenge from Donna Edwards. She lost by just 3 percentage points in 2006 and is better funded this time around. Liberals have been unhappy with Wynn's initial support for the war in Iraq and his vote in favor of a bill tightening bankruptcy rules.

Over on the Eastern Shore (of the Chesapeake Bay, hon) nine-term Republican incumbent Wayne Gilchrest is facing a challenge from his right. Here, conservatives are unhappy that Gilchrest voted in favor of a timeline for withdrawal from Iraq and backed a resolution against the troop surge. He has also taken moderate stands on social issues. His opponents, two state senators, say they are the true Republicans in the race.

- Brian Naylor

6:10 PM ET | 02-12-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

People Are Not Happy With President, Congress

It's like a race to the bottom.

President Bush hit his lowest approval rating of his entire presidency, registering a lowly 30 percent in the most recent Associated Press-Ipsos poll. His support among his fellow Republicans also plummeted - just 61 percent gave Bush positive reviews and only 28 percent of them expressed strong approval.

Those surveyed were particularly unhappy with the president on issues like health care, energy and the environment, His approval rating on Iraq was 33 percent, unchanged since the last poll.

But he's not alone - the Democratic-controlled Congress did worse, getting only a 22 percent approval rating. As AP reports, "It's almost as if people can barely stand the thought of President Bush and Congress anymore."

The Congress is only four points from its lowest approval rating ever - 18 percent. That occurred in 1992 during a furor over lawmakers who bounced House bank checks.

8:01 AM ET | 02- 8-2008 | permalink | comments (8) | e-mail post

In Other News...

In Illinois, all but overshadowed by the presidential primary featuring (adopted) favorite son Barack Obama versus favorite daughter Hillary Clinton, there are several contested congressional primaries today.

Two are in and around Chicago. In the 14th District, two Republicans are battling to win the GOP nomination to succeed former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who has resigned. In the 3rd District, incumbent Dan Lipinski is facing an unusual primary challenge from two Democrats.

Two Democrats are facing off to run against incumbent Republican Mark Kirk in the 10th District. And in the Peoria area, three Republicans are fighting for the nomination to succeed retiring Congressman Ray LaHood.

-- Brian Naylor

10:17 PM ET | 02- 5-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

President Talks Tough, But Looks to Avoid a Fight on Earmarks

As the expression says, you can talk the talk, but you also have to walk the walk. And right now, some people are questioning whether President Bush, who has been talking tough about cutting back on earmarks, isn't just trying to pass off a confrontation over the issue to his successor.

Congressional "earmarks" are the pet-project spending items lawmakers love to attach to often totally unrelated pieces of legislation.

NPR's Peter Overby reports that the President's new budget proposal wants to cut earmarks in half, especially those that get tucked into Congressional reports. But President Bush seems to be pushing "the heavy lifting" off to the next president according to budget experts.

For instance, in his State of the Union address, he said he would instruct government offices to ignore all "future" earmarks not passed into law by Congress. The only problem is that he just signed a bill that contains 11,000 earmarks. And there is a good chance that, in an election year, bills and budgets talks will move very slowly since the Democrats control the House and the Senate, and may be willing to stall on legislation in order to see if a Democrat gets elected president in the fall.

Which means that while President Bush may like to sound tough about earmarks, there is a very good chance he'll never have to really deal with them again. That job will fall to man or possibly woman who takes is place.

11:53 AM ET | 02- 5-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

Proposed Budget Tops $3 Trillion for First Time

It's a lot of money. For the first time in history, a budget proposed by a president has topped the $3 trillion mark. The new budget proposed by President Bush this morning comes in at a whopping $3.1 trillion.

But outside of national security, most government departments get squeezed. The president also wants to find a way to save $196 billion over the next five years on Medicare for the elderly and Medicaid for the poor. But even with these savings, the deficit will soar - $410 billion in 2008 and $407 billion in 2009. President Bush already owns the record for the largest deficit ever in a 12-month period: $413 billion in 2004.

The Bush government is projecting a $48 billion surplus, however, by 2012. But that statement was met by much skepticism from many lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

"They've obviously played an inordinate number of games to try to make it look better," Sen. Judd Gregg, the top Republican on the Budget Committee, said in an interview with The Associated Press. "Let's face it. This budget is done with the understanding that nobody's going to be taking a long, hard look at it."

The Office of Management and Budget has the entire budget online. The president stopped passing out more than 3000 copies last year as a money saving measure. The Democrats joked it was because he ran out of red ink to print them with.

12:15 PM ET | 02- 4-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

Farmers Angry Bush Left Farm Bill Out of Speech

Let's see ... economy .. check. The success of the surge ... check. Renewing No Child Left Behind ... check. Nasty Iranian rulers ... check. Shot at Bill Clinton's remark about his willingness to pay more taxes ... check.

President Bush's checklist-like State of the Union speech covered a lot of important ground. But it seems like there was something missing, something really big ...

Oh yea, the farm bill.

No where in his speech did the president mention the multibillion-dollar measure now pending in Congress. In fact, he never mentioned "rural" once, and the only time he talked about agriculture was in the context of overseas producers. And as Politico reports, the U.S. agricultural community is not happy about being left out.

"Rural Americans are the genuine forgotten people, and you have just underscored that," William Greener, a longtime Republican political consultant who has focused on rural voting patterns, told Politico.

"As someone who has a passion for rural America, I certainly wish the president had given it more attention. And I would advise my fellow Republicans: to take any voter group, most especially rural Americans, for granted is at our own peril. It's not a good idea."

While the Bush administration may have stayed away from mentioning the expensive bill at a time when the president wants to reestablish credentials as a budget-hawk, it provides an opening for Democrats - for instance, as we mentioned yesterday, Sen. Barack Obama is campaign aggressively in normally red-state Kansas.

10:21 AM ET | 01-31-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

Early Results Show Tight Democratic Race, McCain Victory

Early results from New Hampshire - about 11 percent of polls reporting - show a tight race between Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama. Currently Clinton has 38 percent and Obama has 36 percent. Former Sen. John Edwards is in third with 17 percent.

On the Republican side, NPR's political team has declared Sen. John McCain the winner of the New Hampshire primary. Currently he is leading former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney, 37 percent to 28 percent. Mike Huckabee is third with 12 percent, then Rudy Giuliani with nine percent and Ron Paul with eight percent. Former Sen. Fred Thompson has one percent.

8:14 PM ET | 01- 8-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Remembering Political Figures Who Left Us in 2007

Yea, the Iowa caucuses are tomorrow and New Hampshire votes next Tuesday. But it is the end of one year, and the beginning of the next, and that means it's also time to pause for a moment and reflect over the events of the past 12 months. Our own political junkie, Ken Rudin, looks at the political figures who passed away in 2007.

"Among the departed is Sen. Craig Thomas, the Wyoming Republican, as well as five members of the House, three of whom were women. Gone also were a first lady (Lady Bird Johnson) and two others who might have been (Eleanor McGovern and Jane Wyman). From the era of Watergate, we lost one of the leading conspirators of the scandal (Howard Hunt) and three congressmen from the House Judiciary Committee who wrestled with presidential impeachment (Robert Drinan, Wiley Mayne and Bill Hungate). A vice presidential candidate who lasted just 18 days on the ticket (Tom Eagleton) and a congressman who dearly wanted to be named to the ticket (Guy Vander Jagt). The voices of powerful congressmen (Henry Hyde) and phenomenal journalists (David Halberstam, for one) were lost as well."

Ken offers a chronological list of those who died in 2007, the well-known and the obscure ... even a former New York Yankee's pitcher who became mayor of Wake Forest, North Carolina after his baseball career ended.

(But since Iowa is tomorrow, check out Ken's "Caucus Calculus: a Guide to Iowa" that explains what will happen tomorrow night.)

12:38 PM ET | 01- 2-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

Some of the Best Political Videos of 2007

One of the biggest political trend of 2007 was the use of YouTube as an outlet for political messages. (Heck, CNN built two whole debates around the technology.) And so, TechPresident has put together its list of the best political videos of 2007 - they are all available on YouTube of course.

First TechPresident offers its ten-best videos made by the candidates' campaigns - "official" ads. It rates the "Students for Obama" video number one and "a great piece of campaign propaganda." The Hillary Clinton-Sopranos parody was number two, while the Clinton's took number three as well with "Caucusing is easy" which features a hamburger, Bill Clinton, and Hillary singing the national anthem. (Be afraid, be very afraid.)

It also offers up the top-ten voter-generated videos. Number one, and still the most viewed political video this year: the Hillary Clinton 1984 video that's a take off of the famous Apple McIntosh ad. In fact, Sen. Clinton is the "subject" of the all of the top four videos in this list. (Mind you, there's something here to offend the supporters of most candidates.)

After looking at both lists, you would hope that Clinton remembers the words of Oscar Wilde: "The only thing worse than being talked about it being not talked about."

2:41 PM ET | 12-31-2007 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post

The Accidental Deregulation of the FEC

Campaign finance laws not crazy enough for you? Check this out.

The Senate left town this week without resolving a deadlock over nominations to the Federal Election Commission. The upshot: Come January, the FEC won't be able to decide anything.

The commission officially has six members. This year it's had five. Thanks to the deadlock, three are going away. That leaves Republican David Mason and Democrat Ellen Weintraub. Both of their terms have expired, by the way. They can keep serving until their replacements arrive.

By law, the commission needs four affirmative votes for any action.

So, at least for now, the FEC can't respond when candidates ask for advice, can't write regulations, can't even enforce the law. The pending enforcement actions date from the 2004 and 2006 campaigns -- yes, that's how long these things take -- but they define the rules for politicians and advocacy groups right now. And the advisory opinions guide requesters and everybody else as to what's permissible.

The FEC may be the least-liked agency in Washington (certainly so on Capitol Hill), but nobody before ever tried to disable it like this.

The irony is that it's probably not deliberate. Rather, it's collateral damage from the upheavals at the Justice Department.

Long before the storm broke over the decision to fire U.S. attorneys, and alleged politicization in DOJ's Voting Rights Section, one appointee from Voting Rights, Hans von Spakovsky, had been installed at the FEC. He was a recess appointee, as were Democrats Robert Lenhard, a labor lawyer, and Steven Walther, a Nevada lawyer and friend of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Salaries for recess appointees run only until the end of the next session of Congress -- i.e., now -- and when President Bush nominated the three for full terms, several Democratic senators objected to von Spakovsky.

Von Spakovsky has a long and aggressive record supporting strict voter identification laws. Civil rights groups call that discriminatory. Reid urged separate votes on the three nominees. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said they should be voted on as a group, the traditional way, and he calculated that Reid wouldn't leave Walther dangling. But Reid did.

And there we are: the most heavily financed presidential campaign in history, money flowing by the millions to House and Senate candidates, advocacy groups pushing the limits on what's regulated or not. And the enforcement agency, well, out of commission.

-- Peter Overby

5:57 PM ET | 12-21-2007 | permalink | comments (6) | e-mail post

What Endorsement of McCain Means for Lieberman

When Independent Democrat Sen. Joe Lieberman announced his support for Republican Sen. John McCain, it had more than a few people wondering if the Democratic party might take some action against him.

So Ken Rudin looks at the history of other Democrats who have defied party labels and backed Republicans in this week's Political Junkie column. Some have paid a price, some haven't.

Also, Ken looks at the familial ties between Reps. Mark Udall (D-CO) and Tom Udall (D-NM) and Republican Senator Gordon Smith. Looks like the Bush and Clinton families aren't the only ones in the politics business.

3:30 PM ET | 12-19-2007 | permalink | comments (12) | e-mail post

Money Makes the Political World Go Around

It's all about the Benjamins.

A political campaign, that is. No candidate who is seriously considering a run for the president (or almost any other political office these days) can hope to compete if he or she can't find the money to back that ambition. Recently, for instance, there has been speculation in the media that Mike Huckabee, who has surged in the polls in Iowa and South Carolina, needs to find more money or else he won't be able to capitalize on possible early successes in later primaries.

NPR's Peter Overby reports for All Things Considered on how this search for money, and then how that money is used, is rippling through this year's presidential races. For instance, Mitt Romney's Commonwealth PAC and Barack Obama's Hope Fund are examples of how candidates can use so called "leadership PACs" to make "friendly gestures" by giving money to candidates in federal or state races — particularly in states where there just happen to be important presidential primaries. And since these leadership PACS are not officially part of the candidate's campaign, there are fewer restrictions on the way they raise money.

And as Ed Bender, director of the National Institute on Money in State Politics, told Peter all this money distributed by candidates is meant to "start a conversation."

Just more proof that, not only does money talk, but in a presidential year it helps get others talking as well.

10:10 AM ET | 12-12-2007 | permalink | e-mail post

Warren Buffett's Backing Could Help Dems in Midwest

Things are getting tight in Iowa, but Hillary Clinton has actually LEFT the Hawkeye state to attend a fund-raiser in (gasp) San Francisco. But the trip might actually get her some cred with Midwesterners, because the event is hosted by Warren Buffett.

Most Americans think of Buffett as just some crusty old billionaire who's good at picking stocks. But in the Midwest, he's more than that. People are proud of him. He's the "Oracle of Omaha." Over the years, he's bested the coastal capitalists at their own game, and yet he comes off as gracious and homey. If you're ever in Omaha and the locals give you a tour, it will inevitably end up with a drive-by of "Warren's" house — a modest place, for a guy that rich. And dinner at his favorite steak house — the kind of place your grandparents would love.

Why does this matter? Because it means Buffett's endorsement of a Democrat for president matters — in the red-tinged heartland. (Buffett supports Clinton and Obama — he says either one would make a good president, and he's hosted fund-raisers for both.) Buffett makes it safer for a certain segment of Republicans to vote Democrat.

We're talking old-fashioned Republicans. The ones who've voted Republican since the 1960s because their parents did, but who've never really been part of the Christian Conservative movement. They're more numerous in the Midwest than the East Coast political consultants would have you believe.

I'm talking about white guys over fifty who drive Buicks and work in insurance. The guys who are a little quieter about their politics, but get all excited about Buffett. And if he goes on CNBC and says it's prudent to vote for a Democrat, they'll pay attention.

Remember Reagan Democrats? Maybe 2008 will see the advent of Buffett Republicans.

- Martin Kaste

5:37 PM ET | 12-11-2007 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

Alternative Minimum Tax Battle Not Over Yet

It wouldn't come as a big surprise if House Democrats took their Senate colleagues off their Christmas card lists this year. Their disagreement over how to pay for the fix to the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) could end up costing millions of Americans more in taxes, and the Democrats some valuable political capital.

The AMT was brought in during the 60s to make sure millionaires paid taxes. But it was never indexed for inflation.

NPR's Debbie Elliott reported for Morning Edition that House Democrats, under the leadership of Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangle, had crafted a bill that would help millions of middle-income Americans avoid having to pay the AMT, but would still observe the "Pay as You Go" rules the party adopted to promote fiscal responsibility. The House bill would have raised taxes on investment fund managers to help pay for the lost revenue from the AMT fix, about $50 billion dollars.

But the Senate Democrats, under the threat of a filibuster from Republicans, dropped the "PayGo" provisions and just went for the AMT tax break. House Democrats were furious, in particular the more conservative Blue Dog Democrat coalition. They wrote a letter to House leaders telling them to stand their ground, regardless of the political pressure.

And there's a lot of pressure at this moment. If the IRS doesn't get the OK to make the fix soon, it'll be too late to reprogram its computers and tax refunds will be delayed.

The Ways and Means panel will meet today to try and craft a new plan. But as Elliott reports, there are already signs that Democratic House leaders are starting to tone down expectations about Pay as You Go.

12:48 PM ET | 12-11-2007 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

Energy Bill Vote Blocked in Senate

It seems that Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid's call for Senate presidential candidates to return home to vote on the energy bill didn't help him much in the end.

The 53-42 total falls far short of the 60 votes needed to to invoke cloture and bring the bill to a vote. Yesterday the House passed a similar measure, over the threat of a veto by President Bush, that raises automobile fuel-efficiency standards for the first time in more than three decades and require increased use of renewable energy sources to generate electricity.

It was the renewable energy provision of the bill that doomed it to failure. NPR's Debbie Elliot reported on Republican, and even some Democratic, opposition to these measures on Thursday. It's likely that a new version of the bill, without the renewable energy sections, will be presented to the Senate on Tuesday.

3:19 PM ET | 12- 7-2007 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Bush Plan Would Freeze Some Subprime Loans

The Bush administration and financial institutions have agreed to a five-year freeze on interest rates for certain Americans who are facing possible foreclosure because of the subprime lending crisis. NPR reports that more than 2 million people are "projected to face foreclosure next year as payments on their adjustable-rate mortgages ratchet up to unaffordable levels - in some cases more than 12 percent higher than their current payments."

But as Bob Moon of Marketplace points out on Day to Day, this plan won't help everybody in trouble. It could mean that two people who live side-by-side, and got their mortgages at the same time, could pay different rates. Borrowers will have to be current on their mortgage payments, and the lender will take a look at their income to see if they really can't afford to have their payment level go up.

On Tuesday Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and John Edwards said the president wasn't doing enough to help the vast number of homeowners at risk of foreclosure and to fix the mortgage crisis that is roiling financial markets.

But an interesting counterpoint to today's announcement also came on Day to Day, from Andrew Gerber, a home owner with a fixed-interest rate, who is not happy about the President's announcement. "What about people like me ... who have made the right choice?," he asked. "Shouldn't we get a point or two off our mortgages?" How come the people who made the right choices get penalized, Gerber said, but the people who made the wrong choice get a handout?

Update: Whoops! CNN reports that people trying to find out if they qualify for the new mortgage relief plan were thrown for a temporary loop after President Bush gave out the wrong number for the "Hope Now Hotline." Anyone who dialed the number mentioned by the president called the Freedom Christian Academy, a Texas-based group that provides Christian education home schooling material.

Maybe the president got some papers from his faith-based initiatives plan mixed up with the mortgage relief plans. Hey, my desk is a mess, I can understand how it could happen.

The White House quickly released the proper number once the mistake was brought to their attention.

3:59 PM ET | 12- 6-2007 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

Giuliani Steps Down from His Security Consulting Firm

Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani has stepped down as chairman of Giuliani Partners, his consulting firm.

The move follows increasing controversy over one of the firm's clients, the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar, which has been accused in various reports of sheltering Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected "mastermind" of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Giuliani's not severing his ties with the consulting firm. Taking over as chairman is Giuliani's first deputy mayor and boyhood friend, Peter Powers. Giuliani retains a 30 percent stake in the company.

- Ina Jaffe

6:05 PM ET | 12- 4-2007 | permalink | e-mail post

If That's a Mammoth, the NPR Debate Must Be Nearby

I just got back from the site where the Democratic presidential candidates will meet Tuesday for a debate hosted by NPR and Iowa Public Radio.

The debate is happening inside Iowa's State Historical Building, next to the capitol in Des Moines. The building includes a museum of state history, starting with a huge mammoth skeleton in the front lobby (which has led to a few jokes about how to find NPR's debate space: "Take a left after the mammoth and then it's two doors to your right.")

The candidates will meet in a section of the building that houses an exhibit about the state's caucuses. The space is about the size of a living room in a big house — many times smaller than the debate forums you see on television.

That means there's only a few feet between the candidates and the NPR moderators, Robert Siegel, Michele Norris and Steve Inskeep. I know because we just finished a debate run-through during which I stood in for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. (I didn't feel tall enough to carry off the part.)

There's no flashy staging. No huge video screens. No hissing or cheering audience. That creates a completely different ambiance, which perhaps will help the debate go deeper into the issues on the table. And, remember, some of the questions being asked are the ones submitted by you, the readers of this blog.

8:20 PM ET | 12- 3-2007 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

Questions Arise About Giuliani's N.Y. Security Bills

CNN's Anderson Cooper, who had a bit of a rocky evening as moderator of the CNN/YouTube Republican debate, had one brief "stop the presses" moment Wednesday night. It came when he asked former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani about a report Politico published on its Web site shortly before the debate.

Politico reported that previously undisclosed government records showed that Giuliani had billed obscure city agencies for tens of thousands of dollars in security expenses while mayor. The expenses for his police security detail were incurred during trips to the Hamptons during the period when he was beginning his extramarital relationship with his current wife, Judith Nathan, who lived there.

Giuliani's office refused to explain the unusual accounting to city auditors at the time, citing "security." But auditors looking at expenses in 1999 and 2000 "were unable to verify that these expenses were for legitimate or necessary purposes," the city's comptroller wrote in a letter Politico obtained.

"First of all, it's not true," Giuliani said during the debate. "I had 24-hour security for the eight years that I was mayor. They followed me everyplace I went. It was because there were, you know, threats, threats that I don't generally talk about. Some have become public recently; most of them haven't. And they took care of me, and they put in their records, and they handled them in the way they handled them."

But Giuliani didn't offer an explanation for why the expenses were billed to agencies like the Office for People with Disabilities.

The Associated Press notes that the "the suggestion, true or not, that he was hiding expenses for liaisons with Nathan in little-known city accounts, could open him up to criticism, remind voters of his three marriages and infidelity and tarnish his good-guy image from the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks."

10:49 AM ET | 11-29-2007 | permalink | e-mail post

Sen. Trent Lott Decides to Leave Office Early

It's not entirely surprising to hear that Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott has decided to retire by the end of 2007, even though his announcement comes just a year after he was re-elected to the seat he first won in 1988.

NPR's senior Washington editor, Ron Elving, says it appears to be largely about the new lobbying rules that come into play Jan. 1. They extend the length of time a member of Congress must wait before lobbying former colleagues to two years after he or she leaves office. (Lott says the change "didn't have a big role" in his decision.)

Lott's career has never been quite the same since the remarks he made at the late Sen. Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday party, which were interpreted as support for segregation. After those remarks gained attention, thanks in part to the then-relatively new phenomenon of blogging, Lott was forced to step down as majority leader.

In his book, Herding Cats: A Life in Politics, Lott wrote about the lack of support he had received from his fellow Republicans, in particular President Bush. Lott said that the president had hurt his feelings by disavowing the Thurmond comments in a way that was "booming and nasty." Lott was also unhappy with the administration's slow response to Hurricane Katrina. However, he made a political comeback in 2006, when his colleagues elected him minority whip, the No. 2 job behind Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a Republican, will appoint a successor to Lott, who becomes the sixth GOP senator to announce his retirement this year. The seat is considered safely Republican, however, and early speculation is focusing on GOP Rep. Chip Pickering as the appointee.

2:28 PM ET | 11-26-2007 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Ex-Press Secretary Says Top Bush Officials Misled Him

Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan, whose job was to deflect media scrutiny aimed at the White House, is now generating some of his own.

McClellan, who filled the role from July 2003 to April 2006, has a new book coming out, What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and What's Wrong with Washington. On Tuesday, his publisher, PublicAffairs, put a small excerpt on its Web site. In it, McClellan says some top administration officials were behind the effort to mislead the public about the role of White House aides in leaking the identity of a CIA operative.

In a 2003 news conference, McClellan told reporters that aides Karl Rove and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby were not involved in leaking former CIA operative Valerie Plame's name to conservative columnist Robert Novak. (Plame's husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, had written an op-ed piece in The New York Times critical of the intelligence the Bush administration used to make the case for war in Iraq.)

"There was one problem. It was not true," McClellan writes... "I had unknowingly passed along false information. And five of the highest-ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice president, the president's chief of staff and the president himself."

Peter Osnos, founder and editor-in-chief of PublicAffairs, says Bush didn't know he was giving McClellan incorrect information. "The president told him what he thought to be the case," Osnos said. McClellan refused interview requests Tuesday.

But as The Washington Times' Inside Politics blog puts its, "Mr. McClellan's explosive if somewhat vague charge is sure to spark lots of interest and conversation over the coming months." In fact, Democratic presidential candidate Christopher Dodd has called for the Justice Department to investigate the president's role.

12:10 PM ET | 11-21-2007 | permalink | comments (6) | e-mail post

Controversial Minnesota U.S. Attorney Steps Down

New Attorney General Michael Mukasey may be making his presence felt already. The Los Angeles Times reports that the resignation of the U.S. attorney for Minnesota on Monday was being seen as "an early illustration of how Mukasey was moving quickly to address some of the lingering problems of the politically charged Gonzales era."

Rachel Paulose, 34, was one of several Bush administration insiders who took over U.S. attorneys' offices around the country during former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' tenure. She was the nation's youngest federal prosecutor and one of the most controversial.

The Washington Post reports that she drew criticism from the lawyers who worked with her and for her "outspoken conservative, Christian beliefs."

The Justice Department's Office of Special Counsel had been investigating allegations that she had mishandled classified material and made a racist remark to a staff member. An internal department audit found that her employees said she treated subordinates harshly and lacked the experience for her job.

Paulose denied making a racist remark in an interview that appeared on National Review Online last week. But that interview has prompted "at least one and as many as three of her current staff managers" to resign or threaten to resign, Thomas Heffelfinger, who Paulose replaced as Minnesota U.S. attorney, told the Post.

Paulose will return to work in the Justice Department in Washington.

11:49 AM ET | 11-20-2007 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

Economists Bring Tale of Fiscal Woe to Your Town

They've been on the road since 2005, traveling to towns across America and talking about ... the nation's financial health?

Policy experts from across the political spectrum are taking part in the Fiscal Wake-Up Tour. As All Things Considered reports, these traveling economists want to make it clear to people — and the politicians running for president — just how dire the situation could become.

Basically, their message is that if the government doesn't stop spending like a drunken sailor on shore leave, the nation's debt — which is already an alarming $50 trillion when you factor in the obligations the federal government has promised to pay out in the future — will become uncontrollable. And that will impact our standard of living — and not in a good way.

As Robert Bixby, executive director of the advocacy group Concord Coalition, told a gathering earlier this year, it's a matter of arithmetic, not ideology. "Whether you are liberal, conservative, middle of the road, Democrat, Republican, Independent, the numbers don't add up," Bixby said.

The biggest problems, the experts say, are Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. U.S. Comptroller General David Walker says the government is spending every penny it takes in from Social Security taxes. As a result, nothing is put aside to pay for actual benefits when people need them down the road. And health care costs are rising by more than 6 percent a year, affecting Medicare and Medicaid.

So can a lecture tour featuring policy wonks with PowerPoint presentations about a subject as dry as the national debt have much of an effect? Maybe we should ask former Vice President Al Gore.

12:16 PM ET | 11-19-2007 | permalink | comments (9) | e-mail post

Official: Justice Dept. Crisis May Help Next AG

Now that retired Judge Michael Mukasey's nomination has made it out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, it seems a sure thing that he will be confirmed by the full Senate as attorney general. (Then again, his recommendation by the committee seemed like it would be smooth sailing at first — but that got a little complicated.) While Mukasey's opinion on waterboarding remains a hot topic of conversation, if he takes over as attorney general, the biggest challenge he'll face at first will be turning around a Justice Department in crisis.

And that situation may be his ace in the hole when it comes to making a difference quickly, says Philip Heymann, a former assistant attorney general in the Carter administration and deputy attorney general in the Clinton era. Heymann, who teaches at Harvard Law School, told me that top organizational experts now believe that it's easier to turn around an organization quickly when it's in crisis.

"He has an advantage, rather than a disadvantage," Heymann said. "Everyone in the department will want him to succeed, and so they'll work harder to make that happen."

The department has been roiled by allegations that decisions, including the one to fire several U.S. attorneys, were motivated by partisan politics. Heymann recommends that Mukasey move "pretty quickly" to address those issues if confirmed. He suggests that Mukasey announce that White House officials and congressmen will no longer be able to contact Justice Department employees who make decisions about prosecutions and personnel. (Mukasey has already indicated that he plans to authorize only a few top Justice officials to take calls from political figures.)

"If elected or non-elected officials have something they want to convey, they can speak to the attorney general or one of his two assistants. And a record should be made of the conversation, as was the case in some previous administrations. Then Mukasey and his assistants can decide what they want to do with that information," Heymann said.

Channeling politicians' comments through the top ranks reduces the influence on the rest of the staff, and keeping records promotes transparency, Heymann says.

3:40 PM ET | 11- 7-2007 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Mukasey Vote Scheduled, But His Chances Unclear

It appears that Michael Mukasey will find out Tuesday if the Senate Judiciary Committee thinks he should be the new attorney general of the United States. (Although it's still possible for a committee member to request a delay.) If the committee approves his nomination in the scheduled vote, it will then go to the full Senate.

But, surprisingly, it's now not clear whether it will get that far. When President Bush first announced Mukasey as his replacement for the controversial Alberto Gonzales, conventional wisdom was that, while there might be a few bumps, the confirmation was a sure thing. But Mukasey's dance around the question of whether waterboarding is torture has raised the suspicions of many Democrats and a few Republicans.

After several days of silence, Mukasey wrote a letter to several Democratic senators Tuesday in which he outlined his position in more detail. He said the idea of waterboarding, which simulates drowning, is personally repugnant, but he didn't explicitly rule it out as torture, saying he could not speculate on something classified.

The Associated Press reports that his answer didn't appear to help his case. Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, who had supported Mukasey, refused to say if he will still vote for the retired judge next week.

Don Gonyea, NPR's White House correspondent, said it's hard to say if the decision by the committee chairman, Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, to schedule the vote means that the White House has been able to convince enough people to support his nomination. Mostly, Don says, the administration is still knocking the Democrats for not accepting Mukasey's explanation.

And Don says so far, there isn't any buzz that the White House is making backup plans.

3:53 PM ET | 10-31-2007 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Should We Just Leave Presidential Spouses Alone?

Free the running mates! That's the call from Anne Applebaum of The Washington Post. She believes it's time for political spouses to emulate Cecilia Sarkozy ("minus the divorce and the love affairs," of course) and do their own thing. Having a spouse who wants to run for office, she argues, shouldn't mean putting your life on hold for years.

But that's not the American model. Here, we subject presidential spouses in particular to incredible scrutiny, meaning that if they make a mistake or say something unusual, it can hurt their spouses' careers. As Applebaum says, "No wonder so many first ladies and potential first ladies have wound up depressed, even addicted to alcohol or painkillers. It's an undoable job, and it's time to admit it."

So what expectations do you have for a first lady or political spouse? And do you think it's OK for them to use their spouses' political careers to launch their own, like Sen. Hillary Clinton or President-elect Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of Argentina?

6:31 PM ET | 10-30-2007 | permalink | comments (6) | e-mail post

What's Going on with the Alternative Minimum Tax?

There's nothing like finding out that you might be paying more taxes — a lot more — to focus your attention. So I took notice when I read about Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's call to Congress to fix a part of the tax code called the alternative minimum tax, like, right now. If a change isn't made soon, millions of middle-class Americans (about 21 million, in fact) could end up facing an average increase of $2,000 — falling victim to a rule originally designed to get rich people who found a way around paying taxes to pony up.

Well, I don't know about you, but I ain't rich.

I know next to nothing about taxes, especially the AMT. (And I am not alone here, as is evident in this piece by Andrea Seabrook from March.) So I turned to NPR's Adam Davidson, who knows a lot about trade, business and finance. One thing I wanted to know was why the AMT wasn't just tied to inflation, which would seem to solve this problem. (As incomes rise over time, more and more people are bumping over the threshold that qualifies them for the AMT.)

The answer? Well, the AMT makes little economic sense, Adam says, but it makes lots of sense politically. It was created at a time when many in Congress felt "rich people" were not paying enough (or any) taxes. So the AMT was created to ensure everyone paid something. But instead of thoughtful study and research, Congress kind of, well, winged it.

Continue reading "What's Going on with the Alternative Minimum Tax?" »

12:14 PM ET | 10-24-2007 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

Support for Genocide Resolution Looks Shaky

"If the vote were held today, I would not want to bet my house on the outcome."

That's what Rep. Brad Sherman, a California Democrat, told The New York Times about the chances of the House passing a resolution that labels as genocide the mass killings of Armenians in Turkey in the World War I era. The resolution passed 27-21 last week in the House Foreign Affairs Committee and appeared to have broad support for a full vote.

But some of that support has disappeared under intense lobbying efforts by the White House and the Turkish government. The Times reports that almost a dozen lawmakers changed their position on the measure in a 24-hour period ending Tuesday night. Even some members who originally signed on as co-sponsors have withdrawn support.

The Los Angeles Times points out that one of Speaker Nancy Pelosi's closest allies, Rep. John Murtha, is working to defeat the measure. Pelosi has said she supports it.

But why is this resolution making Turkey so upset? Belinda Cooper, a senior fellow at the World Policy Institute, told Melissa Block on All Things Considered that Turkey sees the Armenian deaths in the context of a civil war during the breakup of an empire. Turks also see the word "genocide" as comparing them to the Nazis, Cooper said.

For Armenians, this traumatic event has been passed down through generations, and they see recognition of it as important, especially because it isn't recognized by Turkey, she said.

9:58 AM ET | 10-17-2007 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

WTO Rules Against U.S. in Cotton Subsidies Fight

The thing about the global marketplace is that policies created to keep voters happy at home don't mean a thing to politicians and business leaders in other countries. The United States found this out again Monday when the World Trade Organization ruled against it in a case involving cotton subsidies. The U.S. could face billions of dollars in trade sanctions for failing to get rid of what WTO says are illegal subsidies.

The ruling is a victory for Brazil and the West African countries that took the case to the WTO, saying the subsidies hurt their own cotton producers. The challenge, which Brazil started in 2002, has been a watershed, "providing ammunition for those who would like to see affluent nations curtail the subsidies they say only impoverish farmers abroad," Reuters reports.

The U.S. is expected to appeal.

Dean Kleckner, a farmer and chairman of the advocacy group Truth About Trade and Technology, writes in a New York Times op-ed that Congress should pay attention to this ruling as it heads into final negotiations over the farm bill. Not only has Brazil won this battle against U.S. cotton, but Mexico is likely to file a complaint against U.S. rice subsidies and Canada against U.S. corn subsidies. Kleckner, the former president of the American Farm Bureau, says the U.S. "must stop subsidizing farmers the way it does" or "risk a series of trade wars."

11:33 AM ET | 10-16-2007 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Would Mukasey Stand Up to White House?

President Bush (right) announces his nomination of retired U.S. District Judge Michael Mukasey for attorney general during a news conference last month at the White House.

Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

Washington is preparing for its next political circus: Senate hearings on the nomination of retired U.S. District Judge Michael Mukasey for attorney general are set to begin Wednesday. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that much of the questioning is "expected to focus on whether Mukasey will both ensure the integrity of the Justice Department and stand up to the White House, especially when it comes to terrorism."

One thing that might come up is Mukasey's approval of secret warrants while the chief federal trial judge in Manhattan that allowed the government to round up Muslims following the Sept. 11 attacks.

Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, has said Democrats shouldn't use the hearings to dig for additional information about the firing of U.S. attorneys by former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Specter wants the Democrats to stick to Mukasey's qualifications.

But that's not likely. NPR's senior Washington editor, Ron Elving, told Day to Day's Madeleine Brand that Wednesday will be a long day for the judge, with lots of tough questions. Most, he says, will be about the past — not Mukasey's past, but Gonzales' past — and the Bush administration's relationship with Congress over judicial issues.

But overall, Ron says, it's likely to be smooth sailing for Mukasey in terms of confirmation.

4:04 PM ET | 10-15-2007 | permalink | e-mail post

FBI Reportedly Taped Alaska Senator in Probe

The Associated Press reports that the FBI worked with an Alaska oil contractor to secretly tape telephone calls with Sen. Ted Stevens in a public corruption sting. Stevens, the longest-serving Republican senator, is under investigation in the FBI probe of several prominent lawmakers in Alaska.

[Bill] Allen, a wealthy businessman and Stevens' political patron, agreed to the taping last year after authorities confronted him with evidence he had bribed Alaska lawmakers. He pleaded guilty to bribery and is a key witness against Alaska legislators. He also has told prosecutors he paid his employees to renovate the senator's house ... Stevens has said he won't discuss the investigation for fear it will look like he's trying to influence it.

Allen testified in federal court last week that the FBI asked him to call several people. An example of Allen's handiwork surfaced in the trial of former Alaska House Speaker Peter Kott. In a call taped by the FBI, Allen asked Kott how his son resolved his financial troubles. Kott said, "It was your check."

The Anchorage Daily News reports that Kott said at his trial that, while he accepted money, he didn't take bribes.

12:34 PM ET | 09-21-2007 | permalink | e-mail post

Bill to Give Troops Extra Rest Fails

Senate Republicans have once again rejected an effort to give U.S. troops extra time at home between their combat stints. The proposal, co-sponsored by war veterans Jim Webb of Virginia and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, was blocked with a 56-to-44 vote, short of the 60 votes needed to advance. The measure would have required the military to allow troops to remain on leave for at least as long as they were most recently deployed before going back to war.

The bill, viewed by many as the Democrats' best chance to affect war policy, was doomed by a joint effort from the Bush administration and the Pentagon, which convinced a number of wavering Republicans, including the other senator from Virginia, John Warner, to kill it. Although there are a number of other Iraq measures in the pipe, they are unlikely to go anywhere.

"I don't think there's going to be any meaningful change of votes or switching until we get into next year," Hagel told The Washington Post.

Republicans took a chance in defeating the measure. While the vote will make military leaders happy, it may not please the families of troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. There are already signs that more troops are shifting their support to the Democrats.

But Democrats don't have the anti-war vote in the bag. Politico reports that anti-war groups are furious over the lack of progress and may target Democrats they consider too weak in their support of anti-war measures in next year's primaries. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid reportedly met with leaders of the movement this week to try to pacify them.

The Reid mission reflected the paradox bedeviling the anti-war movement. It is powerful enough to command constant care and feeding by the Democratic Party's presidential candidates and congressional leaders. But so far it has proven largely impotent in forcing policy changes.

It's going to be an interesting election year.

9:45 AM ET | 09-20-2007 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Jeb Bush Takes Aim at His Successor over Insurance

Then-Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (left) and Charlie Crist talk during a Crist campaign event in 2006.

Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

President Bush's brother, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, is not too happy with how his Republican successor, Charlie Crist, is handling the state's insurance crisis — Bush's biggest challenge while in office.

Florida and other Southern states have found themselves with major insurance problems, largely brought on by the aftermath of Katrina and other hurricanes. The governors of Alabama and Mississippi have said that insurers' refusal to write new policies in certain areas, especially near the coast, have "forced the state to pick up the riskiest property and not charge sound rates," the St. Petersburg Times reports.

Bush, addressing the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies convention outside Dallas this week, criticized Florida's latest efforts at reform, the Times reports. He specifically targeted "a January special session bill that doubled the state's catastrophe fund to $32-billion and allowed state-backed Citizens Property Insurance to directly compete with the private market."

The Times reports that Crist has all but "declared war on State Farm, Allstate, Nationwide and other large insurance companies operating in the state" because of their refusal to grant coverage to some homeowners. But Bush, without mentioning Crist by name, said the expansion of risk into the public domain would come back to hurt the state.

Crist said he did not take the remarks personally.

4:29 PM ET | 09-19-2007 | permalink | comments (6) | e-mail post

Craig Tries to Take Back Guilty Plea in Airport Arrest

Is he in, or is he out? Of the Senate, that is.

Idaho Republican Sen. Larry Craig filed papers in Minnesota today to withdraw his guilty plea to disorderly conduct in a men's bathroom at the Minneapolis airport. His lawyer says that, basically, Craig just went there to, well, "relieve himself."

The court filing argues that the plea was not "knowingly and understandingly made." It claims Craig was under too much stress at the time, and it was the media's fault (isn't it always?) for investigating past allegations of homosexual conduct. So, his lawyer said this morning, he just pleaded guilty to make it "go away."

Hmm. Doesn't entering a guilty plea to make it "go away" mean that you understand what you are doing? Seems to me that it would be hard to prove that a U.S. senator who was arrested and interrogated, then signed a paper pleading guilty, didn't get what was going on. (Even Sen. Arlen Specter, who supports Craig, basically called his guilty plea not too intelligent over the weekend.) We'll have to see what the court says.

Meanwhile, over the past 10 days, Craig has said he planned to resign from the Senate, signaled he might reconsider, then appeared to indicate he had virtually given up the possible attempt to finish his third term. He still hasn't said whether he will absolutely, positively, no-doubt-about-it leave the Senate. The Associated Press reports that Craig's spokesman said that he would likely only stay if the court rules quickly in his favor.

GOP leaders must have ground their way through several sets of teeth by now.

4:43 PM ET | 09-10-2007 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

President Bush Has Tough Day at OPEC ... er, APEC

As Mark Knopfler once sang, some days you're the windshield, and some days you're the bug.

President Bush, in Australia for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, had one of those "bug" days today. First, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun sandbagged Bush at their joint press conference. Normally, these press events are about as exciting as watching paint dry. But Roh really pushed the president about when he would actually end the war with Korea. (A treaty officially ending the war has never been signed.) An obviously irritated Bush said only that North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il had to get rid of "his (nuclear) weapons in a verifiable fashion" first.

And Bush's speech at the Sydney Opera House was held up for 10 minutes while workers moved people from the balcony to fill in the seats near the front. Then, Bush thanked Australian Prime Minister John Howard for being his host at the "OPEC," not APEC, conference. He also mentioned the service of the "Austrian troops" in Iraq. Which is nice, but it was supposed to be Australian. Easy to mix up ... except one likes edelweiss, the other, shrimp on the barbie.

When Bush finished, he was headed for a steep ledge at the edge of the stage before Howard and others caught him and guided him to the steps.

Just one of those days that won't make it into the autobiography.

But it ended on a positive note for U.S. officials. North Korea announced that it has "invited nuclear experts from the United States, China and Russia into the country to survey and recommend ways of disabling all of its atomic facilities by the end of the year," according to The Associated Press.

4:29 PM ET | 09- 7-2007 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Massachusetts Democrats Launch Anti-Romney Site

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney

Eric Thayer/Getty Images

I lived in Massachusetts when Mitt Romney was governor. And it's pretty fair to say that the Gov and the state's Democratic Party didn't get along all that well, especially after Romney decided to campaign for the GOP presidential nomination and started to reverse some of his earlier, more liberal positions. Apparently, the Democrats have decided it's time for a little payback.

As The Boston Globe reports, the state party launched today "a first-of-its-kind website that it says contains an unparalleled repository of information about Mitt Romney's record that could be used against the former governor in his White House run."

Kevin Madden, a spokesman for the Romney campaign, said, "Democrat party operatives are going to continue to peddle distortions and try and attack the governor in every which way possible."

But this is a rather unique method of attack. In addition to assembling the party's own problems with Romney as a candidate, the site offers documents for people who want to try to uncover potentially unfavorable information on their own. (Take a look at the Citizen Journalist Tool Kit.) The Globe reports:

RomneyFacts.com lays out a wealth of documents: personal financial disclosure statements he filed as governor; policy proposals he put forward in his 2002 campaign; several old campaign ads; and a unique searchable database of campaign contributions from his entire political career.

Somewhere in America, Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Fred Thompson must be smiling.

2:13 PM ET | 09- 5-2007 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

Craig: Then again, maybe I won't

Republican Sen. Larry Craig is having second thoughts.

Late Tuesday, his spokesman said that the Idaho senator may rethink his decision to step down from his seat on Sept. 30. Craig said last weekend that he planned to resign after the uproar from his arrest in a restroom at the Minneapolis airport during a sex sting and his guilty plea on a misdemeanor charge.

"We're still preparing as if Sen. Craig will resign Sept. 30, but the outcome of the legal case in Minnesota and the ethics investigation will have an impact on whether we're able to stay in the fight — and stay in the Senate," spokesman Sidney Smith said.

The New York Daily News reports that Craig received a vote of support from his children, who angrily denounced the GOP leaders who couldn't seem to denounce Craig fast enough after the Minneapolis arrest became public.

"I was angry," said Michael Craig, 38, who appeared on ABC's Good Morning America with his sister Shea Howell.
"These people are friends of our family, friends of my dad," he said, adding that he was disappointed at "the lack of public support, when I know so many of his colleagues back on Capitol Hill have worked with my dad for 30 years."

The New York Times reports that one of Craig's lawyers, Stanley M. Brand, has advised him not to resign his seat.

As the Top of the Ticket blog points out, the idea that he won't go is not going to be a popular one in GOP circles.

9:38 AM ET | 09- 5-2007 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

Pundits Say It Was Time for Gonzales to Go

Now that Alberto Gonzales has given his three-weeks' notice, pundits on the left and right are weighing in on his resignation. Although they differ on the reasons why, most write that his resignation is a good thing.

Ed Morrissey at the conservative Captain's Quarters blog writes that it was "far past time" for Gonzales to go. Although Morrissey contends nothing illegal was done in the firing of federal prosecutors, he writes that "Gonzales and his team made it into a royal botch-up anyway." Morrissey says Gonzales should have resigned "after telling people publicly that the attorneys had performance issues when their reviews showed that they had performed well."

Conservative Michelle Malkin is glad Gonzales is gone. But, she writes, if White House officials are thinking of replacing Gonzales with Michael Chertoff, it means they've learned nothing from the recent "shamnesty debacle" about illegal immigration. (Chertoff was roundly criticized by conservatives for his efforts to push for the president's legislation.) Malkin argues in favor of a golden oldie for AG: "If they want the best qualified, most experienced AG candidate who is serious about enforcing all of our laws, including our immigration laws, and who is best equipped to serve in a time of war, the choice would be obvious: John Ashcroft."

Liberal blog Daily Kos comments that if the Democrats had not won control of Congress in 2006, Gonzales would still be in office.

Shaun Mullen at The Moderate Voice writes that Gonzales, who "leaves in shambles a Justice Department that he willingly helped the White House to transform into a branch of the Republican Party" has one great accomplishment in office ... He made Janet Reno and Ashcroft look good.

12:44 PM ET | 08-27-2007 | permalink | comments (6) | e-mail post

Attorney General Stepping Down

The New York Times is reporting that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales will resign today, according to a senior administration source.

NPR's Ari Shapiro has a timeline of events leading up to this morning's anticipated announcement.

CNN reports that administration sources say the top choice for Gonzales' replacement is the head of the Department of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff.

(Tom's Update: Gonzales confirmed this morning that he submitted his resignation to President Bush and it was accepted. He will step down as attorney general on Sept. 17.)

9:10 AM ET | 08-27-2007 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

The Continuing Saga of Gonzales' Hospital Room Visit

Ah, that Alberto Gonzales. He seems to be having such a problem with his memory these days.

The latest potential example involves the attorney general's visit to the bedside of then-AG John Ashcroft in 2004 for the now-infamous "We want you to OK this possibly illegal surveillance program right now, even if you just had a major operation" trip. Last month, Gonzales told the Senate Judiciary Committee that Ashcroft was "lucid" and "did most of the talking" during the brief meeting.

But FBI Director Robert Mueller, who saw Ashcroft right after the meeting, made some notes (those FBI guys -- such sticklers for details) that paint a different picture of Ashcroft's condition. Five pages of heavily censored notes were released on Thursday, and, in Mueller's opinion, Ashcroft was "feeble" and "barely articulate." (Which makes sense for a guy who had just had surgery.) The notes support the description of Ashcroft given by then-Deputy AG James Comey, who was in the room during the surveillance discussion.

Hmm. Is this another case of Gonzales' memory misfiring -- or is one man's "feeble" another man's "lucid"?

10:30 AM ET | 08-17-2007 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

Karl Rove to Call It Quits at the End of August

Well, this is one heck of a way to return from vacation. I plopped down at my computer this morning and was greeted by the news that "Bush's brain" is leaving. The Wall Street Journal first reported that Karl Rove, the political guru behind George Bush's two successful presidential campaigns, is leaving Aug. 31 for "the sake of my family."

Oh, come on -- that family stuff is like a running joke, used every time someone involved in politics quits. The real reason, as Cokie Roberts said today on Morning Edition, is that Bush's political life is over and there really isn't any reason for Rove to remain as the president's political adviser. But it wasn't until Josh Bolten, White House chief of staff, told staffers that, unless they left the administration by the end of this month, they were in it until the bitter end that Rove decided to pull the plug on his 14 years with Bush.

Not to mention that the Democrats have been pretty aggressive in their efforts to have him testify in the U.S. attorney firings investigation. Rove had already been through one wrenching investigation: He was frequently mentioned during the probe into the leaked identify of then-undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame. In fact, as The Associated Press notes, the lawyers for I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby (who was ultimately convicted of lying and obstructing justice in the case) told the jury at his trial that "Libby was the victim of a conspiracy to protect Rove. Details of any save-Rove conspiracy were promised but never materialized."

While Rove is "spending more time with his family," he'll probably be doing something else popular among those who have stepped out of the political arena (for now anyway): writing a book.

(P.S. Many thanks to Robert Smith for manning the fort while I was in the wilds of Massachusetts.)

9:45 AM ET | 08-13-2007 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post

Another Day, Another Political Hoop to Jump Through

Tonight, the Democratic candidates have their third forum in a week, this time sponsored by the gay/lesbian cable channel Logo and the Human Rights Campaign. (You can watch it online here.) I suppose it's a good test for politicians to see if they can empathize with a crowd without pandering to it. But it's getting tough for the Democrats to please everyone.

First, they had to pay homage to the liberal bloggers at the YearlyKos convention. Then they had to fly their union flags at the AFL-CIO forum (good highlights here). But the service workers union, SEIU, isn't letting them off that easy. To compete for the union's endorsement, candidates have to shadow one of its workers.

On Wednesday, Sen. Barack Obama mopped floors and made breakfast for a man in a wheelchair as he followed a home health care worker on her daily rounds. Sen. Hillary Clinton will reportedly work a shift as a nurse in a Las Vegas hospital next week. These days it's not enough to kiss butts, you have to wipe butts to get elected.

Maybe those union guys are onto something. Maybe the candidates should have to work in an industry before they are allowed to tout their ideas for changing it. You have a great plan for universal health care, fine. But first spend a day with a doctor fighting insurance companies for coverage. Then, heck, spend the next day with the insurance workers and see their side. Get moving, candidates. Drive the buses. Fight the wars. Write the blogs. Then, maybe the American worker would finally get something out of presidential politics: A day off.

- Robert Smith

5:40 PM ET | 08- 9-2007 | permalink | e-mail post

Did GOP Use 'Caging' to Block Some Voters in 2004?

Ever since the 2004 election, rumors have floated occasionally in the media -- and frequently in the blogosphere -- that there was some kind of monkey business in Ohio that helped tip the vote for President Bush.

On Friday, PBS' NOW explored allegations that the Republican Party used a tactic called "voter caging" in Ohio, Florida and other key election states to prevent typically Democratic-leaning groups like minorities and students from voting. And NOW investigated reports that a similar plan may be in place for the 2008 election. (You can watch the entire program on the show's Web site.)

In a political context, "voter caging" involves using direct mail to challenge people's voter registration. Few had heard of it before Monica Goodling mentioned it in her testimony before the House Judiciary Committee.

NOW talked to journalist Greg Palast, who first reported on "voter caging" for the BBC in 2004, when a Bush parody site claimed to have accidentally received confidential e-mails about it.

Palast also explained his charges in a recent post on the liberal BradBlog: "The Bush-Cheney operatives sent hundreds of thousands of letters marked 'Do not forward' to voters' homes. Letters returned ('caged') were used as evidence to block these voters' right to cast a ballot on grounds they were registered at phony addresses. Who were the evil fakers? Homeless men, students on vacation and --- you got to love this --- American soldiers. Oh yeah: most of them are Black voters."

NOW reports that the voter caging issue might be tied into the Justice Department's firing of eight U.S. attorneys. NOW interviewed one of the fired prosecutors, David Iglesias, who says he was pressured by key Republicans to engage in "unlawful activities," including what would have amounted to voter suppression. He believes that the White House is withholding documents to protect people like Karl Rove, Harriet Miers and Sara Taylor because there is "incriminating, possibly criminally incriminating evidence contained in those e-mails and other memoranda."

I suspect that voter caging is something we'll hear more about in the next few weeks.

3:08 PM ET | 07-30-2007 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

Government Paid More Than $1 Billion to Dead Farmers

You know, I love America. Not only will the U.S. government often give you money while you're alive, it'll keep doing it years after you've died.

According to The Washington Post, a government report found the U.S. Department of Agriculture paid more than $1.1 billion over seven years "to the estates or companies of deceased farmers and routinely failed to conduct reviews required to ensure that the payments were properly made." The Government Accountability Office's review of 181 cases found that officials approved payments without a review of any kind 40 percent of the time. In another 38 percent of cases, the work was sloppy or vague.

The report cited a 1,900-acre soybean and corn farm in Illinois that collected $400,000 on behalf of an owner who lived in Florida before his death in 1995. The company did not notify the government of the death but certified each year that the dead shareholder, who owned 40 percent of the company, was "actively engaged" in managing the farm.

Most estates can continue receiving farm payments for up to two years after the owner's death to allow time to restructure finances. But after that, the USDA is supposed to make sure the farm is still a working operation and not just in existence to collect loot from the feds.

I wonder how hard the government will push to get the money back in cases in which people tried to game the system. Will the reaction be the same as if, for example, it had been the Department of Health and Human Services overpaying welfare cases it administers?

12:09 PM ET | 07-23-2007 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

Cheney to Be in Charge While Bush Has Colonoscopy

I'm getting to be "that age now," as my mother says. The age that means uncomfortable things like colonoscopies. I'm going to have one in a few weeks, so I can sympathize with President Bush, who The Associated Press reports will have a colonoscopy Saturday.

This actually marks at least the fourth time Bush has undergone this procedure. In the late '90s, doctors found some benign polyps, so they want to follow up over time. I give the president full marks. Just thinking about having it done once is daunting, let alone four times.

The other part of this news, of course, is that when you have a colonoscopy, they knock you out or at least relax you enough that you're not completely coherent. So this means that Vice President Dick Cheney will be in charge while the president is indisposed, so to speak.

Hmmm. I know some people who will be nervous with Cheney in charge. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, for instance, might have a long day Saturday hoping for the president to get back to work quickly.

3:19 PM ET | 07-20-2007 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post

Dems and GOP Prepare for All-Night Debate

Get ready for an all-nighter up on Capitol Hill. All Things Considered reports that Senate Democrats plan to keep everybody around to have a marathon session about the war in Iraq.

I remember doing this kind of thing in college. Not trying to end a war, of course, but staying up all night trying to get some major paper done at the last second or studying for a ginormously important test. With lots of coffee, greasy fast food and maybe some beer.

Democratic leaders say their decision to keep senators up all night "is intended to bait Republicans into an exhaustive debate on the politically unpopular war, as well as punish Republicans for routinely blocking anti-war legislation," The Associated Press reports. Republicans have called it "political theater" that won't accomplish anything.

One night? One night is punishment? They get to stay up late and hang out with their homies, and that's punishment? And get this: Reuters reports "pillows, snacks and toothbrushes were also brought in."

Snacks? This is not punishment. This is a pajama party.

The bottom line is this: In all likelihood, little will have changed by the time the sun rises Wednesday because the GOP still has the votes to block whatever the Democrats want to do.

Now, if you do this every night for a week, then you might get a few people to start changing their votes. Then you'll be talking punishment.

4:42 PM ET | 07-17-2007 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post

Ex-Surgeon General Complains of Political Interference

Dr. Richard Carmona has joined a growing list of federal officials who have said publicly that the Bush administration plays politics with science and health issues. But Carmona's complaints stand out -- he recently finished a four-year stint as the nation's surgeon general, and he was appointed by President Bush.

NPR's Julie Rovner reports that Carmona told the House Government Reform Committee on Tuesday that political interference has left the very position of surgeon general in danger.

"The reality is that the nation's doctor has been marginalized and relegated to a position with no independent budget and with supervisors who are political appointees with partisan agendas," Carmona said. "Anything that doesn't fit into the political appointees' ideological, theological or political agenda is ignored, marginalized or simply buried."

The Washington Post reports, for instance, that "Carmona ... said he was told not to speak out during the national debate over whether the federal government should fund embryonic stem cell research." He also told the panel that his speeches were vetted and edited by political appointees. One rule was that Bush was supposed to be mentioned three times on every page.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto rejected the claims of interference, and the Department of Health and Human Services issued a written statement disagreeing with Carmona's testimony.

And Rovner's report notes that Virginia Rep. Tom Davis, the committee's senior Republican, said he had sympathy for Carmona's argument of political interference only to a point. "It's tough trying to define where you be a team player and where you speak out, and you try to balance that every day. But we have politicians who run the government, and not scientists," he said.

9:25 AM ET | 07-11-2007 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

GOP Senator Says His Name Is on 'D.C. Madam' List

Louisiana Sen. David Vitter has admitted that his number appears in the telephone records of Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the woman accused of running a prostitution ring in Washington, D.C. Politico reports that the Republican has apologized.

"Several years ago, I asked for and received forgiveness from God and my wife in confession and marriage counseling,'' he added. "Out of respect for my family, I will keep my discussion of the matter there -- with God and them. But I certainly offer my deep and sincere apologies to all I have disappointed and let down in any way."

Vitter did not say exactly when his involvement took place but said it was before he ran for the Senate in 2004. The Harvard graduate and Rhodes scholar served in the House from 1999 to 2004 and became the first Republican elected to the Senate from Louisiana since Reconstruction.

Visitors to the Web site of The Times-Picayune in New Orleans had varied reactions to Vitter's admission. "Here is a guy who preached about New Orleans being sinful. What a joke," one wrote. Others were more understanding: "Political consequences aside, [it] is crucial is that he acted remorsefully at a time of no imminent threat of exposure."

10:48 AM ET | 07-10-2007 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

Cindy Sheehan Says She May Run Against Pelosi

Cindy Sheehan

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

It would seem that anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan is not finished stirring things up yet.

Sheehan -- famous for establishing a protest camp in Crawford, Texas, in 2005, where she challenged a vacationing President Bush to come and talk to her about her son's death in Iraq -- says that she will run against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi next year unless Pelosi starts impeachment proceedings against Bush by July 23. That's the day Sheehan and her supporters will arrive in Washington after a 13-day caravan and walking tour.

Sheehan had announced in May that she was leaving the anti-war movement, saying many of her supporters on the left turned on her when she began criticizing the Democrats.

A Pelosi spokesman said the speaker has repeatedly told the public that her focus is on ending the war in Iraq. "July will be a month of action in Congress to end the war, including a vote to redeploy our troops by next spring," Brendan Daly said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

Sheehan's announcement electrified the blogosphere. Technorati shows hundreds of posts about her possible challenge of Pelosi.

And the reactions from both supporters and detractors have been strong. The conservative Big Dogs Weblog writes that "the thought of Cindy Sheehan as a member of Congress is chilling." Justin at the liberal Blue State loves the idea. "Although I may question some of Sheehan's tactics, this is one idea I really can get behind." His posting includes a picture of Sheehan and Pelosi, hand in hand in happier times.

10:58 AM ET | 07- 9-2007 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

Blogosphere Rumbles with Libby Aftershocks

Well, if the blogosphere had fallen into a pre-Independence Day slumber, it was jolted awake by President Bush's decision Monday to commute the prison sentence of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Although the responses from conservative sites like National Review Online or liberal blogs like Daily Kos could probably have been written in advance, there are also a few more thoughtful opinions out there.

Orin Kerr at The Volokh Conspiracy wonders why many blogs are painting the prosecution of Libby as "purely political."

As I understand it, Bush political appointee James Comey named Bush political appointee and career prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald to investigate the Plame leak. Bush political appointee and career prosecutor Fitzgerald filed an indictment and went to trial before Bush political appointee Reggie Walton ... I'm open to arguments that parts of the case against Libby were unfair. But for the case to have been purely political, doesn't that require the involvement of someone who was not a Bush political appointee?

Ed Morrissey at Captain's Quarters writes that by deciding to "split the baby" (commute Libby's sentence, not pardon him), President Bush will probably satisfy no one. But Morrissey approves, although he did not think Bush should have taken any action in the first place: "It strikes a balance that few will appreciate now, but later will accept as wise, as far as it goes."

ScotusBlog points out that, although the president's decision cannot be challenged in court, "the conviction remains intact, and thus an ultimate appeal to the Supreme Court remains a real possibility."

Todd Beeton of MyDD links to an instant poll of 825 people by Survey USA. Surprisingly, 35 percent of conservatives believe the president should have left the judge's decision alone.

For more blog stuff, head here.

11:24 AM ET | 07- 3-2007 | permalink | comments (16) | e-mail post

Senior Dems May Try to Bring Back Fairness Doctrine

Last week, a liberal think tank released a report showing that talk radio programming is overwhelmingly conservative. Since then, lots of politicians and bloggers on the right have been crying foul over talk of bringing back the Fairness Doctrine, a federal policy killed in the 1980s that required stations to make an effort to give even consideration to opposing views.

The conservatives' reaction seemed over the top, considering only a couple Democratic congressmen were saying they wanted to revive the doctrine.

However, The Hill reports today that two senior Senate Democrats, Dick Durbin and Dianne Feinstein, are also saying they're interested in bringing the doctrine back to life.

If Democratic leaders are serious about pursuing it, that would confirm those conservative concerns.

One has to wonder what advantage the Democrats see in such a move. President Bush would likely veto any such bill if it ever hit his desk. It's the kind of issue that would unite the GOP base in a year of party unrest over Iraq and the immigration bill. And the demographic that listens to talk radio seems unlikely to swing massively to the left, even if it does hear more liberal points of view.

Then there's the fact that conservative dominance of talk radio didn't stop the GOP from losing control of Congress in the 2006 elections.

Still, Republican Rep. Mike Pence, who worked as a syndicated talk radio host in Indiana before winning election to the House, wants to keep the doctrine in the grave. He's introducing legislation that would codify the Federal Communications Commission's decision to kill it.

6:07 PM ET | 06-27-2007 | permalink | comments (7) | e-mail post