FTR News and More

Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy Dead At 77

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 22:55:00 MST

Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, the patriarch of the first family of Democratic politics, died Wednesday at his home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, after a lengthy battle with brain cancer. He was 77. "We've lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever," a family statement said. "We thank everyone who gave him care and support over this last year, an...

Minnesota Supreme Court Declares Franken Winner In U.S. Senate Race

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:49:00 MST

The Minnesota Supreme Court yesterday declared comedian-turned-politician Al Franken the winner of the state's U.S. Senate race, ending an eight-month-long election saga and giving Democrats a 60-seat majority that theoretically would allow them to block GOP filibusters....

Gop Strategists To Cheney: Enough, Already

Wed, 13 May 2009 20:39:00 MST

Enough, already. That's the reaction of many Republicans to Dick Cheney's surge of media appearances to defend the Bush administration, especially on national security issues. "I don't think anybody would call him and say, 'Shut up.' It wouldn't work," says a GOP strategist who formerly advised Ronald Reagan. "He obviously feels that his work as vice president is under attack. But he is not our best spokesman." The concern among Republican strategists is t...

Sen Specter Gets A New Vantage Point The Speakers Lobby

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 07:17:00 MST

Newly-minted Dem senator Arlen Specter, who left the GOP party earlier this week after decades, will have a new location on the Senate floor to match his party switch when the chamber opens for business today. His desk was relocated last night out of the sight of cameras, unlike the pomp and circumstance that surrounded Jim Jeffords in 2001 when he changed parties from GOP to Independent. Then, we got an actual photo op of the big event. This time, not even an announcement from Majority Leade...

Sen. Arlen Specter Switches To Democratic Party

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 10:45:00 MST

Democrats are closer to having the 60 votes needed to overcome procedural hurdles in the Senate now that Sen. Arlen Specter, the longtime Pennsylvania Republican, has decided to switch parties. "I have decided to run for re-election in 2010 in the Democratic primary," Specter said in a statement published Tuesday on Politico's Web site. "I am ready, willing and anxious to take on all comers and have my candidacy for re-election determined in a general election." Specter...

Obama: Quit Listening To Rush Limbaugh If You Want To Get Things Done

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 21:16:00 MST

President Obama warned Republicans on Capitol Hill today that they need to quit listening to radio king Rush Limbaugh if they want to get along with Democrats and the new administration. "You can't just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done," he told top GOP leaders, whom he had invited to the White House to discuss his nearly $1 trillion stimulus package. One White House official confirmed the comment but said he was simply trying to make a larger point about bipartisan ...

Vowing Transparency, Obama Oks Ethics Guidelines

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 11:05:00 MST

Promising "a new era of openness in our country," President Barack Obama signed executive orders Wednesday relating to ethics guidelines for staff members of his administration. "Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency," Obama said. Among other things, Obama said he would issue a pay freeze for his senior staff. During the campaign, Obama pledged that "no political appointees in an Obama-Biden administration will be permitted to wo...

Most See Bush Presidency As A Failure, Poll Shows

Sun, 18 Jan 2009 09:15:00 MST

As George W. Bush spends his final days in office, a national poll suggests that two-thirds of Americans see his presidency as a failure. > Sixty-eight percent of those questioned in a CNNOpinion Research Corp. poll released Sunday said that Bush's eight years in the White House were a failure, with 44 percent saying this was because of his personal shortcomings and 22 percent blaming the failure on circumstances beyond his control. > Thirty-one percent said they consider Bush'...

Former Bush Officials Used Leverage In Private Sector, Report Finds

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 20:32:00 MST

Shortly after leaving his job as U.S. energy secretary in early 2005, Spencer Abraham took a $60,000-a-year post as a director of Occidental Petroleum, which soon became the first firm in 20 years to ship oil to the U.S. from Libya. Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge accepted director's fees and consulting work from several firms seeking contracts with his old agency. Tommy Thompson, the former secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, has consulted, lobbied o...

Franken Declared Winner In Minnesota Senate Race

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:13:00 MST

Two months after Minnesota voters went to the polls, Democrat Al Franken has been declared the winner of the U.S. Senate race, but his opponent, Republican incumbent Norm Coleman, is ready to challenge the results in court. The Minnesota Canvassing Board ruled Franken, the comedian and former radio host, won the razor-close election recount by 225 votes out of nearly 3 million cast Nov. 4. Though Franken has been declared the winner, the contest will not end today. Coleman has a seven-day ...

Mccain: I Can'T Promise To Support Palin For President

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 10:52:00 MST

Wow... the old John McCain is back...Sen. John McCain said Sunday he would not necessarily support his former running mate if she chose to run for president. Speaking to ABC's "This Week," McCain was asked whether Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin could count on his support. "I can't say something like that. We've got some great other young governors. I think you're going to see the governors assume a greater leadership role in our Republican Party," he said. He th...

Obama Names Campaign Rival Hillary Clinton As His Secretary Of State

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 09:22:00 MST

President-elect Barack Obama has named his one-time political rival, New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, as his secretary of state. Clinton is expected to resign her Senate seat to prepare to lead U.S. foreign policy in the latest chapter in her long career. VOA's Deborah Tate reports from Washington. Many observers are praising President-elect Obama's choice for secretary of state. They said Hillary Clinton comes to the job with name recognition and a familiarity with forei...

Obama Unveils His National Security Team

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 09:10:00 MST

President-elect Barack Obama on Monday officially introduced the members of his national security team, including former Democratic primary rival Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state and Robert Gates, who will be remain as defense secretary. Obama also announced that retired Marine Gen. James L. Jones -- a former top commander of NATO and U.S. forces in Europe -- would be his national security adviser. "I am confident that this is the team that we need to make a new beginning for ...

War On Terror: Barack Obama

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:10:00 MST

Barack Obama will confront a daunting list of priorities when he takes office on Jan. 20. Rescuing the nation's economy -- if there's anything left to rescue by then -- will obviously be at the top of the list. But it is just as important that Obama immediately declare an end to the "war on terror," and reverse all of the policies that have been carried out in its name. George W. Bush's "war on terror" has been an unmitigated disaster. First, it is unwinnable. Terr...

Clinton Accepts Sec. of State

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:43:00 MST

New York Sen. Hillary Clinton has accepted an offer from President-elect Barack Obama to become U.S. secretary of state, joining her former Democratic rival to help guide U.S. foreign policy, the New York Times said on Friday. > The newspaper quoted two Clinton associates who said she came to her decision after additional discussions with Obama about the nature of her role as the top U.S. diplomat and his foreign policy plans.
"She's ready," one of the sources told ...

Preparing For A New Presidency | Change.Gov

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 10:47:00 MST

HAVING fought the longest election campaign in American history, Barack Obama is now immersed in the most difficult transition in living memory. He will inherit two wars and the worst economic crisis since the Depression. He needs to ensure a smooth transfer of power from an incumbent who is ideologically and temperamentally his polar opposite. He also needs to translate his vague philosophy of hope and change into governance. Hearts are sure to be broken and enemies made. > Mr Obama is br...

Hypocritye: Palin Decries 'Extreme Partisanship'

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 08:58:00 MST

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Thursday argued that she and her fellow Republican governors were ready to put aside "extreme partisanship" and act if Washington fails to provide the leadership America needs. > Speaking at her first formal news conference before the national media since the GOP presidential ticket lost last week, the former vice presidential nominee argued that her fellow Republican governors "don't let obsessive, extreme partisanship ... get in the way of ...

Pawlenty Calls For A More Diverse GOP

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 13:42:00 MST

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) laid out his vision for the Republican Party and how it can move forward. It needs to get younger, more diverse and build a broader coalition, he said here at the Republican Governors Association conference a little more than a week after Republicans lost the presidency and suffered big losses in both the US House and Senate. "If we're going to successfully travel the road, as a Republican, we need to see clearly, and be honest about where we've bee...

Bush Leaving Office More Unpopular Than Nixon

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 12:06:00 MST

On the day that President-elect Barack Obama is visiting the White House, a new national poll suggests that the current occupant at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is the most unpopular president since approval ratings were first sought more than six decades ago. Seventy-six percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Monday disapprove of how President Bush is handling his job. That's an all-time high in CNN polling and in Gallup polling dating back to Wo...

Barack Obama 'To Reverse Bush Policy On Stem Cell Research And Oil Drilling'

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 11:13:00 MST

Barack Obama, the US president-elect, will use executive powers to reverse his predecessor's policies on stem cell research and oil exploration in national parks, a senior aide has indicated. > John Podesta, who is handling Mr Obama's preparations to take over in the White House on January 20, said that Mr Obama was reviewing Mr Bush’s executive orders on those and other issues - believed to include funding family planning in third world countries - as he prepares to put ...

George Bush Plans To Push Through Agenda In Last Days In Office

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 12:52:00 MST

Democrats fear the president will try to ram through new rules on the environment, civil liberties and abortion rights before December 20, the deadline for changes before the new president is inaugurated a month later. The alterations could take months or years to undo. Attorney General Michael Mukasey has already rushed out new guidelines for the FBI that make domestic surveillance easier, including the use of informants to infiltrate lawful groups and prolonged physical surveillance. Gr...

Cheney's Day Is Done

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 20:33:00 MST

The most spectacular, and indeed sinister, conflict of interest in the world of politics and business must surely be the relationship between US Vice President Dick Cheney and Halliburton Company. > Cheney had been chairman and CEO of the oil services and construction giant Halliburton from 1995 to August 2000 when he signed up with George W Bush's election campaign. Halliburton stands to benefit every time an oil pipeline is blown up in Iraq or a meal is handed out to the troops, and ...

Cheney's Day Is Done

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 20:33:00 MST

My Wife Made Me Canvas For Obama; Here'S What I Learned

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 14:34:00 MST

There has been a lot of speculation that Barack Obama might win the election due to his better "ground game" and superior campaign organization. > I had the chance to view that organization up close this month when I canvassed for him. I'm not sure I learned much about his chances, but I learned a lot about myself and about this election.
Let me make it clear: I'm pretty conservative. I grew up in the suburbs. I voted for George H.W. Bush twice, and his son once...

Powell: Support For Obama Doesn'T Mean Iraq War Wrong

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 11:05:00 MST

ormer U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama Sunday during an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press." > "I think he is a transformational figure, he is a new generation coming onto the world stage, onto the American stage, and for that reason I'll be voting for Senator Barack Obama," Powell said.
Powell spoke to reporters afterward outside NBC. > The following is a transcript of that conversation.
Reporter: Do...

White House Orchestrated Taxpayer-Funded Trips To Help Republican Candidates

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 12:08:00 MST

A draft Committee report circulated by Chairman Waxman finds that in the months before the 2006 elections, the White House Office of Political Affairs enlisted agency heads across government in a coordinated effort to elect Republican candidates to Congress, directing them to make hundreds of trips most at taxpayer expense for the purpose of increasing the electability of Republicans....

Prosecutor Named To Probe Us Attorneys' Firings

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 21:09:00 MST

Attorney General Michael Mukasey named a prosecutor Monday to investigate whether former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, other Bush administration officials or Republicans in Congress should face criminal charges in the firings of nine U.S. attorneys. > The launching of a criminal inquiry follows the recommendation of internal Justice Department investigators who concluded that, despite denials of the administration, political considerations played a part in the firings of as many as fo...

Mccain Suspends Campaign, Obama Plans To Continue

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:48:00 MST

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain announced Wednesday that he is suspending his campaign to return to Washington and focus on the "historic" crisis facing the U.S. economy. Democratic rival Sen. Barack Obama said at a news conference later Wednesday that he and McCain had spoken by phone and had agreed to issue a joint statement about shared principles in the approach to resolving the economic crisis. But he disagreed with McCain's call for postponing Friday...

If Palin Were A Man Or A Democrat

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 22:58:00 MST

It’s difficult to get my head around the mindset of letter-writers who clearly get their basic notions about American life from Fox News. Usually I just grit my teeth and turn the page. But the two letters today, implying that Ms. Palin is actually better qualified than Barack Obama, have forced a response. Let’s review, shall we. I make no claim to authorship of the following, but it is factually accurate. (As if facts actually matter anymore.) If you grow up in Hawaii, raised...

Karl Rove Says Excitement Over Palin Will Subside

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 21:59:00 MST

Republican tactician Karl Rove said Wednesday that John McCain’s vice presidential pick was a political choice and that excitement over Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will subside. “Nothing lasts for 60-some-odd days,” Rove told The Associated Press after appearing at a health care conference. “Will she be the center of attention in the remaining 48 days? No, but she came on in a very powerful way and has given a sense of urgency to the McCain campaign that’s pretty re...

Palin'S Project List Totals $453 Million

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 23:36:00 MST

Last week, Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain said his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, hadn't sought earmarks or special-interest spending from Congress, presenting her as a fiscal conservative. But state records show Gov. Palin has asked U.S. taxpayers to fund $453 million in specific Alaska projects over the past two years. These projects include more than $130 million in federal funds that would benefit Alaska's fishing industry and an additional $9 million t...

Palin Billed State Of Alaska For Nights Spent At Home

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 09:48:00 MST

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office, charging a "per diem" allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business. The governor also has charged the state for travel expenses to take her children on official out-of-town missions. And her husband, Todd, has billed the state for expenses and a daily allowance for trips he makes on official business for his wife. Pal...

Fbi Arrests Former Lobbyist In Growing Abramoff Case

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:01:00 MST

The FBI today arrested Kevin Ring, a former lobbyist, for his alleged role in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. Justice Department officials said that the FBI arrested Ring this morning at his Maryland home. He is charged in a 10-count public-corruption indictment, the officials said. Ring is a former congressional staffer for Rep. John Doolittle (R-Ca.) The indictment charges Ring with conspiring with Abramoff and others to corrupt congressional and executive-branch officials by providing...

McCain Campaign Lying in New Ad

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:39:00 MST

The presidential campaigns of Barack Obama and John McCain are sparring over a new television ad claiming Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin stopped the “Bridge to Nowhere” — the infamous $400 million congressional earmark that became the ultimate symbol of excessive pork-barrel spending. The new McCain ad, set to air in key states, calls both the Arizona senator and Palin "original mavericks," and characterizes the Alaska governor as an ardent opponent of the 2005 ...

Heart To Palin: Cut It Out

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:15:00 MST

Ann and Nancy Wilson, headliners of Heart, demanded Friday that Republicans stop using their hit song "Barracuda" at rallies for vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska. It's the second time this year that GOP stage managers have found themselves in trouble for using music without a singer's permission. Jackson Browne has sued the Republican Party over the McCain campaign's use of his "Running on Empty." In a statement, Heart disassociated itself from...

Lieberman Could Lose Chairmanship, Democrats Warn

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:01:00 MST

Sen. Joe Lieberman's speech before the Republican National Convention on Tuesday night could cost him the chairmanship of a key Senate committee, a top Senate Democratic aide told CNN. Sen. Joe Lieberman's speech to the Republican National Convention on Tuesday angered some Democrats. During the speech, the Connecticut senator praised GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain and criticized Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama. "The Democratic Caucus will reassess the s...

Pastors’ Web Electioneering Attracts U.S. Reviews Of Tax Exemptions

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 09:27:00 MST

Keep religion out of politics! There was a time when a minister like James David Manning could stand in the pulpit of his little church on 123rd Street in Harlem and say pretty much anything he liked about a presidential candidate. Beyond his community of devoted parishioners, who was to know? But when Pastor Manning, who is black, posted an angry sermon in February on the Web site of his church, the Atlah World Ministries, denouncing Senator Barack Obama as a “pimp” and Mr. Ob...

Democrats Attack Lieberman, Saying He Lied To Delegates

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 23:20:00 MST

Democrats accused former colleague Sen. Joe Lieberman of misleading the Republican National Convention when he addressed them in a speech Tuesday night. A senior Barack Obama campaign adviser said Lieberman flat-out lied when he told delegates that Obama never successfully reached across party lines. "Joe Lieberman ought to be ashamed of himself for some of the things he said tonight, not as a Democrat but as an American," adviser Robert Gibbs said on "Larry King Live."...

Democrats Attack Lieberman, Saying He Lied To Delegates

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 23:20:00 MST

Sarah Palin: Shooting Star?

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:35:00 MST

I love this headline. Shooting star indeed... gun-toting, Right wing, fetus protecting, war hawk cigarette glow is more like it. Four days into Hurricane Palin and the decision by John McCain to pick the Alaska governor as his vice presidential running mate looks every bit as big a gamble as it did when he introduced her to the public last Friday. "Sarah who?" has been replaced by, "Who is Sarah?" and "What was John McCain thinking?" has been replaced by, "What di...

Feds Indict Sen. Stevens On Corruption Charges

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:05:00 MST

Ted Stevens, the longest serving Republican senator, was indicted Tuesday in the widening corruption scandal in Alaska, putting one of the Republicans' historically safest Senate seats in jeopardy in November. The U.S. Justice Department said the seven-count felony case against the 84-year-old Stevens related to improper disclosure of gifts and services valued at more than $250,000 from oil-services company VECO. Stevens was chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee for nearly seven...

Nuts: Mccain Credits Bush For Drop In Oil Price

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:59:00 MST

GOP presidential candidate John McCain on Wednesday said the recent drop in the price of oil was due to President Bush's lifting of a presidential ban on offshore drilling. "The price of oil dropped $10 a barrel," said McCain, who argued that lifting the ban has affected world markets. Bush recently lifted the executive order banning offshore drilling that his father put in place in 1990....

Voters To Decide On Naming Sewage Plant For Bush

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 21:45:00 MST

A measure seeking to commemorate President Bush's years in office by slapping his name on a San Francisco sewage plant has qualified for the November ballot. The measure certified Thursday would rename the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant the George W. Bush Sewage Plant. Supporters say the idea is to commemorate the mess they claim Bush has left behind by actions such as the war in Iraq. Local Republicans say the plan stinks and they will oppose it....

Pelosi: Bush 'A Total Failure'

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 21:42:00 MST

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called President Bush "a total failure" on Thursday, among the California Democrat's harshest assessments to date of the president. "God bless him, bless his heart, president of the United States -- a total failure, losing all credibility with the American people on the economy, on the war, on energy, you name the subject," Pelosi told CNN's Wolf Blitzer in an exclusive interview. The comments came two days after the president sharply crit...

Rove Ignores Subpoena, Refuses To Testify On Hill

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:29:00 MST

Former White House adviser Karl Rove defied a congressional subpoena and refused to testify Thursday about allegations of political pressure at the Justice Department, including whether he influenced the prosecution of a former Democratic governor of Alabama. Rep. Linda Sanchez, chairman of a House subcommittee, ruled with backing from fellow Democrats on the panel that Rove was breaking the law by refusing to cooperate — perhaps the first step toward holding him in contempt of Congress...

Ron Paul Launches Libertarian Movement

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 23:12:00 MST

Rep. Ron Paul transitioned from presidential candidate to leader of a libertarian movement on Thursday. Speaking to hundreds of supporters at the Texas Republican Convention, he announced the formation of the Campaign for Liberty, a grassroots group that would push for a strict adherence to the Constitution and support candidates with libertarian leanings. “We have latched on to the right philosophy,” Mr. Paul said during an ice cream social inside a hotel ballroom. “Th...

Should Bush Worry About Mcclellan Testimony?

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:57:00 MST

President Bush probably isn’t looking forward to next Friday – that’s when former White House Spokesman Scott McClellan is set to testify before Congress. McClellan will appear before the House Judiciary Committee, publicly and under oath, concerning the White House’s role in leaking the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame in 2003. In his new book, McClellan writes that he was misled by administration officials, possibly including Vice President Dick Cheney, about t...

President Met Disgraced Lobbyist At Least Six Times

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:29:00 MST

The White House had stronger ties to disgraced superlobbyist Jack Abramoff than it has publicly admitted, according to a draft congressional report released Monday. President Bush met Abramoff on at least four occasions the White House has yet to acknowledge, according to the draft report by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. And White House officials appeared as comfortable going to Abramoff and his lobbyists seeking tickets to sporting and entertainment events, as the...

Cheney Apologizes For Quip On W. Virginia

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 09:30:00 MST

Vice President Cheney apologized for saying yesterday that he has "Cheneys on both sides" of his family tree dating back to the 1600s, "And we don't even live in West Virginia." The quip drew groans from the audience at the National Press Club, prompting the vice president to add, "You can say those things when you're not running for reelection." (The White House transcript of Cheney's comments, released last night, described laughter instead of groans.) ...

Ex-Bush Spokesman: President Used 'Propaganda' To Push War

Tue, 27 May 2008 22:06:00 MST

The spokesman who defended President Bush's policies through Hurricane Katrina and the early years of the Iraq war is now blasting his former employers, saying the Bush administration became mired in propaganda and political spin and at times played loose with the truth. In excerpts from a 341-page book to be released Monday, Scott McClellan writes on Iraq that Bush "and his advisers confused the propaganda campaign with the high level of candor and honesty so fundamentally needed to...

Clinton Win Leads To Obama Boost

Thu, 15 May 2008 09:04:00 MST

Hillary Clinton's decisive win in West Virginia caused John Edwards to throw his support to Barack Obama, the Illinois senator's aides said. Edwards was concerned that the Clinton storyline -- that Obama can't win white, working-class voters -- was becoming too damaging to Obama and the party, aides said. Obama had been courting Edwards for four months. Since Edwards abandoned his presidential bid in January, he and Obama have talked regularly, Obama said. As late as Monday...

Democrats Win Again In A Republican Stronghold

Tue, 13 May 2008 22:21:00 MST

Forget West Virginia. The race pros in both parties were watching tonight was a special House election in Mississippi -- and the results could not be worse for the GOP. For the third time during the last few months, a Democrat triumphed in a House district that long had been solidly Republican. In this case -- Mississippi's 1st congressional district -- Travis Childers bucked last-minute intervention by Vice President Dick Cheney to win a seat that the GOP had held, easily, since 1994....

Poll: More Disapprove Of Bush Than Any Other President - Cnn.Com

Thu, 01 May 2008 22:36:00 MST

A new poll suggests that President Bush is the most unpopular president in modern American history. A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Thursday indicates that 71 percent of the American public disapprove of how Bush is handling his job as president. "No president has ever had a higher disapproval rating in any CNN or Gallup Poll; in fact, this is the first time that any president's disapproval rating has cracked the 70 percent mark," said Keating Holland, CNN's po...

Bush Approval Rating Hits All Time Low

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:46:00 MST

With the economic outlook looking dim and the continued war in Iraq, President Bush’s job approval rating hit an all time low Friday, according to a just released poll. The latest Gallup poll shows the president’s approval dropped to 28 percent, the lowest of his eight years in office. The survey, which questioned 1,021 adults between April 6 and 9, with a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percent, found the decrease came largely because of Democratic and Independent dissatisfa...

G.O.P. Congressman From Buffalo Region Decides To Retire

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 21:57:00 MST

Representative Thomas M. Reynolds, a five-term Republican legislator from the Buffalo area and perhaps the most influential New Yorker in the House until his party lost control of the chamber, said on Thursday that he would step down at the end of the year. The decision by Mr. Reynolds, 57, who was nearly defeated in 2006 and was bracing for another tough re-election fight this year, further complicates the Republican Party’s efforts to try to regain control of the House in November. ...

Poll: Bush's Approval Hits New Low

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 14:50:00 MST

Just 31 percent of Americans approve of how President Bush is handling his job, according to a poll released Wednesday, the fifth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war. Sixty-seven percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey disapprove of the president's performance. The 31 percent approval number is a new low for Bush in CNN polling, and 40 points lower than the president's number at the start of the Iraq war. "Bush's approval rating fiv...

Florida Democrats Won’T Vote Again, Official Says

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:29:00 MST

The Florida Democratic Party chairwoman on Monday officially buried the possibility of redoing the state’s disputed January presidential primary, saying there was no practical or affordable way to conduct a new election. The chairwoman, Karen L. Thurman, essentially threw up her hands after failing to secure approval for a new election from state officials or the campaigns of Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama. She said in a statement late Monday that party officials in...

Obama on McCain Tax Cut Reversal

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 13:29:00 MST

Barack Obama suggested Thursday John McCain reversed his position on the Bush tax cuts in order to win the Republican nomination. Speaking with reporters on his campaign plane, Obama noted the Arizona senator was a onetime opponent to the tax cuts, and said he has since reversed his position for political reasons. "That was how, I guess, you got your ticket punched to be the Republican nominee," he said. "But he was right then, and he's wrong now." McCain has said he...

Mukasey Refuses Probe Of Bush Aides

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 22:03:00 MST

Attorney General Michael Mukasey refused Friday to refer the House's contempt citations against two of President Bush's top aides to a federal grand jury. Mukasey said White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former presidential counsel Harriet Miers committed no crime. As promised, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that she has given the Judiciary Committee authority to file a lawsuit against Bolten and Miers in federal court. "The House shall do so promptly," she sai...

Mccain Seeks Distance From Pastor

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:17:00 MST

John McCain is refusing to renounce the endorsement of a prominent Texas televangelist who Democrats say peddles anti-Catholic and other intolerant speech. Instead, the Republican presidential candidate issued a statement Friday afternoon saying he had unspecified disagreements with the San Antonio megachurch leader, John Hagee. Hagee endorsed him at a news conference Wednesday in San Antonio. "However, in no way did I intend for his endorsement to suggest that I in turn agree with all...

Bush Aide Resigns Over Plagiarism

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:14:00 MST

A White House official who served as President Bush's middleman with conservatives and Christian groups resigned Friday after admitting to plagiarism. Twenty columns he wrote for an Indiana newspaper were determined to have material copied from other sources without attribution. Timothy Goeglein, who has worked for Bush since 2001, acknowledged that he lifted material from a Dartmouth College publication and presented it as his own work in a column about education for The News-Sentinel in...

Feds Indict Mccain Co-Chairman

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 21:46:00 MST

An Arizona congressman who is one of John McCain's 24 presidential co-chairmen was indicted Friday on fraud and extortion charges stemming from a shady land deal. Republican Rep. Rick Renzi was indicted on 35 criminal counts, including conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering and extortion for using his elected office to arrange a land swap. Renzi denied wrongdoing, and his attorney said the congressman would "fight these charges until he is vindicated." McCain appeared su...

Alabama Gop Disputes Former Campaign Worker'S Claims

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 21:32:00 MST

A former Republican campaign volunteer in Alabama told CBS's "60 Minutes" of what she viewed as a secret five-year campaign to ruin former Democratic Gov. Don Siegelman, a claim airing tonight that was denounced as a fabrication by the state GOP. Party officials say Jill Simpson, a Rainsville lawyer who has now left the Republican Party, was no more than a low-level volunteer for individual campaigns, if anything, and would not have had access to the kind of information she allege...

Mccain Dodges Bullet, Faces Fiscal Bombshell

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 20:48:00 MST

For Arizona Sen. John McCain, it was a week he won't soon forget. He spent much of it defending himself against charges that he did special favors for a female telecommunications lobbyist, whom his top aide had urged to stay away from the senator. Then came a warning from the Republican chairman of the Federal Elections Commission that he may not be able to drop out of the presidential public financing system. If he can't, he could be outspent by the Democratic nominee by 10-to-1 -...

Ny Times Report Links Mccain To Lobbyist

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 18:28:00 MST

During John McCain's first presidential run eight years ago, advisers became concerned over the Arizona senator's relationship with a female lobbyist, The New York Times reported Wednesday. McCain, 71, and the lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, 40, both denied they ever had had a romantic relationship, the paper reported on its Web site. However, the report went on to say that even the appearance of a close bond with a lobbyist had McCain's advisers worried. Iseman was attending fundraise...

Defense Contractor Sentenced To 12 Years For Bribery

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 18:47:00 MST

Brent R. Wilkes, a California defense contractor and prominent GOP campaign contributor, was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison yesterday for lavishing a Republican congressman with money, prostitutes and other bribes in exchange for nearly $90 million in work from the Pentagon. Wilkes, 53, was convicted in November of 13 felony crimes including bribery, conspiracy and fraud for giving the gifts to former representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Calif.), who is serving an eight...

Mccain: Obama Should Take Public Funding

Sat, 16 Feb 2008 08:42:00 MST

Here we go... campaign financing. Another Republican red herring... Republican Sen. John McCain admonished Democratic Sen. Barack Obama for hedging on his promise to accept public funding if he wins his party's nomination or use his prolific fundraising operation. "I made the commitment to the American people that if I were the nominee of my party, I would accept public financing," the likely GOP presidential nominee said Friday in Oshkosh, Wis. "I expect Senator Obama to ...

Clinton, Obama In Tight Race For Delegates

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 11:32:00 MST

A string of recent victories and endorsements from key party insiders have Democratic presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton running neck-and-neck in the increasingly important battle for delegates. Clinton holds a narrow 27-delegate lead over Obama, 1,148 to 1,121, down from her lead of more than 100 delegates a month ago, according to CNN's estimate. A candidate must secure the support of 2,025 delegates to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination. In the Re...

Dick Cheney: 'Damn Right' We'D Do It All Again

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 22:05:00 MST

This morning, at the start of a three-day Conservative Political Action Conference, a Republican senator from Wyoming suggested that, “Today, the C in CPAC stands for Cheney.’’ Then Vice President Dick Cheney stood for a resounding standing ovation at this 35th annual assembly organized by the American Conservative Union – Cheney called the crowd of many young as well as older people filling a Washington hotel ballroom “the heart and soul of the conservative comm...

More Than 20 Us States Hold Presidential Nominating Contests Tuesday

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 13:05:00 MST

Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barak Obama will do battle in 22 Democratic contests around the country, including states with large numbers of delegates like California, New York and New Jersey. The latest national public opinion polls show Obama gaining on Clinton and the race nearly even. But Clinton continues to hold narrow leads over Obama in most of the larger states voting on Tuesday. Both candidates are relying on a last minute barrage of television ads and quick campaign visit...

John Edwards To Quit Presidential Race

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 11:31:00 MST

John Edwards will end his presidential bid today, a source close to his campaign confirmed, effectively narrowing the Democratic field to two contenders less than a week before the Super Tuesday round of primaries. The former North Carolina senator is scheduled to speak in New Orleans this afternoon, an appearance originally billed as an anti-poverty speech but now expected to serve as the platform for ending a White House run that has been five years in the making. Edwards, 54, the party...

Kennedy: 'It'S Time Now For Barack Obama'

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 13:48:00 MST

Sen. Edward Kennedy backed Sen. Barack Obama for president Monday, saying, "It is time again for a new generation of leadership." "It is time now for Barack Obama," the Massachusetts senator and brother of the late President Kennedy added. He stood with Obama, his son, Rep. Patrick Kennedy, and his niece, Caroline Kennedy, before a screaming capacity crowd of students at American University in Washington. "Like you, we want a president who appeals to the hopes of t...

Bush To Make His Last State Of The Union Address

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 07:13:00 MST

It took long enough... President Bush faces continuing concerns about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and unsettled world financial markets. The White House is pressing Congress to approve an economic stimulus package, and the president has praised the bipartisan support he's getting on Capitol Hill. "I think the three big issues President Bush will talk about in the State of the Union will be, first, the Iraq War -- he'll talk about all the progress being made," says...

Justice Department Delayed Prosecuting Republican Official For Jamming Democrats’ Phones

Sun, 30 Dec 2007 19:34:00 MST

The Justice Department delayed prosecuting a key Republican official for jamming the phones of New Hampshire Democrats until after the 2004 election. An official with detailed knowledge of the investigation into the 2002 Election Day scheme said the inquiry sputtered for months after a prosecutor sought approval to indict James Tobin, the Northeast regional coordinator for the Republican National Committee. The phone-jamming operation was aimed at preventing New Hampshire Democrats from ro...

Former Aide Blames Bush For Leak Deceit

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 20:39:00 MST

Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan blames President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for efforts to mislead the public about the role of White House aides in leaking the identity of a CIA operative. In an excerpt from his forthcoming book, McClellan recounts the 2003 news conference in which he told reporters that aides Karl Rove and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby were "not involved" in the leak involving operative Valerie Plame. "There was one problem. I...

Former Giuliani Protege Pleads Not Guilty

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 10:21:00 MST

Former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik pleaded not guilty Friday to federal charges of conspiracy, tax fraud and making false statements. Bernard Kerik's indictment comes a year after he admitted to misdemeanor charges of financial impropriety. Kerik entered the plea in federal court in White Plains, New York, after investigators announced a 16-count indictment against him. Prosecutors say Kerik received about $255,000 in renovations to his Riverdale, New York, apartmen...

Analysis: Right Splinters On GOP Field

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 16:17:00 MST

The splintering of prominent Christian conservatives over the Republican presidential contenders reflects a schism _ between the dogma of God, guns and gays and the desire to beat Hillary Rodham Clinton. Months of disagreement within this important GOP voting bloc culminated this week in a flurry of endorsements: Televangelist Pat Robertson is backing Rudy Giuliani. Conservative Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas is supporting fellow Sen. John McCain of Arizona. Moral Majority co-founder Paul We...

Ex-Illinois Gov. Ryan Headed For Prison

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 09:40:00 MST

Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan will surrender himself to begin serving a prison term, his lawyer said on Tuesday after a Supreme Court justice turned down a bid from the Nobel Peace Prize nominee to remain free while he appeals his corruption conviction. "He said OK ... He said he was prepared to surrender," Jim Thompson, Ryan's lawyer and himself a former Illinois governor, told reporters about the 73-year-old Ryan's reaction when he got the word. Thompson said he would ...

Oh, the Hypocrisy of it: Rev. Pat Robertson Endorses Rudy Giuliani, Despite Abortion Stance

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 09:32:00 MST

Rudy Giuliani Wednesday morning won the endorsement of the Rev. Pat Robertson, one of the evangelical Christian movement's most recognizable leaders, who said he put aside his differences with Giuliani over abortion because he believes the ex-mayor will appoint staunchly conservative judges. Robertson also said he is backing Giuliani because "to me, the overriding issue before the American people is the defense of our population from the bloodlust of Islamic terrorists. . . . We need ...

Candidates Tout Conservatism At Gop Debate

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:46:00 MST

Republican presidential candidates intensified their fight over which one has the true conservative credentials in a sometimes contentious debate Sunday night. The candidates also didn't miss the opportunity to criticize Democratic front-runner Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York. A more aggressive Fred Thompson compared former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's social positions with Clinton and also implied former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney once held more liberal stands than Sen. Te...

President Accuses Democrats Of Achieving Little At Capitol

Wed, 17 Oct 2007 18:53:00 MST

Poor baby Bush... A year after he pledged to find “common ground” with the Democrats who now control Congress, President Bush on Wednesday delivered a scathing assessment of their performance, accusing lawmakers of dragging their feet on legislation ranging from trade deals and domestic surveillance to federal spending and children’s health. “We’re now more than halfway through October, and the new leaders in Congress have had more than nine months to get thin...

Tsongas Wins, But Gop Sees Hope In Loss

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 23:20:00 MST

Democrat Niki Tsongas, widow of the late Senator and presidential candidate Paul Tsongas, won election Tuesday night to fill the unexpired term of Congressman Marty Meehan in a closer than expected race that left some Republicans hopeful for their party's chances in 2008. With 100% of precincts reporting, Tsongas led farmer and businessman Jim Ogonowski, a Republican, and three minor party candidates with 51%. Ogonowski scored 45% in defeat. Still, said national Republicans, Ogonowski ...

Paul Krugman: Gore Derangement Syndrome

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 21:01:00 MST

On the day after Al Gore shared the Nobel Peace Prize, The Wall Street Journal’s editors couldn’t even bring themselves to mention Mr. Gore’s name. Instead, they devoted their editorial to a long list of people they thought deserved the prize more. Go to Columnist Page » Blog: The Conscience of a Liberal And at National Review Online, Iain Murray suggested that the prize should have been shared with “that well-known peace campaigner Osama bin Laden, who implicitl...

No, Really, The Sky Is Falling

Mon, 15 Oct 2007 12:03:00 MST

Try as he might, Mr. Texas Two-Step cannot upstage Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes. For nearly two terms in office, George W. Bush's approval rating has sunk. During the same period, Al Gore's popularity has gone through the roof. Bush's oil-based foreign policy has gotten more than 3,000 U.S. troops killed in an unnecessary war. Bush told Americans to shop, not sacrifice. Gore advocates less consumption and less energy dependence to save the planet and lives. He accepted the Oscar when...

Craig: Romney 'Threw Me Under The Campaign Bus'

Mon, 15 Oct 2007 11:29:00 MST

Sen. Larry Craig, the Idaho Republican caught in a bathroom sex sting this summer, said GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney "threw me under the campaign bus" when news of his arrest came out. "He not only threw me under his campaign bus, he backed up and ran over me again," Craig told Matt Lauer of NBC's "Today" show in an interview taped Sunday. Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, called Craig's behavior "disgraceful" and urged the senator...

Ohio Republican Rep. Ralph Regula Announces Retirement

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 13:03:00 MST

U.S. Rep. Ralph Regula on Friday announced he will retire at the end of his term in January 2009, capping a 36-year congressional career. "Today's decision to not seek re-election has been a difficult one for me. I am blessed with great health and still come to work every day committed to working hard on behalf of the people of Ohio's 16th Congressional District and to making a difference for our nation," Regula, 82, said in a statement released by his office. "However,...

Republican Rats Scrabble To Take Over The Sinking Ship

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 12:59:00 MST

Among the numerous curiosities of the 2008 US presidential election campaign is the role reversal that has been executed by the two main parties. Usually, when there is no incumbent president running for re-election (and even occasionally when there is) the Democrats, being a rowdy bunch, manage to produce an open, competitive race, a chaotic rolling maul of a contest from which a winner eventually emerges. Republicans, meanwhile, are generally orderly and disciplined, dutifully falling ...

Craig'S Decision To Stay A Headache For Gop

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 09:30:00 MST

Some fellow Republicans are peeved that Sen. Larry Craig has decided to complete his term despite his earlier announcement about resigning, but the Idaho lawmaker still has his backers. "It's embarrassing for the Senate. It's embarrassing for our party," said Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, who leads the GOP's Senate campaign committee. "I think it's best for the U.S. Senate, it's best for certainly his party, that he just keeps his word," Ensign told repor...

Florida Democrats Sue National Party Over Presidential Primary

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 08:29:00 MST

I hate to say it, but the Democratic Party leadership is acting like a bunch of union thugs. Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson and Rep. Alcee Hastings sued their own party Thursday, hoping to restore the delegates stripped from Florida because it will hold an early presidential primary. The lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee and Chairman Howard Dean said the party violated the Constitution and federal voting laws by taking away Florida Democrats' ability to have a say in the p...

Florida Democrats To Defy Party On Primary

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 18:56:00 MST

Florida Democratic leaders today will throw down the gauntlet to the Democratic National Committee, pledging to move ahead with the state's Jan. 29 presidential primary even if it means losing all delegates to the nominating convention. The action comes with the support of more than 75 percent of the state's executive committee members, who were polled twice over the past two days, and after talks between the state and national party broke down Saturday. State Democratic Party Chai...

Thompson Doesn'T Rule Out Drilling In Everglades

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 19:45:00 MST

Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson has not ruled out oil drilling in the Everglades. Campaigning in Florida Tuesday, Thompson said he wouldn't take the matter off the table. Drilling in the Everglades has been a major Florida issue. Thompson previously called for seeking U.S. oil resources wherever they exist. The presidential candidate said today oil drilling in the Everglades would be a pretty drastic situation. Thompson is a former actor and former U.S. sena...

Retired General Clark Backs 'Smart, Decisive, Strong' Hillary

Sun, 16 Sep 2007 09:46:00 MST

Hillary Clinton picked up the endorsement of retired four-star general and one-time presidential candidate Wesley Clark yesterday before proceeding to skirt questions about ads attacking both her and the current commander of U.S. forces in Iraq. Clark praised Clinton as "a remarkable person" who would be "a great leader [and] a great commander in chief." "She's smart, she does her homework, she's decisive, she's strong," said Clark, a decorated former NA...

Reid: "Ted Olson Will Not Be Confirmed By The Senate."

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 15:33:00 MST

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has made a pre-emptive strike against one of President Bush's potential nominees for attorney general, vowing that the Senate will not confirm Ted Olson. Olson is perhaps best known by the general public as the attorney who represented George W. Bush and Dick Cheney in the Supreme Court case that decided the contested 2000 election, and that does not rest well with Democrats. "Ted Olson will not be be confirmed by the Senate," Reid said after a...

Sen. Hagel Officially Calls It Quits

Mon, 10 Sep 2007 18:14:00 MST

United States Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) announced this morning that he will not seek a third term in the United States Senate and does not intend to be a candidate for any office in 2008. Below is a text of Hagel's remarks delivered at the Omaha Press Club: "I will not seek a third term in the United States Senate, nor do I intend to be a candidate for any office in 2008. It has been my greatest honor and privilege to serve my country and represent my fellow Nebraskans in the U.S. Se...

Anti-War Republican And Presidential Hopeful Hagel To Retire

Mon, 10 Sep 2007 11:04:00 MST

Leading Republican senator and Iraq war critic Chuck Hagel, who was considered a potential contender in the race for the presidency, announced plans to retire from politics Monday. "I will not seek a third term in the United States Senate, nor do I intend to be a candidate for any office in 2008," the Nebraska senator said in remarks prepared for the Omaha Press Club. "Public service has always been a big part of my life, and I hope to have another opportunity to serve my coun...

Dems Already Give Petraeus Bad Grade

Sun, 09 Sep 2007 21:33:00 MST

Even before the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, delivers his report to Congress, Democrats appearing on the Sunday talk shows delivered their report card on him. Sen. Joe Biden on NBC's "Meet the Press": "I think he's dead, flat wrong." Sen. John Kerry on ABC's "This Week": "None of us should be fooled — not the American people, not you in the media, not us in Congress." Sen. Edward Kennedy on CBS's "Face the ...

Thompson Announces Candidacy On Leno

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 21:58:00 MST

Fred Thompson officially entered a wide-open Republican presidential race Thursday, vowing to invigorate a dispirited GOP and promising to thwart another Clinton from capturing the presidency. The former Tennessee senator harkened to the GOP glory days of 1994 when he and other Republicans seized control of Congress and established an equal counterpoint to Democrat Bill Clinton in the White House. Now an official candidate for the Republican nomination, Thompson promised to return the party t...

Key Republican Senator Warner To Retire

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 12:03:00 MST

Sen. John Warner of Virginia, a leading Republican on military affairs who recently called on President George W. Bush to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, on Friday said he would not run for re-election next year. "I say my work and service to Virginia as a senator will conclude on the sixth of January 2009," Warner said. That is the last day of his current, fifth term in the Senate. Warner, 80, delivered his announcement at the University of Virginia, where he received his...

Dodd, Clinton Pick Up First Big Union Endorsements

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 14:33:00 MST

Democrat Chris Dodd picked up a key endorsement today, from the same union that helped propel John F. Kerry to the Democratic nomination in 2004. The International Association of Firefighters said it will back the senator from Connecticut, who is striving to break out of the second tier of candidates and compete with Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards. The 280,000-strong firefighters union can funnel volunteers and money to Dodd, particularly in the early voting states. The As...

On Way To Gonzales Vote, Craig's GOP Star Extinguished

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 13:03:00 MST

The Alberto R. Gonzales scandal may have indirectly claimed another victim yesterday: Sen. Larry Craig, the onetime rising Idaho Republican star who admitted yesterday to pleading guilty to disorderly conduct in an airport men's restroom. Shortly after 1 p.m. EDT, June 11, Craig was in the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, making a connection to Washington. Detained by police for 45 minutes that day, Craig made it back to the Capitol for an early Monday evening vote to support A...

Attorney General Gonzales Resigns

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 08:36:00 MST

$10 say he receives a blanket pardon in January 2009... Alberto Gonzales, the nation's first Hispanic attorney general, announced his resignation Monday ending a nasty, monthslong standoff over his honesty and competence at the helm of the Justice Department. Republicans and Democrats alike had demanded his resignation over the botched handling of FBI terror investigations and the firings of U.S. attorneys, but President Bush had defiantly stood by his Texas friend until accepting his...

Reps threaten NY Governors Dad

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 08:01:00 MST

Republican state Senate consultant Roger Stone was booted by Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno today in the wake of accusations that he made a threatening phone call to Gov. Eliot Spitzer's 83-year-old father, Bernard. In a statement, Bruno said Stone resigned today under pressure. “He has agreed to resign and end his relationship with us at our request,’’ Bruno said. “We are not going to allow this incident to become a distraction or to be used as an excuse t...

Spurning Criticism, Rove Blames Democrats

Sun, 19 Aug 2007 08:27:00 MST

During the last eight years, Karl Rove has been lionized and vilified, heralded as making the unlikely election victories of President Bush possible and impugned as reaching too high from an unusually powerful White House perch. In the eyes of his many detractors, he has helped to send the Bush presidency off track in the process. But in an interview at an IHOP restaurant here, days after he announced his resignation as Mr. Bush’s top political adviser, Mr. Rove defiantly dismissed...

White House Spokesman Snow To Quit

Sat, 18 Aug 2007 15:37:00 MST

White House Press Secretary Tony Snow plans to leave his job before the end of the Bush administration in January 2009 because of financial concerns, a spokeswoman for President Bush said Friday. Snow, who has cancer, plans to stay "as long as he can," White House spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore said, and "will not resign before Labor Day." Snow, 52, a former television commentator for News Corp.'s Fox News, makes $168,000 a year as White House press secretary. He is marrie...

Hastert Stepping Down After This Term

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 16:52:00 MST

Rep. Dennis Hastert of Illinois, who served as speaker of the House longer than any Republican in history, intends to retire next year at the end of his current term, party officials said Tuesday. A formal announcement was planned for Friday. Hastert's planned retirement is likely to set off a lively scramble between the two political parties for a House seat that he has held easily since 1986. Hastert's decision has been expected since the GOP lost control of the House last ...

Rove Says He Was Not Forced To Quit

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 07:20:00 MST

Karl Rove said Monday his resignation as President Bush's senior political adviser was not forced and that he plans to spend his post-White House career writing a book and teaching. Perhaps Bush's most powerful White House aide, Rove submitted his resignation to Bush on Friday, he told CNN's Suzanne Malveaux in an e-mail. When asked for his reaction to those who say he's being "run out of town," Rove responded, "That sounds like the rooster claiming to have cal...

Iconic Senator, Alaska Politics Under Siege | Seattle Times Newspaper

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 21:07:00 MST

Sen. Ted Stevens' home sits on a quiet graveled street where black bears occasionally ramble and traffic is a rarity. So his neighbor, Julie Pederson, was startled when a caravan of SUVs pulled up to the senator's shuttered home at midmorning last Monday, just as she finished preparations for a smoked-salmon brunch to honor a friend's birthday. Men and a few women dressed in black poured out of the cars and surrounded the house. Pederson called a local trooper to report what wa...

Partisan Tensions Boil Over In Congress

Sat, 04 Aug 2007 10:28:00 MST

The lights went out. The House voting machine crashed. And partisan battling exploded Friday on Capitol Hill, stalling key legislation and casting a lengthening shadow over Democrats' first year of total majority rule since 1994. Throughout what was to be the last day before the summer recess, Democratic leaders scrambled to pass bills to shift U.S. energy policy, authorize surveillance of terrorism suspects and fund the Defense Department for the next fiscal year. The energy bill, wh...

Ag Gonzales' Rise Was Swift, As His Fall May Be

Sat, 04 Aug 2007 10:01:00 MST

Alberto Gonzales has an admirable life story. One of eight children of immigrant parents, Gonzales has often said how he, as a boy, sold drinks and snacks in the stands at Rice University Stadium in Houston never dreaming he would go to college. His is the American dream, that a boy who grew up in a house without running water or a telephone can grow up to become, as Gonzales has, attorney general of the United States. But that American Dream story has turned into a bitter dose of controversy an...

Congress Votes To Tighten Rules On Lobbyist Ties

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 21:01:00 MST

The Senate gave final approval Thursday to a far-reaching package of new ethics and lobbying rules, with an overwhelming majority of Republicans and Democrats agreeing to improve policing of the relationship between lawmakers and lobbyists. If President Bush signs the bill into law, members of Congress would face a battery of new restrictions. The legislation, approved by the Senate on a vote of 83 to 14, calls for bans on gifts, meals and travel paid for by lobbyists and makes it more diffic...

Alaska's King of Pork

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 20:50:00 MST

When someone like Senator Ted Stevens ends up with his house raided by federal agents, I'm left wondering why in the world people like him aren't satisfied with the hand they've been dealt when they've been dealt such a good one. Yet more than a dozen present and former members of Congress are currently under investigation. Stevens, an Alaska Republican, makes $165,200 a year and gets a generous annual stipend for travel and expenses. He has experts to do his homework, aides ...

Karl Rove'S Immunity

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 20:45:00 MST

The presidential aide who acts with such impunity now has the ultimate protection: absolute immunity from congressional oversight, at least in the judgment of White House Counsel Fred Fielding. White House political mastermind Karl Rove had been subpoenaed to testify this morning before the Senate Judiciary Committee as part of the investigation into last year's still-unexplained firings of nine U.S. attorneys. No one actually expected Rove to show up. But Fielding's assertion of e...

Gonzales Admits Testimony 'Confusing'

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 23:40:00 MST

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales conceded Wednesday he used confusing language when describing national security efforts during recent Senate testimony, seeking to set the record straight about the government's terror surveillance program and clear questions about his credibility. His letter to leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee, stopping short of an apology, came as congressional Democrats agreed to give the government greater authority to spy on foreign terror suspects - but on...

Florida Report Spurs Growing Distrust Of E-Voting Machines

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 23:39:00 MST

A report commissioned by the Florida Department of State has found flaws in Diebold's e-voting software that could compromise the integrity of its optical scan and touch screen machines. Although Diebold corrected many flaws previously identified, significant vulnerabilities remain, found researchers at Florida State University's Security and Assurance in Information Technology Laboratory. A flaw in the optical scan software, for example, enables a hacker to introduce an unofficial ...

What'S The Matter With Alaska?

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 19:22:00 MST

Remember Alaska? The ruby red state President Bush carried by 25 points in 2004 and 31 points four years earlier? The state who last elected a Democrat to the Senate in 1974. And to the House in 1972? (For trivia's sake, Mike Gravel -- yes, that Mike Gravel, was the last Alaska Democrat in the Senate; the late Rep. Nick Begich was the last Democrat in the House.) Well, the times are changing in the Last Frontier thanks to a public corruption scandal that has badly damaged the Republica...

House Approves Sweeping Ethics Bill

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:14:00 MST

In what would be the most sweeping overhaul of ethics rules since the Watergate era, the House today gave final approval to a bill aimed at reining in the influence of lobbyists and repairing Congress' sullied image. The Senate is expected to approve the bill this week. Democrats promised to pass it after winning control of Congress following a campaign in which they denounced the Republicans' "culture of corruption" on Capitol Hill. The measure passed the House, 411-8. ...

Democratic Candidate Bill Richardson Won'T Cede Abortion To Hillary Clinton

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 14:48:00 MST

Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson says he won't cede abortion issues to rival hopeful Hillary Clinton just because she's a woman. He said he can represent the interests of abortion advocates as well as Clinton and pointed to how he will not appoint a Supreme Court justice who opposes Roe v. Wade. "I believe my platform is the strongest pro-women's platform and it shouldn't be based just on the fact there's a woman in the race," Richardson said. Ca...

Dems Outraising Reps

Mon, 16 Jul 2007 10:54:00 MST

The presidential campaign finance filings for the 2nd quarter are in, and one thing is abundantly clear: the Democrats are, as a whole, vastly outraising their GOP counterparts. Under the headline "Democrats Continue To Beat Republicans At The Donor Box," the New York Times reports the "eight Democrats running for president raised more than $80 million from April 1 to June 30, while the 10 Republicans raised less than $50 million." Among Democrats, Sen. Barack Obama raised $32...

Mccain Tries To Hold Strong On His Faltering Campaign

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 07:40:00 MST

Capping weeks of bad news and sagging support for a one-time Republican frontrunner, the abrupt resignation of Senator McCain's two top advisers is heightening the perception that his second White House bid is in an inescapable downward spiral. Mr. McCain's campaign manager, Terry Nelson, and his senior strategist, John Weaver, announced their departures yesterday morning through a joint statement. The move shocked many in the political establishment but apparently came as little surp...

2008 Presidential Candidate Mccain In Fundraising Slump

Mon, 02 Jul 2007 21:26:00 MST

2008 presidential candidate John McCain raised only $US11.2 million ($13 million) in campaign funds for his White House bid in the last three months, forcing top staff to take pay cuts and shake up his campaign. The Arizona Republican senator's take for the latest accounting period in the cash-soaked 2008 campaign, was well short of the staggering $US32.5 million ($38 million) raked up by Democrat senator Barack Obama in the same period. Aides to senator McCain, once the establishment R...

Bush Commutes 'Scooter' Libby Sentence

Mon, 02 Jul 2007 21:14:00 MST

President Bush commuted the prison sentence of former White House aide I. Lewis ''Scooter'' Libby on Monday, according to news reports. Bush's move came after a federal appeals panel in Washington, D.C., earlier Monday ruled that Libby had to begin serving a 2 1/2-year prison term. Libby was convicted in March for lying and obstructing the investigation into the 2003 leak of the identity of Valerie Plame, a CIA operative, The New York Times reported on its Web site. A...

Calling Cheney'S Bluff

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 13:22:00 MST

Illinois Congressman Rahm Emanuel has come up with the right response to Dick Cheney's attempt to suggest that the Office of the Vice President is not part of the executive branch. The House Democratic Caucus chairman wants to take the Cheney at his word. Cheney says his office is "not an entity within the executive branch," so Emanuel wants to take away the tens of millions of dollars that are allocated to the White House to maintain it. The root of the controversy is in a f...

'Enemy Combatants' Memo Illustrates Cheney'S Power

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 09:50:00 MST

Just past the Oval Office, in the private dining room overlooking the South Lawn, Vice President Dick Cheney joined President Bush at a round parquet table they shared once a week. Cheney brought a four-page text, written in strict secrecy by his lawyer. He carried it back out with him after lunch. In less than an hour, the document traversed a West Wing circuit that gave its words the power of command. It changed hands four times, according to witnesses, with emphatic instructions to bypass ...

Could Bloomberg Mount A Viable Independent Bid In '08?

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 16:49:00 MST

Improbable? Yes. But impossible? Maybe not. So goes the evolving political wisdom about whether a third- party presidential bid by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg would be viable. On Tuesday, when the billionaire businessman turned politician announced he was formally leaving the GOP to become an independent, he sent tremors through the nation's political chattering classes. No third-party presidential candidate has ever won the White House, let alone a former mayor of New York....

NYC Mayor Bloomberg Leaves Gop

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 22:17:00 MST

With an increasingly cacophonous buzz that he's contemplating an independent run for president despite public pleas to the contrary, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg took a clear step toward that third-party bid on Tuesday by changing his party registration from Republican to "unaffiliated." "I believe this brings my affiliation into alignment with how I have led and will continue to lead our City," Bloomberg said in a statement, referring to how the one-time Democrat fam...

Senate Hopefulls Critical Of Endangered Species Act

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 08:24:00 MST

Several of the Republican candidates seeking appointment to Wyoming's vacant US Senate seat attacked the Endangered Species Act. Bill Paddleford of Jackson described the act as "an example of very good intentions gone awry." Former state House speaker Randall Luthi described the act as "a failure." Luthi says the federal government should give greater deference to the states when it comes to species management and should collaborate with private landowners instead of di...

Bush Plunges To New Low In Poll

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 23:25:00 MST

US President George W Bush’s approval rating plunged to a new low of 29 percent in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and the NBC News poll, the journal reported on Thursday. With the public disenchanted by his Iraq strategy, and in the wake of a White House defeat on a landmark immigration bill, Bush hit his lowest level in six years as president in the WSJ and the NBC poll — the previous low approval rate was 34 percent in December 2006.. Two-thirds of Americans say they disapprov...

Judge Won'T Delay Libby'S Imprisonment

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 23:22:00 MST

I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby began making prison arrangements Thursday after a federal judge refused to delay the former White House aide's 2 1/2-year sentence in the CIA leak case. Despite the promise of an emergency appeal, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney met with probation officials to arrange for his surrender sometime in the next few weeks. U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton was never persuaded that Libby deserved to have his sentence delayed. The jud...

Dozen Top Legal Scholars Line Up For Libby Appeal

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 11:05:00 MST

A dozen of the country's most respected constitutional scholars have leapt to I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's aid, asking a federal judge if they could try to convince him about critical legal questions that favor letting Libby remain free while he appeals his conviction in the Valerie Plame leak case. Within hours of Friday's filing from the scholars, U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton wrote back. In the teeny-tiny print of a footnote, he said he was delighted to know that s...

Vote On Gonzales Marks Juncture In Probe

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 08:48:00 MST

By his own admission, he may have misled the public in describing his role in firing eight U.S. attorneys. A top aide probably violated civil service laws by injecting politics into the hiring of career prosecutors at the Justice Department. And his bedside manner leaves something to be desired. But Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales is nonetheless expected to survive today when the Senate takes up a no-confidence vote on his performance. Now, the question is where a Democratic-led inves...

Startling Republican Numbers

Wed, 06 Jun 2007 16:10:00 MST

There are some startling numbers on Scott Rasmussen's weekly national poll on the Republican race for president. Rudy Giuliani continues to be in first place, but with 23 percent of the vote, the lowest percentage he's gotten all year. Roughly tied for second place are Fred Thompson (17), Mitt Romney (15), and John McCain (14). I wouldn't put too much stock in the fact that Thompson is second and McCain fourth; the numbers are a statistical tie. More interesting is the trend over the...

Libby Sentenced: 30 Months In Jail Because "Truth Matters"

Tue, 05 Jun 2007 13:05:00 MST

I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby stood before federal district court Judge Reggie Walton. It was finally the moment for Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff to speak. The sentencing hearing was coming to an end; Walton was about to pronounce the punishment Libby would face for having obstructed justice in the CIA leak case. Libby, who did not testify during the trial, thanked the court for showing him and his defense team consideration during the proceedings. He told the...

Rep. Jefferson Indicted By Grand Jury In Bribery Probe

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 15:53:00 MST

A Federal Grand Jury in Alexandria, Virginia today indicted Louisiana Representative William Jefferson (D-New Orleans) on bribery charges relating to a probe into his accepting bribes in exchange for his assistance in securing business deals in Nigeria and other African nations. Jefferson, who was in Louisiana Monday, declined to comment on the indictment handed down against him. If convicted, Jefferson faces over 230 years in prison based on the 16 charges levied against the Congressman. ...

Television Star To Launch Bid For White House

Fri, 01 Jun 2007 08:23:00 MST

Fred Thompson, former senator and star of the television show Law & Order, has begun raising funds among Republicans to launch a dramatic bid for the White House. The Tennessean is to announce his candidacy formally within weeks. He will portray himself as the conservative heir to President Ronald Reagan and present a potent threat to Republican front runners Rudy Giuliani and John McCain. After months of contemplation, Mr Thompson, 64, finally revealed his hand on Tuesday when he mad...

Close Bush Advisor Resigns

Fri, 01 Jun 2007 08:14:00 MST

Dan Bartlett, one of the closest aides of US President George W. Bush, is to resign for personal reasons, the White House said Friday. Bartlett, who is counselor to the president responsible for all aspects of strategic communications planning and the formulation of policy, will step down on July 4, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. In a statement, Bush said Bartlett's contribution to his presidency had been "immeasurable." "I value his judgment and I treasure hi...

Bush’s Monica Problem: The Gonzales Mess

Sun, 27 May 2007 17:08:00 MST

The United States Department of Justice has not always been above politics. John F. Kennedy, after all, appointed his brother and consigliere Robert to be attorney general. But the Justice Department is supposed to stand for the rule of law—to be the enforcer of the laws of the United States, not the place presidents go to get around the law. Independence is an important tradition in the columned limestone building on Constitution Avenue. It is worth remembering that before Richard Nixon c...

Officials Say Justice Dept. Based Hires On Politics Before Goodling Tenure

Sat, 26 May 2007 10:56:00 MST

The Justice Department considered political affiliation in screening applicants for immigration court judgeships for several years until hiring was frozen in December after objections from department lawyers, current and former officials said yesterday. The disclosures mean that the Justice Department may have violated civil service laws, which prohibit political considerations in hiring, for as long as two years before the tenure of Monica M. Goodling, the former aide to Attorney General Alb...

Impeachment Worth Consideration

Tue, 15 May 2007 23:20:00 MST

On April 24, Rep. Dennis Kucinich filed an impeachment request, House Resolution H. Res. 333, to impeach Richard B. Cheney, vice president of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors. In an intensive, impressive documentation, Kucinich establishes six articles that clearly show Vice President Cheney in violation of his constitutional oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be fai...

No. 2 official at Justice Department resigns

Tue, 15 May 2007 23:07:00 MST

The No. 2 official at the Justice Department, Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, submitted his resignation to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, the Justice Department announced Monday. McNulty cited personal reasons for his resignation. "The financial realities of college-age children and two decades of public service lead me to a long overdue transition in my career," he wrote in his resignation letter. A source close to McNulty told CNN that the deputy attorney general had ...

Gonzales Fends Off Hostile House Democrats

Thu, 10 May 2007 23:36:00 MST

Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales acknowledged for the first time Thursday that other U.S. attorneys may have resigned under pressure from the Justice Department, but said their departures were unrelated to the controversial mass firing of eight prosecutors last year. In an often testy House Judiciary Committee hearing, Democrats sought to expand their inquiry beyond the eight prosecutors to broader questions about political interference in Justice Department cases. But Gonzales frustrated...

Gonzales: The Lawyer Who Lied To The Judge

Wed, 02 May 2007 15:18:00 MST

The Washington Post's Dan Eggen this morning reports that in November 2005 Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales apparently misled a federal judge in Montana about the status of William W. Mercer, the U.S. Attorney for the state. The nation's top lawyer and chief law enforcement official reportedly told the judge that Mercer was not breaking the law by spending his time working in Washington (for the Justice Department) and not Montana (for the people of his state). But this evidently was...

Gasp! Wolfowitz Lied!

Wed, 02 May 2007 11:10:00 MST

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz lied at a hearing on Monday when he said a bank ethics panel had advised him to give his girlfriend a promotion, the Dutch news agency ANP reported Wednesday. > Ad Melkert, chairman of the ethics committee at the World Bank at the time, told a Dutch TV program Tuesday that Wolfowitz "certainly did not tell the truth," ANP said.
Melkert is the former Dutch social affairs minister and a former leader of the Dutch Labor Party, o...

Republicans Go Negative -- On One Another

Fri, 27 Apr 2007 23:21:00 MST

When it comes to Ronald Reagan's 11th commandment -- "Thou shalt not speak ill of thy fellow Republicans" -- GOP presidential candidates seem to be losing their religion. Republican candidates have been speaking a lot of ill -- sometimes quite directly. "Governor [Mitt] Romney, his views ... have been moderate to liberal in [the] North, in the Northeast, and it's all on videotape," former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore said on "The Situation Room" recently. "...

Candidates Take Offense At Giuliani's Remark

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 11:33:00 MST

Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a Republican, drew a swift and angry reaction Wednesday from his prospective Democratic rivals for president for asserting that the election of a Democrat in 2008 would put the country back "on defense" against terrorism, prolonging the global conflict with violent extremists and costing the nation additional lives. The leading Democratic presidential candidates challenged Giuliani's claim that their party cannot keep the country safe and ac...

Goodling Gets Immunity; Gonzales Gets More Questions

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 10:34:00 MST

Frustrated with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' incomplete explanation of the firings of eight U.S. attorneys, members of two congressional committees demanded that Gonzales submit to more questions about his handling of the ousters. The development came as a House of Representatives committee voted Wednesday to grant immunity to a former top aide to Gonzales to compel her testimony. Monica Goodling, the aide, had said she would invoke her constitutional right not to testify for fear ...

Kucinich: Cheney Deceived Americans And Must Be Impeached

Wed, 25 Apr 2007 09:08:00 MST

After hinting for weeks that he would initiate impeachment actions against the Bush administration, Cleveland Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich this afternoon introduced articles of impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney. Kucinich said Congress should oust Cheney from office for purposely fabricating intelligence in the runup to the Iraq war, thereby deceiving some in Congress and the public into believing war was necessary. He also said Cheney manipulated intelligence about purported ...

White House Faces Federal Investigation

Tue, 24 Apr 2007 17:41:00 MST

The obscure federal investigative unit known as the Office of Special Counsel generally confines itself to monitoring the activities of a relatively low-level government employees, stepping in with reprimands and other routine administrative actions for such offenses as discriminating against military personnel or engaging in prohibited political activities. But the unit is preparing to jump into one of the most sensitive and potentially explosive issues in Washington, launching a broad inves...

Raids Renew Ethics Worries For Troubled GOP

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 09:57:00 MST

The abrupt resignation last week of two Republican House members from their sensitive committee assignments have thrust lingering legal and ethics issues back into the limelight, potentially complicating GOP efforts to retake Congress next year. On successive days, Wednesday and Thursday, Reps. John Doolittle, R-Calif., and Rick Renzi, R-Ariz., disclosed FBI raids on their homes and businesses, proclaiming their innocence but exposing their legal jeopardy. The announcements were the most rece...

Vermont Senate Adopts Resolution To Impeach Bush

Fri, 20 Apr 2007 13:43:00 MST

Vermont's state senate passed a largely symbolic resolution on Friday calling on the U.S. Congress to impeach President George W. Bush over his handling of the unpopular Iraq war. Reflecting growing grass-roots anger over the war, the 16 to 9 vote urges Vermont's representatives in Washington to introduce a resolution in Congress requiring the House Judiciary Committee to start impeachment proceedings against Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Vermont's congressional delegati...

Dishonest AG Gonzales "Going Down In Flames"

Fri, 20 Apr 2007 13:33:00 MST

White House insiders say Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is "going down in flames". The sources, involved in administration discussions about Gonzales, told White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux that two senior level White House aides who heard the testimony described Gonzales as "going down in flames," "not doing himself any favors," and "predictable." During his testimony, Gonzales apologized for the manner in which the attorneys were fired, but ad...

Republican Senator Calls For Gonzales To Quit

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 16:21:00 MST

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales confronted a fresh call for his resignation from a fellow Republican Thursday as he struggled to survive a bipartisan Senate challenge to his credibility in the case of eight fired prosecutors. Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn told Gonzales that the situation was handled incompetently and said there should be consequences. "The communication was atrocious. It was inconsistent -- it's generous to say that there was misstatements; it's a gener...

Republican Lawmaker Resigns From Panel Amid Probe

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 16:08:00 MST

Rep. John Doolittle, whose house was searched by the FBI in an influence-peddling investigation, said Thursday he will step down temporarily from the House Appropriations Committee. The announcement by the nine-term California Republican came one day after the disclosure that agents had raided his home in Oakton, Va. In the search last Friday, the FBI had a warrant for information connected with a fundraising business run by Doolittle's wife, Julie, that had done work for convicted lobbyi...

Gonzales Faces Tough Questions On Attorney Firings

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 10:13:00 MST

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales faced heated questions from Republican Sen. Arlen Specter as the Senate Judiciary Committee began a hearing Thursday over the firings of eight U.S. attorneys last year. The Pennsylvania senator focused on Gonzales' contention that he had limited involvement in the firings. Specter went through a list of meetings Gonzales attended where the topic was discussed, then asked, "Do you think it's honest to say that you had only 'limited' invo...

Republican Rep. Doolittle Denies Wrongdoing After FBI Search

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 09:04:00 MST

An FBI search of Rep. John Doolittle's Virginia home has turned up the heat on the embattled congressman, who barely won re-election last November after being linked to disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff. An attorney for Doolittle, a Republican from Roseville (Placer County), said Wednesday that the FBI search last Friday focused on records of Sierra Dominion Financial Solutions, a company run by Doolittle's wife, Julie. Julie Doolittle worked closely with Abramoff, who pleaded ...

Ex-GOP Representative Becomes A Democrat

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 10:01:00 MST

Pete McCloskey, the former Peninsula congressman who challenged then-Rep. Richard Pombo in the Republican primary for the 11th Congressional District last year, has reregistered as a Democrat. The 79-year-old ex-Marine, now a farmer in Rumsey (Yolo County), said in an e-mail to supporters that the current Republican Party no longer shares his ethical and environmental values, a central theme of his quixotic bid to unseat Pombo. "I finally concluded it was a fraud for me to remain a m...

Contractor: Hiring Of Wolfowitz Friend Ordered

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 09:59:00 MST

The U.S. Defense Department ordered a contractor to hire a World Bank employee and girlfriend of then-Pentagon No. 2 Paul Wolfowitz in 2003 for work related to Iraq, the contractor said on Tuesday. A spokeswoman for Science Applications International Corp., or SAIC, said the Defense Department's policy office directed the company to enter a subcontract with Shaha Riza, under which she spent a month studying ways to form a government in Iraq. Wolfowitz, a key Iraq war architect who left...

House Panel Eyes Immunity Grant

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 09:51:00 MST

The House Judiciary Committee is set to vote on whether to grant Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' former counsel immunity from prosecution and force her to testify about the firings of eight federal prosecutors. "I am hopeful we can approve immunity so that we can schedule her to testify as soon as possible and begin to clear up the many inconsistencies and gaps surrounding this matter," Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., said in a statement Tuesday. A two-thirds vote of the pan...

White House E-Mail Raises Question

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 13:23:00 MST

The uproar over the firing of eight federal prosecutors has spawned a new controversy at the White House over questionable e-mail accounts and lost presidential records. Aides to President Bush improperly used Republican Party-sponsored e-mail accounts for official business, the administration acknowledges, and lost an undetermined number of e-mails in the process. The "mistake," as the White House is calling it, was discovered inadvertently through Congress' ongoing probe of t...

Cheney Plays Nuclear Card

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 08:59:00 MST

Who is playing politics? The US Congress who passes legislation desired by the people they represent? Or the presidential administration who sends the VP on the talk show tour to protest that legislation? Vice President Dick Cheney, often called upon to deliver the administration’s toughest talk about the wars abroad, now says this about the threat of terrorists detonating a nuclear bomb in an American city: “It’s a very real threat ... something that we have to worry abou...

Subpoenas vowed over 'lost' e-mails

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 09:06:00 MST

The White House said yesterday that it could not find an unknown number of e-mails written by Karl Rove and at least 21 other officials, including some correspondence that has been sought in connection with the firings of eight US attorneys, prompting Democrats to express doubt that the e-mails were accidentally lost. The White House did not say how many e-mails were lost or whether any pertained to the firings. But an independent group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, ...

House Subpoenas More U.S. Attorney Files

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 20:03:00 MST

House Democrats on Tuesday subpoenaed more documents from the Justice Department, ratcheting up efforts to obtain unedited copies of hundreds of documents pertaining to personnel matters surrounding last year’s dismissals of eight United States attorneys. The new demand for more documents came as Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales spent nearly five hours working with aides in preparation for his appearance next Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Defenders and critics alike...

Gonzales Urged To Consider Resigning

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 17:06:00 MST

Newt Gingrich said Sunday that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should consider resigning as the former House speaker joined a list of Republicans who say the botched firing of U.S. attorneys has destroyed Gonzales' credibility. ``The public would be much better served to have another attorney general,'' said Gingrich, who is considering a possible 2008 presidential run. ``I cannot imagine how he's going to be effective for the rest of his administration. They're going t...

'5th Amendment' Gonzales Aide Resigns Amid Hearings, Monica Goodling Wouldn't Testify Before A House Panel About Firings Of 8 U.S. Attorneys

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 16:49:00 MST

A senior Justice Department aide and White House liaison who refused to testify before a House committee investigating the firings of eight U.S. attorneys has resigned. Monica Goodling, who worked in the Justice Department for the last five years, most recently as senior counsel to embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, submitted a letter of resignation effective April 7. The terse text of her letter to Gonzales, which gave no reasons for her departure, expressed her honor at havin...

Bush Fighting To Stay Relevant

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 15:43:00 MST

With George W. Bush struggling to stay relevant in his final 22 months in the White House, his administration is looking more and more like the incredible shrinking presidency. He finds himself increasingly hemmed in by public approval ratings stuck in the low 30 percent range, a hostile Democratic majority in Congress and an unpopular war that has eroded his credibility at home and abroad. "The real danger is that the president becomes politically irrelevant, that he presides instead ...

Another Recess Appointment Hurts Chances for Social Security Overhaul

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 14:27:00 MST

President Bush’s plans to give a recess appointment to his choice for the No. 2 spot at the Social Security Administration could derail any chance of a Social Security overhaul, a top Senate Democrat said Wednesday. Bush announced that he would name Andrew Biggs to the position of deputy commissioner, bypassing Senate confirmation. Biggs is a supporter of Bush’s comatose plan to create individual investment accounts in Social Security, a proposal rejected by virtually every ele...

Dems Want Review Of Bush'S Recess Appointment

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 14:26:00 MST

Democrats called for an investigation Thursday into whether President Bush acted illegally in appointing Sam Fox ambassador to Belgium. A day earlier, Bush named Republican fundraiser Fox to the post as a recess appointment — a maneuver that allowed him to bypass Congress, where Democrats had derailed his nomination. "We view the recess appointment of Mr. Fox as a clear abuse of the President's recess appointment power," three Democratic senators wrote in a letter to the ...

Gonzales Gears Up For 'Make Or Break' Testimony

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 11:40:00 MST

His job on the line, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has shelved plans for a family vacation and begun prepping for a showdown with senators over the firings of federal prosecutors. An appearance next week in front of a Senate panel that oversees Justice Department spending is shaping up as a trial run for Gonzales' scheduled April 17 testimony to a separate Senate committee investigating the eight dismissals. The White House said Monday that Gonzales' testimony cannot come ...

Prosecutor Posts Go To Bush Insiders

Sat, 31 Mar 2007 23:27:00 MST

About one-third of the nearly four dozen U.S. attorney's jobs that have changed hands since President Bush began his second term have been filled by the White House and the Justice Department with trusted administration insiders. The people chosen as chief federal prosecutors on a temporary or permanent basis since early 2005 include 10 senior aides to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, according to an analysis of government records. Several came from the White House or other governmen...

Alberto Gonzales, White House Looped Over Sampson Testimony

Sat, 31 Mar 2007 10:42:00 MST

The Thursday testimony by former chief of staff D. Kyle Sampson has caused the Justice Department and the White House to go into reversals and spin control. Based upon flip- flops from the White House, it appears, the Whitehouse are looped over the the Samson testimony and the role of Alberto Gonzales regarding the U.S. attorney firings. Sampson in a Senate hearing directly contradicted statements by Gonzales regarding the Attorney General’s prior knowledge of the White House firings,...

Sampson Testimony Contradicts Gonzales

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 09:01:00 MST

More damaging testimony today on Capitol Hill. The former chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was on the hot seat, trying to explain the firing of eight U.S. attorneys. Fomer Chief of Staff Kyle Sampson contradicted the testimony of his former boss today, and then poured gasoline on the fire. For Alberto Gonzales, the controversy that threatens his tenure as attorney general just keeps on building. Two weeks ago, the attorney general told reporters he was not personally in...

Former Gonzales Aide Says Fired Attorneys Failed To Carry Out Bush Administration Priorities

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 09:01:00 MST

The former top aide to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is expected to testify that eight U.S. attorneys were fired last year because they failed to carry out President Bush's priorities. In testimony prepared for delivery Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Kyle Sampson says the firings last year were not improper, just poorly explained. He says any distinction between political and performance-related reasons for firing a U.S. attorney is, in his view, "largely ...

Counselor To Gonzales Says She Won't Testify

Tue, 27 Mar 2007 11:35:00 MST

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's senior counselor refused to testify in the Senate yesterday about her involvement in the firings of eight U.S. attorneys, invoking her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Monica Goodling, who has taken an indefinite leave of absence, said in a sworn affidavit to the Senate Judiciary Committee that she will "decline to answer any and all questions" about the firings because she faces "a perilous environment in which to testify....

Republican Senators Express Reservations Over Gonzales

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 00:20:00 MST

Three Republican senators voiced fresh concerns on Sunday about Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales’s handling of the dismissals of eight United States attorneys amid questions about whether the firings were politically motivated. The comments, made in separate televised interviews by Republicans with histories of breaking with the White House, provided further indication of waning support for Mr. Gonzales where he needs it most, among fellow Republicans. Questions over Mr. Gonzal...

U.S. Begins Process Of Reducing Abramoff Prison Sentence

Thu, 22 Mar 2007 10:07:00 MST

Federal prosecutors took the first steps toward reducing the prison sentence of disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who is currently scheduled for release in 2011 on a Florida fraud conviction. Documents filed in federal court say that Abramoff has provided "substantial assistance" in a separate Washington corruption scandal and that he continues to work with investigators from his prison cell in Cumberland, Md. "However, that cooperation is not yet complete and will not b...

Life Quickly Gets A Lot Harder For White House

Wed, 21 Mar 2007 22:17:00 MST

Less than 100 days into the new Congress, Capitol Hill's Democratic leaders have set in motion two constitutional confrontations with a White House unaccustomed to such challenges. •A House Judiciary subcommittee authorized subpoenas Wednesday to force several of President Bush's closest aides to testify about the firings of federal prosecutors. The Senate Judiciary Committee will follow suit today, said that panel's chairman, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. •The Senate and...

Phony Fraud Charges

Wed, 21 Mar 2007 18:53:00 MST

IN its attempts to explain the purge of U.S. attorneys, the Bush administration has argued that the fired prosecutors were not aggressive enough about addressing voter fraud. It is a phony argument; there is no evidence that any of them ignored real instances of voter fraud. But more than that, it is a window on what may be a major reason for some firings. In partisan Republican circles, the pursuit of voter fraud is code for suppressing the votes of minorities and poor people. By resisting pr...

White House, Congress Refuse To Blink

Wed, 21 Mar 2007 18:42:00 MST

Congress and the White House marched closer to a showdown in court Wednesday after lawmakers rejected President Bush’s offer to let top aides be interviewed about the firings of eight U.S. attorneys only in secret and not under oath. A House Judiciary subcommittee responded to Bush’s offer by voting Wednesday to authorize subpoenas for Karl Rove, the president’s top political aide, and former White House counsel Harriet Miers, along with their deputies; and for Kyle Sampson,...

Hillary, Obama And The Youtube Election

Wed, 21 Mar 2007 11:53:00 MST

About a month ago, I was on a radio talk show (KALW-91.7 FM) to discuss the 2008 Presidential primary – when a caller predicted that this would be the “YouTube election.” Now that any web-savvy citizen can post a video online (or even create a mash-up video that satirizes a presidential candidate), elections will be decided less through conventional media buys – and more through the grassroots actions of political activists who may have no affiliation with a campaign. Wit...

House Panel Authorizes Subpoenas For Top White House Aides

Wed, 21 Mar 2007 09:53:00 MST

A US House panel voted Wednesday to authorize subpoenas for Karl Rove and other top White House aides. The lawmakers want to question them in connection with the firings of eight federal prosecutors. The White House has resisted, saying the aides should only testify in private and off-the-record. “It will be regrettable if they choose to head down the partisan road of issuing subpoenas and demanding show trials when I have agreed to make key White House officials and documents a...

Hedging Your Bets On Attorney General's Future

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 11:51:00 MST

Gonzales stock, so to speak, is in a nosedive. The In-Trade prediction market, a live options bazaar trading in current events and politics, gives beleaguered Attorney General Alberto Gonzales a 45 percent chance of resigning before March 31 because of the continuing scandal over eight fired U.S. attorneys. His chances of getting the boot before the end of June rise to 60 percent, and bets are running 86 percent that he'll be out by the end of the year. An even safer bet is that neith...

Senator Insists Bush Aides Testify Publicly

Sun, 18 Mar 2007 21:42:00 MST

The Democratic senator leading the inquiry into the dismissal of federal prosecutors insisted Sunday that Karl Rove and other top aides to President Bush must testify publicly and under oath, setting up a confrontation between Congress and the White House, which has said it is unlikely to agree to such a demand. Some Republicans have suggested that Mr. Rove testify privately, if only to tamp down the political uproar over the inquiry, which centers on whether the White House allowed politics ...

Gop Support For Gonzales Erodes Further

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 21:41:00 MST

Republican support for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales eroded further Thursday amid an intensifying furor over his role in federal prosecutor firings, as new e-mails surfaced indicating that top White House political adviser Karl Rove had an early hand in the dismissals. A Senate panel approved subpoenas for Justice Department officials Thursday in a probe of the firings. Subpoenas for President Bush's top aides, including Rove, could come next week. "The new e-mails show conclus...

Gonzales’S Critics See Lasting, Improper Ties To White House

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 21:39:00 MST

As he pressed his case to be confirmed as attorney general, Alberto R. Gonzales made a promise to the Senate Judiciary Committee — and to the nation at large. “I will no longer represent only the White House,” he testified in 2005 as he prepared to leave his job as White House counsel. “I will represent the United States of America and its people. I understand the differences between the two roles.” Yet in one of his first acts in his new job, Mr. Gonzales bro...

Senate Republican Urges Bush To Fire Gonzales

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 20:14:00 MST

President Bush voiced lukewarm confidence in Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Wednesday, shortly before a conservative lawmaker became the first Republican in Congress to urge Bush to fire him. Gonzales appeared to be battling for survival as the nation's highest law enforcement officer amid a mounting political firestorm over his Justice Department's dismissal of eight U.S. federal prosecutors. "I do have confidence in Attorney General Al Gonzales," Bush said, but he a...

Lawmakers Urge Investigation Into Administration’s Prosecutor Purge In Abramoff Case

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 12:11:00 MST

In recent weeks, Congress has investigated the Bush administration’s recent purge of qualified, well-respected U.S. attorneys. But one former prosecutor — Frederick A. Black — has received little attention. The administration fired Black shortly after he began investigating Jack Abramoff’s dealings in Guam. Today in a letter to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, Reps. George Miller (D-CA) and Nick Rahall (D-WV) urge Congress to investigate “the potential ...

Congressman Says He Doesn't Believe In God

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 11:48:00 MST

If the only choice of God we have is the same concept as George Bush's, I don't believe in him either! Cue the jokes about godless politicians and Bay Area liberals. Secular groups Monday applauded a public acknowledgment by Rep. Pete Stark that he does not believe in a supreme being, making the Fremont Democrat the first member of Congress — and the highest-ranking elected official in the U.S. — to publicly acknowledge not believing in God. The American Humanist Ass...

Key Figure In Justice Dept. To Step Down

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 11:47:00 MST

D. Kyle Sampson, the chief of staff to Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales, is leaving the Justice Department in the first fallout from the department's bungled firing of U.S. attorneys last year, people familiar with the situation said Monday night. Sampson, a top lawyer under Gonzales and his predecessor, John Ashcroft, had been identified by congressional Democrats as one of a handful of senior officials whom they wanted to question as part of the deepening investigation into who ordered se...

Gonzales Said To Stonewall A GOP Query

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 09:03:00 MST

The top Republican on the House's main investigative committee, Rep. Thomas Davis of Virginia, is charging the Justice Department with stonewalling his inquiries about the FBI's assertion that it closed several leak investigations because of a lack of cooperation on the part of other government officials. In January, Mr. Davis asked the Justice Department about a report in The New York Sun that at least three leak inquiries were shut down after officials at the "victim agency"...

Unmasked Agent Piles Pressure On 'Liability' Cheney

Sun, 11 Mar 2007 17:35:00 MST

THE US vice-president, Dick Cheney, is expected to come under pressure over his role in the outing of Valerie Plame, the former CIA agent, when she testifies before Congress this week. It was Plame’s exposure - after her husband Joseph Wilson accused the White House of manipulating prewar intelligence over the supposed sale of yellowcake uranium ore to Iraq - that led to the conviction last week of Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Cheney’s top aide, for lying and obstruction of...

White House In Deal With Dems Over Fired Attorneys

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 11:50:00 MST

Slapped even by GOP allies, the Bush administration is beating an abrupt retreat on eight federal prosecutors it fired and then publicly pilloried. Just hours after Attorney General Alberto Gonzales dismissed the hubbub as an ''overblown personnel matter,'' a Republican senator Thursday mused into a microphone that Gonzales might soon suffer the same fate as the canned U.S. attorneys. > ''One day there will be a new attorney general, maybe sooner rather than later...

CIA Leak Case Moves On To Civil Court

Thu, 08 Mar 2007 15:11:00 MST

The CIA leak saga did not end with I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's conviction this week. On top of his lengthy appeals, he and senior Bush administration officials face a lawsuit for their role in the exposure of a former CIA operative. Valerie Plame believes the administration violated her constitutional rights by leaking her identity to reporters in 2003, and she is demanding compensation. Her attorneys believe the case could reveal more about the inner workings of the Bush White Hou...

Why Were These U.S. Attorneys Fired?

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 16:21:00 MST

After Republicans lost control of Congress last year, newly empowered Democrats promised to launch a series of tough investigations on everything from the Iraq war to Medicare and high energy prices. But since taking charge on Capitol Hill in January, a series of unexpected new issues have captured their attention, none potentially more damaging to the Bush Administration than the controversy over alleged political influence in the firing of eight Republican U.S. attorneys last Dec. 7, in an epi...

Newspapers Dumping Coulter Over 'F' Comment

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 12:25:00 MST

At least three newspapers have dropped conservative Ann Coulter’s column as a result of Coulter’s use of the word ‘faggot’ to describe presidential hopeful John Edwards, Editor & Publisher reported Wednesday. The decisions by the Oakland Press of Michigan, The Mountain Press of Sevierville, Tennessee and the Lancaster New Era (Pennsylvania) are the first indication that Coulter’s remarks are not going over well, in either conservative and liberal circles....

Is Libby Taking A Fall For The White House?

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 11:18:00 MST

Scooter Libby's memory wasn't bad enough. The vice president's former chief of staff was convicted Tuesday on two counts of perjury, one count of obstruction of justice, and one count of making false statements. He had claimed that he did not try to mislead investigators looking into the leak of a CIA agent's identity and that any misstatements he made in his grand-jury testimony or FBI interviews were the result of faulty recollections. The jury didn't buy it. As the forewom...

Evangelical Leader Says Giuliani's Divorce A Problem

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 11:14:00 MST

A Southern Baptist leader said Tuesday that evangelical voters might tolerate a divorced presidential candidate, but they have deep doubts about GOP hopeful Rudy Giuliani, who has been married three times. Richard Land, head of public policy for the Southern Baptist Convention, told The Associated Press that evangelicals believe the former New York City mayor showed a lack of character during his divorce from his second wife, television personality Donna Hanover. "I mean, this is divor...

'Scooter' Libby Guilty On Four Of Five Counts

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 10:21:00 MST

Former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby has been found guilty on four of five counts in his perjury and obstruction of justice trial. Libby, 56, faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison and a fine of $1 million. Libby was convicted of obstruction of justice, making a false statement and two counts of perjury. Jurors cleared him of a second count of making a false statement. The indictment against the former aide to Vice President Dick Cheney concerned how Vale...

Fired U.S. Attorneys To Defend Records

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 09:27:00 MST

A Republican senator said Tuesday he's not convinced that the Justice Department acted properly when it fired at least eight federal prosecutors, including some who say they were ousted without explanation amid differences with the department. Democratic lawmakers want to know whether the Bush administration dismissed the U.S. attorneys for political reasons, and Republican Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said as the Senate Judiciary Committee opened a hearing into the firings that he was also...

With Republicans Like These, Who Needs Democrats?

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 08:53:00 MST

Editorials like this just warm my heart... In years past, a potential Presidential candidate had plenty of time to introduce him or herself to the public between election seasons. But with many states moving their primaries up to bolster their importance in the 2008 Presidential race, nominees will be determined nearly a year before the election takes place. The “common wisdom” says that a candidate who’s not already well-known by the primaries can’t win a general elec...

Coulter Criticized For Slur Against John Edwards

Sun, 04 Mar 2007 22:18:00 MST

Three of the leading Republican presidential candidates Saturday denounced one of their party's best-known conservative commentators for using an anti-gay epithet when discussing a Democratic presidential contender at a gathering of conservatives in Washington, D.C. The remarks by Ann Coulter, who regularly speaks at conservative events, were denounced by the candidates, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, Rudy Giuliani of New York, and Mitt Romney of Massachusetts. Their statements came afte...

Political Interference Is Alleged In The Sacking Of A U.S. Attorney

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 11:12:00 MST

Congressional leaders said Wednesday that they'd seek testimony from several U.S. attorneys who were summarily fired by the Bush administration, hours after the top federal prosecutor in New Mexico alleged that he was fired because of political interference. Democrats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate vowed to hold a new round of hearings to determine if partisan politics played a role in the firings of eight U.S. attorneys across the country. The House is set to vote Th...

Former Bush FDA Commissioner Lester Crawford Gets Three Years Probation And $90,000 Fine

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 11:10:00 MST

U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson on Tuesday sentenced former FDA commissioner Lester Crawford to three years of supervised probation and ordered him to pay fines of about $90,000 for false reporting and conflicts of interest related to ownership of stocks in companies regulated by the agency, the AP/Washington Times reports. In addition, Crawford will have to complete 50 hours of community service and pay for the cost of his supervised probation (Yen, AP/Washington Times, 2/28). Craw...

Clinton Advisers Warn Obama

Tue, 27 Feb 2007 11:02:00 MST

There's more than meets the eye in that ongoing skirmish between Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama. Clinton's advisers are using the fuss to send a warning shot. They want the Obama campaign to know that everything it does will be closely scrutinized from now on and that Obama won't be getting any free shots against Clinton. The donnybrook started when Hollywood mogul David Geffen said Hillary Clinton is too polarizing, that she should apologize for her 2002 vote in...

GOP's 'Democrat' Slur Subject Of Two Comics

Mon, 26 Feb 2007 10:46:00 MST

At least two comics yesterday coincidentally referred to the way some Republicans -- including President Bush -- refer to the Democratic Party as the "Democrat" Party. The use of "Democrat" Party is considered a slur, because it makes the Democratic Party seem, well, less democratic. And "Democrat" puts contemptuous emphasis on the letters "rat." Addressing the issue yesterday were "Doonesbury" by Garry Trudeau of Universal Press Syndicate and "C...

Polygamy Prominent In Republican Mitt Romney's Family Tree

Sun, 25 Feb 2007 09:55:00 MST

While Mitt Romney condemns polygamy and its prior practice by his Mormon church, the Republican presidential candidate's great-grandfather had five wives and at least one of his great-great grandfathers had 12. Polygamy was not just a historical footnote, but a prominent element in the family tree of the former Massachusetts governor now seeking to become the first Mormon president. Romney's great-grandfather, Miles Park Romney, married his fifth wife in 1897. That was more than si...

Clinton, Obama Take Off The Gloves

Fri, 23 Feb 2007 08:51:00 MST

THE US presidential campaign has turned nasty as Democrat frontrunners Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama traded barbs yesterday. Senator Clinton's campaign team took the gloves off to accuse Senator Obama of engaging in the "slash and burn" and "trash" politics he decries. The dispute was ignited after the co-founder of DreamWorks SKG movie studio, David Geffen, played host at a $US1.3 million black-tie Hollywood fundraiser for Senator Obama, attended by stars such as Jen...

Cheney At Odds With Mccain Over Rumsfeld

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 16:32:00 MST

Vice President Dick Cheney on Wednesday challenged GOP presidential hopeful John McCain's assertion that Donald H. Rumsfeld was one of the country's worst defense secretaries. "John's entitled to his opinion. I just think he's wrong," said Cheney, a friend of Rumsfeld. He also disclosed that the Arizona senator had apologized to him for a previous comment that the vice president had "badly served" President Bush on Iraq. "John said some nasty things abo...

McCain: Rumsfeld Is One Of The Worst Defense Secretaries

Mon, 19 Feb 2007 20:57:00 MST

Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Monday the war in Iraq has been mismanaged for years and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will be remembered as one of the worst in history. "We are paying a very heavy price for the mismanagement -- that's the kindest word I can give you -- of Donald Rumsfeld, of this war," the Arizona senator said. "The price is very, very heavy and I regret it enormously." McCain told an overflow crowd of more than 800 at a r...

Bush Compares Revolutionary, Terror Wars

Mon, 19 Feb 2007 11:43:00 MST

I can't stand this moron any more. Does he really think that Guantanamo Bay is an example of "the freedoms we secured in our revolution were not meant for Americans alone"??? President Bush honored the 275th birthday of the nation's first president on Monday, likening George Washington's long struggle that gave birth to a nation to the war on global terrorism. "Today, we're fighting a new war to defend our liberty and our people and our way of life," said ...

Democrats Say They'll Keep Heat On Bush

Sat, 17 Feb 2007 10:25:00 MST

The House's symbolic rebuke of President Bush's war strategy was just the beginning of Democrats' efforts to "right this ship," Rep. Chris Carney said Saturday. "Finally we have a Congress that will demand the truth and accountability from this administration, about the costs of the war, about the reality of the war strategy and about the impact of the war on our larger national security," Carney, a Pennsylvania Democrat who serves in the Naval Reserves, said in hi...

US House Passes Measure Opposing Bush On Iraq

Fri, 16 Feb 2007 15:43:00 MST

The US House of Representatives on Friday passed a non-binding resolution disapproving President George W Bush's deployment of more troops to Iraq. The symbolic 246-182 vote was the sharpest congressional rebuke yet of Bush's policy in the nearly four-year long war and comes three months after the Democratic Party won control of Congress. Democrats are trying to push a similar measure through the Senate. More than a dozen of Bush's Republicans voted with the Democrats after f...

Franken Enters Minn. Senate Race | Chron.Com - Houston Chronicle

Wed, 14 Feb 2007 14:09:00 MST

Comedian Al Franken announced Wednesday that he will run for the Senate in 2008, seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican incumbent Norm Coleman. Franken's announcement came on the final day of his show on the liberal radio network Air America. The decision by the former "Saturday Night Live" performer instantly makes him a serious contender and brings national attention to the race. "Minnesotans have a right to be skeptical about whether I'm ready for ...

On Iraq War, Pelosi Says 'No End In Sight'

Tue, 13 Feb 2007 21:42:00 MST

House members debated Iraq yesterday in an emotional and historic face-off over a war that the House speaker, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, condemned as a commitment with "no end in sight." The long-awaited floor debate came with Democrats now as the majority party in Congress, the war nearly four years old and more than 3,100 Americans dead. Lawmakers argued about whether to publicly rebuke President Bush for sending 21,500 more troops into battle. "The American people have lost faith in...

CIA Official, Defense Contractor To Face Conspiracy Charges

Tue, 13 Feb 2007 16:38:00 MST

A U.S. federal grand jury has indicted a former high-ranking U.S. intelligence official and a defense contractor in a corruption probe that led to the jailing of a prominent U.S. lawmaker. The director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, Michael Hayden confirmed the charges against Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, the former third-highest official at the CIA, and California-based defense contractor Brent Wilkes on Tuesday. The jury charged the men Tuesday with fraud and conspiracy in conne...

Don't Blow It--Oust Cheney Now

Tue, 13 Feb 2007 15:07:00 MST

When Senate Republicans fell in lock-step behind a desperate White House, and stalled debate on the Bush-Cheney escalation of pointless military operations in Iraq, people like Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) were reportedly inundated with furious protests over the capitulation from their constituents. That little act of cowardice, and other recent instances of bipartisan foolishness in the upper House, prompted Lyndon LaRouche last week to warn that the growing crop of Senators who have joined the ...

Australian PM Stands By Obama Attack

Mon, 12 Feb 2007 11:04:00 MST

It's amazing... there are stupid leaders in Australia, too! Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Monday stood by his comments from a day earlier when he said that terrorists should pray that Sen. Barack Obama and the Democrats take over the White House in 2008. Both Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. were telling Howard to butt out of American politics. Speaking to Australia's ABC News Radio, Howard said his comments were aimed at the Illinois Democrat's plan to withd...

CIA Leak Trial Shines Revealing Light On White House Under Siege

Sun, 11 Feb 2007 21:37:00 MST

Sworn testimony in the perjury trial of former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby has shone a spotlight on Bush administration attempts to sell to Americans a gone-wrong war in Iraq and Vice President Dick Cheney's aggressive role in the effort. Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald rested his case against Cheney's former chief of staff on Thursday in a trial that has so far lasted 11 days. The defense planned to begin its presentation Monday. Libby is charged with l...

Cheney the Prophet

Sun, 11 Feb 2007 21:33:00 MST

Sometimes you wonder what planet Vice President Dick Cheney is living on. Last month, speaking of the war in Iraq, Cheney told CNN's Wolf Blitzer in a prickly interview: "Bottom line is that we've had enormous successes and we will continue to have enormous successes. It is hard. It is difficult." Anyone keeping up with the daily news from Baghdad knows that few people in the last few months — especially those in the military — are bragging about big successe...

Obama Formally Enters White House Race

Sat, 10 Feb 2007 14:26:00 MST

Democratic Senator Barack Obama has launched his bid for the United States presidency with a speech in the hometown of former president Abraham Lincoln. Thousands of enthusiastic supporters watched on as Senator Obama delivered his speech in Springfield, Illinois. The 45-year-old is widely seen as the first African-American with a realistic chance of winning the presidency. Senator Obama says Americans have the chance to unite as one people reaching out for what is possible. "T...

An Unmentionable Irony Of Reaganism: It Led To Big-Government Conservatism

Fri, 09 Feb 2007 08:58:00 MST

In this winter of their discontents, nostalgia for Ronald Reagan has become for many conservatives a substitute for thinking. This mental paralysis -- gratitude decaying into idolatry -- is sterile: Neither the man nor his moment will recur. Conservatives should face the fact that Reaganism cannot define conservatism. That is one lesson of John Patrick Diggins' new book, ``Ronald Reagan: Fate, Freedom, and the Making of History.'' Diggins, a historian at the City University of New...

Bush Puts 'Ic' Back In 'Democrat Party'

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 11:40:00 MST

Relying on self-deprecating jokes, unusual candor and outright flattery, President Bush on Saturday wooed lawmakers he not only needs but will have to answer to in the final two years of his presidency. Bush had not seen fit to attend a Democratic congressional retreat since 2001, his first year in office. But the new political reality that has Democrats in charge of Capitol Hill for the first time in a dozen years changed his mind. When he appeared before House Democrats at a Virginia resort...

Critic Of Gitmo Lawyers Quits Defense Post

Sat, 03 Feb 2007 18:23:00 MST

A senior Pentagon official resigned Friday over remarks in which he criticized lawyers who represent terrorism suspects, the Defense Department said. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said Charles "Cully" Stimson, deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs, told him he had made his own decision to resign and was not asked to leave by Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Stimson said he was leaving because of the controversy over a radio interview in which he said he found...

California Primary Shift Seen Hindering McCain

Fri, 02 Feb 2007 09:29:00 MST

Arizona Sen. John McCain's presidential aspirations stand to suffer a stunning setback if California Republicans carry out a plan to move part of their nomination process up from June to Feb. 5 next year. "If the California Republican Party approves this idea, it may benefit candidates other than Senator John McCain," Orange County state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore told The Washington Times. The proposal backed by Mr. DeVore, an influential conservative activist, calls f...

Critique Of Bush's Iraq Plan Gains In Senate

Thu, 01 Feb 2007 15:16:00 MST

The two major Senate groups critical of the Bush administration's plan to send more troops to Iraq have joined forces, ensuring that a resolution with significant bipartisan support will go before the full Senate next week, Republican and Democratic senators said Thursday. At the same time, the officer just back from commanding U.S. forces in Iraq, General George Casey, told senators that the war remained winnable even with fewer than the 21,500 additional troops requested by President Ge...

Democrat Biden Enters Presidential Race

Wed, 31 Jan 2007 13:40:00 MST

Sen. Joe Biden officially joined the crowded field of Democratic presidential candidates on Wednesday, arguing that his years in public life had prepared him to navigate "an incredibly challenging time for our country." The Delaware lawmaker, who has said for months he'd be a candidate in 2008, filed papers Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission to establish a campaign committee. It is the second presidential bid for Biden who pursued the White House in 1988. "Thi...

Silence No Longer An Option, Says Fonda

Sun, 28 Jan 2007 14:54:00 MST

FOR HER next act, Jane Fonda has entered the fight against the Iraq war. Towards the end of Saturday's anti-war rally Fonda stood onstage with the Capitol behind her and addressed the tens of thousands of protesters. "I haven't spoken at an anti-war rally in 34 years," she said. But "silence is no longer an option". Fonda, 69, was known in the Vietnam era for her outspoken opposition to that war, earning the derisive nickname "Hanoi Jane" from conservatives ...

US Braces For A Two-Year Election

Sat, 27 Jan 2007 10:39:00 MST

THE big news out of George Bush's State of the Union speech this week was that Hillary Clinton was given that extra bit of sitting room befitting a favourite for the Democratic Party's 2008 presidential nomination. Not just that. There was great symbolic significance, at least for some in the media, in the fact that Senator Clinton sat directly behind Illinois senator Barack Obama, the present star of American politics, who is shaping as her main opponent in the party's primaries,...

Lawyers Probe Fleischer'S Immunity Deal

Fri, 26 Jan 2007 13:20:00 MST

Attorneys for former vice presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby want more information about an unusual immunity-from-prosecution deal that government lawyers gave former White House spokesman Ari Fleischer in the CIA leak case. Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald says that in early 2004, as his investigation was heating up into who revealed CIA operative Valerie Plame's name to reporters, Fleischer stepped forward with an offer to prosecutors: Promise no prosecution and he ...

In Perjury Trial, Testimony By Cheney Aide Damages Libby

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 18:01:00 MST

The spokeswoman for Vice President Dick Cheney told a jury Thursday that she informed Cheney and his chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby Jr., that the wife of a prominent critic of the invasion of Iraq worked for the CIA days before Libby contended he heard the information from a reporter. Cathie Martin, who was Cheney's chief spokeswoman, was the fourth witness for the prosecution in the perjury and obstruction of justice trial of Libby, who is charged with lying during an investigation of wh...

Libby: White House Wanted To Sacrifice Him For Rove

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 11:48:00 MST

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald described for jurors Tuesday a detailed Bush administration effort to beat back early criticism of the Iraq war and accused former White House aide “Scooter” Libby of covering up his role leaking the identity of a CIA operative. I. Lewis Libby’s attorney countered with a White House effort of his own, one in which Libby was blamed for the leak to protect Bush political adviser Karl Rove’s own disclosures. “Th...

Virginia Freshman Senator Responds To Bush

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 19:00:00 MST

Often referred to as the “Mommy party”, the Democratic party’s choice of Jim Webb – the newly-elected senator from Virginia – to respond to Tuesday night’s annual State of the Union address by President George W. Bush was designed to send a clear “Daddy” message to the public. A former navy secretary in Ronald Reagan’s administration and a veteran of the Vietnam war, Mr Webb holds the ideal credentials to criticise Mr Bush’s &...

Lawyers Paint Libby As Sacrificial Lamb

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 18:55:00 MST

White House officials tried to sacrifice vice presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby to protect strategist Karl Rove from blame for leaking a CIA operative's identity during a political storm over the Iraq war, Libby's lawyer said Tuesday. After Libby complained "they want me to be the sacrificial lamb," Vice President Dick Cheney personally intervened to get the White House press secretary to publicly clear Libby in the leak, defense attorney Theodore Wells said i...

How To Buy An Election

Sun, 21 Jan 2007 13:41:00 MST

Former US house majority leader Tom DeLay provides a master class in political perfidy in this excellent documentary. In 1994, DeLay outlined his master plan: to "zero out" such high-spending left-wing frivolities as the departments of education, housing and urban development, the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Endowments for the Humanities and the Arts. How? By stacking Congress with sympathetic hardliners, natch. DeLay hustled for big corporate money in his home st...

Clinton Leads '08 Dems; No Bounce For Obama

Sun, 21 Jan 2007 12:47:00 MST

Hillary Clinton's confirmation of her presidential aspirations comes with a bonus: early frontrunner status in the race for her party's nomination. Sen. Clinton, D-N.Y., who announced her candidacy Saturday, holds a substantial lead in initial support from Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents — 41-17 percent over her nearest competitor, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll. Obama, for his part, got no bounce by announcing his own interes...

Allard Says No To Re-Election

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 22:57:00 MST

U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard said Monday he will keep his promise and not run for re-election in 2008. Allard, R-Colo., was first elected to the Senate in 1996 and he said then and after his 2002 re-election that he would not serve more than two terms. "When I first announced for Congress, I made a pledge to be a citizen legislator and serve in the Jeffersonian ideal of public service where you serve for a period of time and then return to live under the laws you have helped enact," ...

Democrats Go After 'Big Oil' Friends Of Bush

Sat, 13 Jan 2007 21:02:00 MST

Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday introduced a bill that would rescind billions of dollars worth of tax incentives extended to U.S. energy companies and put the money into a fund earmarked for renewable energy. Sponsors of the Creating Long-term Energy Alternatives for the Nation Act, or CLEAN, said it will save U.S. taxpayers about $13 billion over an unspecified number of years, but industry groups said it could hinder U.S. oil companies' ability to find and devel...

CIA Helped Bush Sr. In Oil Venture

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 15:38:00 MST

Newly released internal CIA documents assert that former president George Herbert Walker Bush's oil company emerged from a 1950's collaboration with a covert CIA officer. Bush has long denied allegations that he had connections to the intelligence community prior to 1976, when he became Central Intelligence Agency director under President Gerald Ford. At the time, he described his appointment as a "real shocker." But the freshly uncovered memos contend that Bush maintained ...

Democrats Pick Denver As Convention Site

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 10:47:00 MST

It’s not exactly a “New York: Drop Dead” kind of moment, but the Democratic National Committee has decided to hold the party’s 2008 nominating convention in Denver, according to Democrats familiar with the decision, heading West in rejecting a bid from New York to hold it there. The announcement will be made by Howard Dean, the party chairman, later today. Democratic officials had been drawn to Denver for political reasons – Colorado is becoming an increasingly h...

Democrats Warn Bush On Iraq Plans

Mon, 08 Jan 2007 08:57:00 MST

The newly-empowered US Democrats have warned President George W Bush he will have to justify any plans to boost troop levels in Iraq. House leader Nancy Pelosi said there would be "no blank cheque" for Mr Bush. The president is expected to outline a new strategy this week that may include 20,000 more US troops for Baghdad. Reports suggest Mr Bush intends to attach strong conditions to any increase, such as specific targets for Iraq's security and political progress. The...

Harriet Miers Resigns

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 13:01:00 MST

White House legal counsel Harriet Miers, once nominated by President George W. Bush for the U.S. Supreme Court, is resigning from the administration, Press Secretary Tony Snow said. Miers, 61, a longtime Bush confidante and adviser, will leave her job on Jan. 31 after six years at the White House. No successor has been named. ``She informed the president yesterday, and he has regretfully accepted her resignation,'' Snow said. Asked why Miers is leaving, Snow said, ``She's bee...

Massachusetts Swears In Nation's Second Elected Black Governor

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 12:57:00 MST

It's only the second inauguration of an elected black governor in U-S history. Deval Patrick took office today in Massachusetts, with his hand resting on a Bible given to John Quincy Adams by the Amistad slaves he helped free. The unusual outdoor ceremony, made possible by springlike weather, drew a crowd of thousands stretching into the Boston Common. Among them was Douglas Wilder, who became the nation's first black elected governor in Virginia in 1990. Others in the audience ...

Nancy Pelosi Becomes 1st Woman Speaker of the House

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 12:52:00 MST

"I accept this gavel in the spirit of partnership, not partisanship, and look forward to working with you on behalf of the American people. "In this House, we may belong to different parties, but we serve one country. We stand united in our pride and prayers for our men and women in the armed forces. They are working together to protect America, and we, in this House, must also work together to build a future worthy of their sacrifice. "In this hour, we pray for the character, ...

Romney Moves To Explore White House Bid

Wed, 03 Jan 2007 09:08:00 MST

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said Wednesday he's taking the first step in a 2008 presidential bid, joining an increasingly crowded field of Republican hopefuls. "We've filed exploratory papers today, so the process is moving forward on that front," he told reporters Wednesday, his final day in office. A spokesman for Romney later said the paperwork officially would be filed late Wednesday afternoon in Washington with the Federal Election Commission. The formation of an ex...

Democrats Inherit Agenda Dominated By War

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 11:48:00 MST

Now the majority party, Democrats will inherit an agenda dominated by the war in Iraq when the new Congress convenes Thursday, increasing their exposure to what has mostly been a politically damaging issue for Republicans. In the weeks ahead, the new Democratic Congress will be confronted with President Bush’s new plan for Iraq and a White House request that lawmakers authorize an estimated additional $100 billion to pay for the war. Democrats also may be asked to support...

Hillary Falls To Earth In Poll Race

Sun, 31 Dec 2006 11:58:00 MST

THE first vote is still more than a year away, but the campaign to replace President George W Bush in the White House is already throwing up surprises. Unfortunately for Senator Hillary Clinton, long the front-runner in the Democratic drive to retake the presidency, most of them are coming at her expense. A brace of Christmas opinion polls has left Clinton with a political hangover after a year that had appeared to cement her status as the Democrats’ best-organised, best-financ...

Goode's Views On Muslims Seen Apart From GOP

Sat, 23 Dec 2006 23:10:00 MST

A top Northern Virginia Democrat and a local Islamic leader yesterday said Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr.'s push to tighten immigration laws to stop Muslims from being elected and American values from eroding does not cast a negative light on the Republican Party. "I think the remarks cast a negative light on Virgil, not the Republican Party," said Rep. James P. Moran, Virginia Democrat. "People know that people like [Rep. Thomas M.] Davis meet regularly with Muslim Americans, ...

Senate In Turmoil As Bruno (R-NY state) Is Eyed In Federal Probe

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 11:57:00 MST

The Republican majority leader of the state Senate acknowledged yesterday that he is the subject of a federal investigation concerning his business interests outside the Legislature. Saying he was not aware of the "full nature" of the inquiry, Joseph Bruno said he is cooperating with FBI officials, who told him he was under investigation in the spring. News of the probe comes at a pivotal point for Albany lawmakers awaiting a new governor, Eliot Spitzer, who is vowing to clamp down...

Cheney Will Testify In C.I.A. Leak Case

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 10:36:00 MST

Vice President Dick Cheney will be summoned as a defense witness in the trial of his former chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby Jr., on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice, a defense lawyer said Tuesday in federal court. A spokeswoman for Mr. Cheney signaled that he would not resist the request for his testimony. The decision to call Mr. Cheney was announced by Theodore V. Wells, a lawyer for Mr. Libby, whose trial is scheduled to begin next month. “We’re calling the vice...

In '09, Bush Will Get Extra Protection

Sun, 17 Dec 2006 12:18:00 MST

In a recent hand-scribbled note, President Bush insisted he is not giving much thought to life after the White House. "Thanks for 'Second Acts' and your very kind letter," he said in a letter to Mark Updegrove, author of a new book about post-presidential life. "I'm not quite ready to take the stage for the 2nd act. After a two-year sprint, then I'll take the lessons of your book to heart." Bush might not be thinking about the next act, but planners are. And...

Senate In The Balance?

Thu, 14 Dec 2006 14:22:00 MST

HOW much does it matter that Tim Johnson, a Democratic senator, was admitted to hospital on Wednesday December 13th after suffering a stroke? Perhaps a great deal. Before and after surgery, which doctors pronounced successful, politicians lined up to wish him well. His party’s leader in the Senate, Harry Reid, suggested that every member of the Senate wants to see him make a full recovery. Mike Rounds, the Republican governor of his state of South Dakota, was similarly considerate. Nobody ...

S.D. Sen. Johnson In Critical Condition

Thu, 14 Dec 2006 10:44:00 MST

Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota was in critical but stable condition Thursday after late-night emergency brain surgery, creating political drama about which party will control the Senate next month if he is unable to continue in office. Johnson suffered from bleeding in the brain caused by a congenital malformation, the U.S. Capitol physician said, describing the surgery as successful. The condition, present at birth, causes tangled blood vessels. "The senator is recovering...

Obama Seeks To Settle Racial Doubts

Wed, 13 Dec 2006 12:39:00 MST

If the Democrats choose Sen. Barack Obama to be their presidential nominee in 2008, will his skin color and his name cost him enough votes to lose the election? Signaling that he knows this worry is on some Democrats’ minds, Obama addressed the issues of skin color and identity during his tour of New Hampshire last weekend....

Democrat Rodriguez Wins House Seat In Texas Runoff

Wed, 13 Dec 2006 12:07:00 MST

In the last race to be determined for the 110th Congress and a final slap at the GOP, Texas's Ciro Rodriguez defeated Republican incumbent Frank Bonilla in a runoff election held Tuesday. The race pitted two Hispanic Texas politicians, each of whom has already served in the House of Representatives, for the San Antonio-based 23rd District. A runoff was required because of the eight candidates on the Nov. 7 ballot, none gained more than half of the vote that Texas law requires. Ironica...

N.H. Crowds Warm To Obama

Mon, 11 Dec 2006 09:45:00 MST

Sen. Barack Obama needed no more than a light coat to brave the mild winter day in New Hampshire on Sunday, and his inaugural visit to the state drew a warm welcome from sold-out crowds gathering to gauge his presidential promise. But the Illinois Democrat knew he was introducing himself to a tough new audience, one he said will "put us through the paces." This is the Granite State, whose early primaries make it a major part of the nation's candidate screening system, and its v...

Conservatives Attack Use Of Koran For Oath

Sat, 09 Dec 2006 16:59:00 MST

When Keith Ellison, the Minnesota Democrat whose election last month will make him the first Muslim in Congress, announced he would take his oath of office on Islam's holy book, the Koran, he provoked sharp criticism from conservatives and some heated discussion on the blogosphere. The discussion has revived the debate about whether the nation's values and legal system are shaped only by Judeo-Christian heritage or if there is room for Islamic and other traditions. "America is...

Blogger: Why I Left The Conservative Movement

Sat, 09 Dec 2006 00:07:00 MST

A recent article by Dennis Prager is a prime example of why I no longer consider myself a Republican and consider myself outside of the current conservative movement. I would like to lay out for you why I believe he is dead wrong, and show the history of oaths and affirmations in a different light. Dennis Prager says a Muslim elected to Congress should not take the oath on the Koran. Not only that, but he says allowing it is un-American....

Senate Confirms Gates As Next Defense Secretary

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 16:44:00 MST

The U.S. Senate has confirmed Robert Gates by a 92-2 vote to be the next secretary of defense, with opposition Democrats expressing hope he will steer a new course in the war in Iraq. When he takes the oath of office - expected later this month, Gates will succeed Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who has come under criticism from members of both political parties for his handling of the war. VOA's Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill. A day after the Senate Armed Services Committee ap...

Bush Administration To Be Cartoon

Mon, 04 Dec 2006 15:07:00 MST

Comedy Central has ordered "Lil' Bush: Resident of the United States," a cartoon satire that re-imagines President Bush and key executives in his administration as elementary school misfits. The title character is surrounded by close pals like Lil' Cheney, who grumbles unintelligibly, and Lil' Condi, who pines for Lil' Bush and does his homework for him. "Bush" is not without its risque moments. When Lil' Bush's school serves falafel instead of hot d...

The End Of The Bush Dynasty

Mon, 04 Dec 2006 11:58:00 MST

Interesting article recounting the Bush family tree and the reasons why George W. Bush may be the last prominent Bush politician. Does this mean Jeb and George P. won't get their shots at the White House?...

Growing Group Of Women Gets Used To Being U.S. Senators

Mon, 04 Dec 2006 11:50:00 MST

On a mid-November afternoon, the women of the United States Senate filed into Sen. Barbara Mikulski's office to celebrate a sweet 16 of sorts. With two newly elected women this year — Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. — the total of women senators come January will hit a record-breaking 16. Mikulski, D-Md., their dean and the senior woman senator, says she and her colleagues are no longer a rarity, but they still face the challenge of balancing l...

Bolten Sees Bush Reaching Out To Congress

Mon, 04 Dec 2006 11:34:00 MST

As we thought... the Republican strategy will be to make the Dems fight for any progress during Bush's last 800 days. What a pity. White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten graciously offered his desk chair to President Clinton's chief of staff Leon Panetta when he was touring the West Wing with interns a few days after the election. Seeing Panetta behind Bolten's desk, Karl Rove, President Bush's top political adviser, did a double take. "God, I knew we lost the ele...

Frist Won't Run For President In 2008

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 10:50:00 MST

A major casualty in the failing 'War on Terror'... Republican Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee won't run for president in 2008, FOX News confirmed Wednesday. "I do not intend to run for president in 2008," Frist said in a statement. Frist, the outgoing Senate majority leader, leaves a long list of potential contenders considering a campaign for the White House. A formal announcement is expected later on Wednesday. Frist ends a 12-year run in the Senate, where he ro...

Discovering A Reason To Remain Republican

Wed, 22 Nov 2006 14:33:00 MST

The 2006 election marked a milestone for me personally. For the first time in my life, I engaged actively in a political campaign, even forming a political action committee with colleague and friend Gary Horton to support the Democratic candidate for Congress in the 25th District, Robert Rodriguez. Now a short review of my own political history, written previously in these essays. I grew up in southeastern Iowa as part of an extended clan of Roosevelt Democrats primarily from northeaster...

Interesting Diverstity in Newly Elected

Fri, 17 Nov 2006 14:35:00 MST

For millions of Americans and Canadians, it was a huge sense of relief to see the most corrupt, amoral and incompetent Congress, possibly in American history, go down to defeat. Those days, we can hope, are over, as the political agenda is now in the hands of a Democratic Congress. For a few weeks, at least, we can enjoy that relief and not dwell on the fact that things may not get a whole lot better. Given the general state of American duh-mocracy (poisoned by money, gerrymandered seats, de...

Lott Succeeds In Leadership Comeback

Wed, 15 Nov 2006 09:11:00 MST

Sen. Trent Lott, ousted from the top Senate Republican leadership job four years ago because of remarks considered racially insensitive, won election to the No. 2 post Wednesday for the minority GOP in the next Congress. Lott returned to the center of power by getting the position of vote-counting GOP whip, nosing out Sen. Lamar Alexander. Sen. Rick Santorum told reporters that Lott beat Alexander by a 25-24 vote. After an intense evening in which both men lobbied colleagues during floor v...

Fractures Started CO State GOP's Fall

Tue, 14 Nov 2006 13:05:00 MST

It started four years ago when voters approved strict campaign-finance rules. Soon after, Colorado's budgetary woes turned into a full-blown crisis and the Republican-controlled legislature couldn't agree on what to do. U.S. Rep. Scott McInnis declined to seek re-election, followed soon after by his GOP colleague U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell. Then came Referendums C and D. When Colorado's Republican Party finally reached bottom Tuesday night, with the historic loss o...

Election Issues in OH

Tue, 14 Nov 2006 11:37:00 MST

The percentage of uncounted votes in the allegedly "fraud free" 2006 Ohio election is actually higher than the fraud-ridden 2004 election, when the presidency was stolen here. A flawed voting process that allowed voters to be illegally turned away throughout the morning on Election Day may have cost the Dems at least two Congressional seats and a state auditor's seat. The evidence comes directly from the official website of GOP Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell Blackwell we...

Pelosi Backs Murtha As House Democratic Leader

Mon, 13 Nov 2006 15:46:00 MST

Nancy Pelosi, who unified fellow Democrats to win control of the U.S. House of Representatives last week, stirred division on Monday by backing John Murtha, a key foe of the Iraq War, as House majority leader over her current deputy. Rep. Steny Hoyer, now the No. 2 Democrat in the House, brushed off the surprise endorsement by Pelosi, who is in line to be elected by the full House in January as speaker, the chamber's top job that helps set its legislative agenda. Hoyer said he had the ...

Hastert to Step Down

Sat, 11 Nov 2006 09:34:00 MST

House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) will not seek reelection to the Republican leadership when his members return as a minority party after taking heavy losses in Tuesday's elections, a Republican official tells TIME. Hastert, 64, a low-key former high school wrestling coach, was beloved by members as a "good cop," compared to the enforcer style of the longtime number two leader, former Rep. Tom Delay (R-Tex.). But Hastert was badly damaged by questions about how much he had known ...

Rove Surprised at Results of 2006 Election

Sat, 11 Nov 2006 09:31:00 MST

At the White House senior staff meeting in the Roosevelt Room at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Chief of Staff Josh Bolten thanked Karl Rove for his hard work in the elections, and the group around the big table burst into spontaneous applause. It was a much-needed moment of cheer for Rove, the President's chief strategist, after Republicans lost the House and were headed toward the same fate in the Senate in midterm congressional elections that turned into a blue rip tide of voter ire. "The...

Lieberman: Call Me A Democrat

Fri, 10 Nov 2006 13:16:00 MST

Sen. Joe Lieberman, who won re-election as an independent, has a message for his Senate colleagues in the next Congress: Call me a Democrat. The three-term Connecticut lawmaker defied party leaders when he launched his independent bid after losing to Democrat Ned Lamont in the August primary. During the campaign, he vowed to be an"independent-minded Democrat"if he were re-elected. In Tuesday's election, Lieberman won strong GOP support and given the closely divided Senate, Republi...

Bolton Faces Tougher Bout For UN Post

Fri, 10 Nov 2006 13:08:00 MST

John Bolton's prospects for winning Senate approval to stay on as UN ambassador essentially died Thursday as Democrats and a pivotal Republican said they would continue to oppose his nomination. Nonetheless, the White House on Thursday resubmitted the nomination to the Senate. Bush appointed Bolton temporarily in August 2005 while Congress was in recess, an appointment that will expire when Congress adjourns, no later than January. "He has been extraordinarily effective up there at...

Allen Concedes Defeat, Sealing Transfer Of Senate

Thu, 09 Nov 2006 20:29:00 MST

Virginia Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) conceded today, putting the Senate in Democratic hands for the first time since 2003 and giving the Democrats a sweep of both houses — a seismic shift in the Washington political climate . Montana Republican Sen. Conrad Burns conceded earlier today in his reelection bid after his Democratic challenger, Jon Tester, claimed victory Wednesday. Coupled with Allen's defeat, those Senate victories give the party a 51-49 Senate majority, counting two ...

Democrat Patrick Elected Mass. Governor

Tue, 07 Nov 2006 19:37:00 MST

Democrat Deval Patrick, who led the Justice Department's civil rights division under President Clinton, overcame Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey on Tuesday to win the Massachusetts governorship. First in his class in middle school, Deval's potential was recognized by a teacher who recommended him to A Better Chance, a Boston-based organization that awarded him a scholarship to Milton Academy in Milton, Massachusetts. After graduating from Milton in 1974, Deval attended Harvard College, the...

Ohio Elects Democrat Governor

Tue, 07 Nov 2006 19:34:00 MST

Democratic U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland won for governor in scandal-scarred Ohio on Tuesday, ending 16 years of Republican control of the office leading into the 2008 presidential election. Strickland, 65, defeated fiscally and morally conservative Republican Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, who gained national attention for his handling of the 2004 election that clinched President Bush's victory that year. Strickland's win in Ohio was based on a statistical analysis of the vote from ...

Democrats Score Upsets In Key Races

Tue, 07 Nov 2006 19:27:00 MST

Resurgent Democrats toppled Republican senators in Pennsylvania and Ohio and gained ground in the House Tuesday, challenging for control of Congress in midterm elections shaped by an unpopular war in Iraq and scandal at home. Aided by public dissatisfaction with President Bush, Democrats also elected governors in New York, Ohio and Massachusetts for the first time in more than a decade. "I'd rather be us than them," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel, the Illinois lawmaker in charge of the...

Battle For Congress' Soul

Thu, 02 Nov 2006 11:02:00 MST

Democrats in their wildest dreams are hoping to win control of both the House and the Senate. But the Senate will be a tougher prize to capture. The fight will come down to races in six or seven states. Among the key battles to watch are a liberal Republican trying to survive the anti-Bush tide, a Democrat trying to become the first black senator from a Southern state since Reconstruction and two hard-nosed Virginians clubbing each other....

Arnold On Course For Crushing Win

Wed, 01 Nov 2006 13:04:00 MST

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is poised to inflict a crushing defeat on Democratic challenger Phil Angelides, according to a new poll released on Wednesday, ahead of next week's elections. The Republican action-hero-turned-politician has opened up a 16-point lead over Angelides ahead of the November 7 ballot and now appears to be coasting to an emphatic victory as Election Day looms. A Field Poll released Wednesday gave Schwarzenegger a 49 percent to 33 percent margin over ...

Kerry's November Gift To Republicans?

Tue, 31 Oct 2006 16:05:00 MST

John Kerry needs to pipe down and stay out of the limelight. He's a terrible representative of Democrats and should not be putting himself back as the center of negative Republican attention. For weeks, Republicans on the campaign trail have been looking for something — anything — to talk about other than the record of the Republican Congress and the way the Bush administration has conducted the war in Iraq. Monday, they got their wish. While stumping for local Democrats ...

Republican Mudslinging On An Industrial Scale

Mon, 30 Oct 2006 22:04:00 MST

First the numbers.Spending by the two party committees tells part of the story. According to the Federal Election Commission, so far in this election cycle the NRCC has spent $41.9 million attacking Democratic opponents and $5 million supporting its own candidates, roughly an 8:1 negative-to-positive ratio. The DCCC has spent $18 million and $3.1 million, respectively, for a 5:1 ratio. Most of that money on both sides is spent on television advertising. We zoomed in for a closer look, reviewi...

America Loses If Democrats Win, President Says

Mon, 30 Oct 2006 22:01:00 MST

Too late, Mr. Bush... America already lost because you won the last couple of times! Using the war in Iraq as a backdrop to launch some of his toughest campaign attacks yet, President Bush said today that Democrats were more concerned with pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq than with winning the war. On a day that illustrated the challenges the Republicans face as they try to retain House and Senate majorities one week from Tuesday, the president went to the heart of the issues that have help...

Sorry, Liberals: These Aren't Your Grandfathers' Democrats

Mon, 30 Oct 2006 11:35:00 MST

National Review Editor Rich Lowry recently noted an explosion of "precriminations" among Republicans looking to assign blame for GOP losses in advance of Election Day. Blogger Glenn Reynolds offered a "pre-mortem" along similar lines. And the media have already started "pre-celebrating" the Democratic victory they expect Nov. 7. In the same spirit, let me offer a "pre-bunking" of the liberal gloating should the Democrats win big. Liberal elites will be eager to...

Contribute to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee

Mon, 30 Oct 2006 09:37:00 MST

I just contributed a small amount to the DSCC because they are doubling your contribution today. Contribute now to help turn the political tide in the US....

Limbaugh Mocks Michael J. Fox Political Ad

Wed, 25 Oct 2006 10:24:00 MST

Michael J. Fox, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, appears in a TV ad for a Senate candidate who supports stem-cell research, and the severe shaking and stiffness associated with the disease are evident in his movements. But conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh has accused the actor of exaggerating his symptoms for the camera. Commenting on Fox's commercial for Missouri Senate challenger Claire McCaskill, Limbaugh said on his syndicated radio program Tuesday, "He is moving ar...

Ohio Less Friendly To Republicans Now

Wed, 25 Oct 2006 09:01:00 MST

Articles like this are somewhat misleading. The Republicans still control the House, Senate, and White House, after all. It's tough being a Republican in Ohio these days. The state that sealed the re-election of President Bush in 2004 used to be a shining example of how the Republican Party could dominate even though voters in the state, like voters nationwide, tended to support both Republicans and Democrats more or less equally. Two weeks before the mid-term election, the climate...

Candidate Says He Won'T Quit If Charged

Tue, 24 Oct 2006 23:22:00 MST

A Republican congressional candidate whose campaign was linked to an intimidating letter sent to Hispanic voters said Tuesday he would not quit the race if he is charged with a crime. "If you're innocent and somebody charges you, would you give up? No, you've got to fight," said Tan Nguyen, who is seeking to unseat five-term Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez in California's 47th Congressional District. "Innocent people can be persecuted," he told The Associated Pr...

Republican Candidate Reportedly Bought Voter List For Controversial Letter

Tue, 24 Oct 2006 23:20:00 MST

Congressional candidate Tan Nguyen personally bought the list of voters to whom a racially charged letter was mailed, warning that immigrants could be jailed or deported for voting, according to the president of the company that sold the list and sources familiar with the still-unfolding investigation. Nguyen requested information on registered Democrats in the central Orange County Congressional district with Spanish surnames who were born outside the United States, according to people famil...

Republican Terror Strategy No Longer Foolproof

Fri, 20 Oct 2006 21:34:00 MST

Republicans skillfully parlayed the threat of terrorism into victories in back-to-back elections. The strategy may not be fail-safe this year. The GOP's upper-hand as the party voters trust more to protect the country has vanished. That's left Democrats maneuvering for the advantage on national security in the campaign homestretch and Republicans seeking to regain footing on what is supposed to be their most salient issue. "An enemy still plots and plans to attack the America...

Local GOP Blasts State Attack

Thu, 19 Oct 2006 18:27:00 MST

Kent County Republican leaders are calling on state party Chairman Saul Anuzis to apologize for continued "insulting" attacks on the character of the Rev. Robert Dean, a Grand Rapids Democrat seeking a state House seat. The state party has mailed at least four fliers targeting Dean's character and integrity -- including information about two arrests in the past 30 years -- during his run against Republican candidate Tim Doyle, an assistant Kent County prosecutor. In a letter ...

GOP Worker Fired For Role In Latino Voter Intimidation

Thu, 19 Oct 2006 18:25:00 MST

Republican congressional candidate Tan Nguyen acknowledged today that an employee in his campaign was involved in sending out a letter intended to suppress Latino voter turnout in Orange County in next month's election, but said he had no knowledge of it and that the employee has been fired. The disclosure came one day after the state attorney general's office began focusing on Nguyen's campaign as the source of the letter. At the same time, Republican officials today distanced th...

Weldon's Ties To Serbian Businessman Part Of Probe

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 09:17:00 MST

Officials at the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade were surprised three years ago to be invited to a luncheon in honor of visiting Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), hosted by Bogoljub Karic, a wealthy Serbian businessman who had been barred from visiting or trading with the United States because of his close ties to former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic. Weldon "was visiting solely because of Karic," whom he was trying to get off the U.S. blacklist, a former senior embassy official familiar with t...

Sponsor Of Page Questioned By House Ethics Committee - Iht,America,Us Congress Scandal

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 09:14:00 MST

The sex scandal that has hurt Republicans in the polls expanded on two fronts Wednesday, as the ethics committee continued its investigation and the congressman at the center of the scandal planned to reveal the name of a clergyman he says molested him as a teenager. Republican Congressman Mark Foley resigned last month after he was confronted with sexually explicit electronic communications he had sent to male teenage congressional assistants, called pages. The ethics panel in the House of ...

Angie Paccione For Congress

Tue, 17 Oct 2006 15:48:00 MST

We definitely endorse Angie Paccione for Colorado Congressional District 4. Even if Marilyn Musgrave wasn't all out lying in her attack ads directed at Paccione, we agree with her committment to 'fully fund' education. It's about time....

Musgrave's Campaign Rails Against Paccione's Hair Salon Bills

Tue, 17 Oct 2006 09:33:00 MST

Musgrave must be in trouble if she's going after the hair... They've been going at each other in televised attack ads for weeks, now there's a new battleground in the race for Colorado's Fourth Congressional district: The hair salon. Republican Representative Marilyn Musgrave's campaign says it will file a complaint over Democratic rival Angie Paccione's trips to the hair salon before appearances at a fundraiser and a news conference. Musgrave's campaig...

Calif. Democrat Keeps His Sights Ahead

Tue, 17 Oct 2006 09:15:00 MST

Despite trailing in fundraising and public opinion polls, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides said Monday that this year's race has been dominated by his ideas not those of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. "I mean, thank God I'm in this race. It's the only reason we've gotten three months of any kind of action from this governor that makes sense for Californians," Angelides told The Associated Press. In an interview, Angelides fought the notion that his c...

Swallowing The Blue Pill: Frank Talk On Race And Fascism In The US

Tue, 17 Oct 2006 09:08:00 MST

As the US veers on a radical course toward fascism, the Democrats, who are riding high on a national wave of revulsion against the Bush regime, breathe not a word about reversing the legalization of torture or restoring habeas corpus; they say nothing about reversing the Patriot Act, nothing about averting war in Iran, and nothing of substance about pulling out of Iraq. Democrat leader Nancy Pelosi speaks coyly about not knowing where investigations of Republican abuses might lead, but has no...

Number, Cost Of Government Workers Growing Fast, Study Says

Mon, 16 Oct 2006 12:54:00 MST

Interesting article on the growth of the government workforce. Curiously, the time period selected does not reflect much of the Clinton reduction in the size of the government after the end of the Cold War....

Capitol Power Shift Would Also Be Felt Along Wall Street

Mon, 16 Oct 2006 12:13:00 MST

For those of you in Canada or outside the United States, I think it's important to review what's at stake with the U.S. fall elections. We're just a few weeks away from the first Tuesday in November and this is when the fun really starts. Let's begin with a few basics, as I doubt most foreigners, or Americans for that matter, understand how this messy process works. For medium-term investors, changes in government policy, especially on capital gains and dividends, can mean eve...

Contracostatimes.Com | 10/15/2006 | Authors Describe Shambles Of Congressional System

Sun, 15 Oct 2006 20:28:00 MST

Even before the Mark Foley scandal broke, the 109th Congress was suffering from intense partisanship, legislative impasses and near-record-low public approval ratings. Incumbents are scrambling for re-election in the Nov. 7 general election, in which the Republican majorities in both houses are at risk. Regardless of the outcome, few lawmakers expect to rack up enough triumphs in the Nov. 13 lame-duck session to send the 109th Congress into the history books with high marks. Two of the most k...

Another Blow To The Republicans?

Sat, 14 Oct 2006 18:42:00 MST

The guilty plea and planned resignation of Ohio Republican Rep. Bob Ney is more of a symbolic blow to the GOP and its hopes for maintaining control of Congress than a substantive one. Ney pleaded guilty in a Washington courtroom today to conspiracy and making false statements. He got caught up in the wide-ranging federal investigation into corruption that involved the once-powerful Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Abramoff faces jail time stemming from his efforts to defraud his clie...

Defining Terms Like `Cut And Run'

Fri, 13 Oct 2006 10:03:00 MST

I read with interest the Sept. 30 letter about the short memory of the cut and run crowd. Imagine leaving Iraq before the mission is accomplished and where will the world be if the Islamo-fascist terrorists succeed in Iraq. Funny, but I thought the mission was accomplished when George Bush, in one of his grandest photo-op moments, landed a jet fighter on the deck of an aircraft carrier, flight suit and all, and proclaimed mission accomplished. It also seems that a couple years ago, the f...

Republican Pleads Guilty to Bribery in OH

Fri, 13 Oct 2006 09:59:00 MST

Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) pleaded guilty Friday to bribery charges stemming from the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling investigation. Ney confessed his wrongdoing before U.S. District Judge Ellen Huvelle in a federal courthouse a few blocks distant from the Capitol, where until recently he wielded a chairman‘s gavel. Inside the courtroom, Huvelle spent nearly a half-hour asking the sandy-haired, red-faced congressman a series of questions about whether he understood the charges and agreed...

Disgraced GOP Pol Foley Again Mislabeled As A Democrat

Thu, 12 Oct 2006 14:06:00 MST

It looks like another conservative media outlet has mislabeled disgraced Republican Mark Foley as a Democrat. > NewsMax.com, a conservative Web site with content that includes syndicated columns, posted a Foley piece by Ronald Kessler yesterday that initially called the former Florida Congressman a Democrat. The error was eventually fixed but no formal correction made, according to BradBlog.com.
This was similar to what happened last week on the Fox News show hosted by conservat...

Democrat Warner Will Not Seek White House

Thu, 12 Oct 2006 09:38:00 MST

Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, considered a prime contender for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, will announce on Thursday he will not seek the White House, sources close to his campaign said. Warner plans an announcement in Richmond, Virginia, later in the morning, the sources said. "He has just decided this is not the right time of life," one source said. "He has been running 1,000 miles an hour for 10 years." Warner, a moderate Democrat who enjoyed high...

Blackwell Denies Politicizing Election Role

Wed, 11 Oct 2006 13:43:00 MST

Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell defended himself against Democratic charges that he has been too political in his role as Ohio's chief election officer in a meeting Tuesday with The Enquirer's editorial board. And the Ohio secretary of state said he doesn't believe a report in investigative reporter Bob Woodward's new book quoting President Bush as calling him "a nut." Some Democrats were critical of Blackwell after the 2004 presidential election, s...

A Special Comment About Lying

Tue, 10 Oct 2006 17:06:00 MST

Keith Olbermann on the difference between terrorists and critics....

In Americans' Opinion, Congress Morally Drifts

Tue, 10 Oct 2006 10:45:00 MST

Americans say that Republican congressional leaders put their political interests ahead of protecting the safety of teenage pages and that House leaders knew of Mark Foley's sexually charged messages to pages well before he was forced to quit Congress, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll. The poll, completed before North Korea announced that it had detonated a nuclear test device, also found that the war in Iraq was continuing to take a toll on President George W. Bush a...

Democrats Poised For US Senate Gains

Fri, 06 Oct 2006 10:16:00 MST

Democrats are poised for U.S. Senate gains in the Nov. 7 election, but face an uphill battle to pick up the six seats they need for control, according to Reuters/Zogby polls released on Thursday. Democrats lead in five of 10 crucial Senate battlegrounds, including three Republican-held seats in Pennsylvania, Montana and Rhode Island and in Democratic-held Maryland and New Jersey. But Republican incumbents lead in Virginia and Missouri, and Senate contests in Republican-held Ohio and Tennes...

Chronology Of Events In Foley Case

Thu, 05 Oct 2006 10:07:00 MST

Important dates involving the messages that ex-Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., reportedly sent to then-current or former House pages....

Tracy Press - Bush Helps Pombo Raise $400K

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 12:47:00 MST

For the record, Richard Pombo is more about fighting the Endangered Species Act than about fighting terrorists. President George W. Bush told about 600 well-heeled supporters Tuesday to vote for seven-term Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, if they want to hold onto tax cuts, win the war in Iraq, and end the nation’s dependence on foreign oil. “We will fight in Iraq and we will win in Iraq,” said Bush to loud cheers at the breakfast fundraiser at the Stockton Civic Memorial Aud...

Congress Has Little To Show As It Adjourns

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 11:36:00 MST

Members of Congress recessed early Saturday, then dashed out of Washington, D.C., to leap into their re-election campaigns. They left behind a staggering record of unfinished work, including immigration reform, Social Security reform and fixes to the Medicare Part D prescription drug plan. It is not a record that members of Congress should be proud citing in their re-election bids. Two nonpartisan analysts say this Congress has set a modern-day record for brevity and nonachievement. It...

Voter Reaction May Hand Majority To Democrats

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 11:27:00 MST

Republican strategists said Monday that public revulsion over the sexually graphic e-mails between former Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., and former House pages could compound the party's problems enough to tip the House to the Democrats in November and jeopardizes the party's hold on the Senate as well. As House GOP leaders defended their role in handling revelations that forced Foley on Friday to give up his House seat, party strategists said the scandal threatens to depress turnout among ...

Foley's Office Tried To Cut A Deal With ABC To Supress IM's

Mon, 02 Oct 2006 20:25:00 MST

The correspondent, who had dozens of instant messages that Foley sent to teenage House pages, had asked to interview the Florida Republican. Foley's former chief of staff said the congressman was quitting and that Ross could have that information exclusively if he agreed not to publish the raw, sexually explicit messages. "I said we're not making any deals," Ross recalls. He says the Internet made the story possible, because on Thursday he posted a story on his ABC Web page, t...

Fallout From The Foley Affair

Mon, 02 Oct 2006 15:48:00 MST

As Republicans try to calculate the political damage the party could suffer from the sexual scandal involving former Rep. Mark Foley and congressional pages, the White House has said, in effect, everyone should chill out and make sure of the facts. Speaking on ABC's "Good Morning America," White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said a lot of people — presumably he was referring to Democrats — were "trying to figure out, 'OK, can I get political advantage out of...

Bush Argues with Iraq War Critics

Sat, 30 Sep 2006 10:07:00 MST

President Bush and opposition Democrats continue to argue about the war in Iraq, as political tensions rise with congressional elections now just over a month away. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns has the story. President Bush is keeping up his attack on critics of the war in Iraq, with a speech Friday to the Reserve Officers Association. He defended his decision to topple Saddam Hussein, and again made reference to the leak of a U.S. intelligence report that says fighting in Iraq ...

No on Dale Groutage: Favors Change In Endangered Species Act

Fri, 29 Sep 2006 11:06:00 MST

We do not support Dale Groutage for senate in Wyoming, who wants to change the Endangered Species Act to give ranchers more control over killing wolves. Wolf populations are still at historically low levels in the 48 contiguous states....

House Passes Disputed Anti-terror Bill

Thu, 28 Sep 2006 08:34:00 MST

The House approved a new system of questioning and prosecuting terrorism suspects yesterday, setting clearer limits on CIA interrogation techniques but denying access to courts for detainees seeking to challenge their imprisonment at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and elsewhere. The 253-168 vote was a victory for President Bush and fellow Republicans. Bush had yielded some ground during weeks of negotiations, but he embraced the language that the House approved with support from 34 Democrats and all ...

Who Are George Allen'S Critics And Where Have They Been?

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 21:07:00 MST

The crumbling of George Allen's political career is taking place before our eyes and Virginians ought to try to understand why this is happening. This is a classic snowballing political story. Set off by a gaffe (the macaca incident), the story gathered speed because the candidate stumbled and wandered and lurched from explanation to explanation (macaca referred to on e thing, then another, then the senator had never heard the word before), and then another badly-handled situation came al...

Hillary Charges Back In Husband'S Defense

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 21:03:00 MST

Hillary Rodham Clinton is emerging as her husband's key defender in the who-lost-Osama fight, but the senator's role as family protector could boomerang to hurt her career, Clinton-watchers say. Responding to negative remarks about Bill Clinton by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the senator went on the attack Tuesday, saying the former president was more responsive to pre-Sept. 11, 2001 intelligence than Bush or Rice. "I'm certain that if my husband and his national se...

White House May Declassify Iraq/Terrorism Report

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 11:36:00 MST

The White House said Tuesday it may release at least portions of a secret intelligence assessment after news reports said the document showed Iraq had worsened the threat from terrorism. "There`s been calls for it, and it`s being given serious consideration," spokeswoman Dana Perino said of the classified National Intelligence Estimate for Iraq and terrorism, which represents the consensus view in Washington. Opposition Democrats have seized on news reports of the document to attac...

Moderator Wallace Takes A Breather After Bubba Bashing

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 23:53:00 MST

What a relief last night for debate moderator, Chris Wallace. On Sunday on Fox TV Bill Clinton had Chris Wallace coiled into the fetal position as the former Alpha president jabbed angrily at Chris’ thigh, “looking like Gary Busey after a three-day coke bender,” according to New Hampshire political watcher Karl Zahn. On Monday it was Chris tossing questions to the “folks at the bottom” representative, the Green-Rainbow party’s Grace Ross. ...

Ellsworth Linked To Abramoff Donations

Thu, 21 Sep 2006 10:06:00 MST

Democrat Brad Ellsworth has done the same thing he criticized incumbent Republican Rep. John Hostettler of doing: taking donations from House members who took money from convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Federal Election Commission records indicate Ellsworth has taken more - $7,574 in contributions to Hostettler's $5,000. Calling it Hostettler's "Abramoff Connection," Ellsworth's campaign charged Monday that the 8th District congressman took contributions in 2004 ...

Religion Enters U.S. Senate Race In VA

Thu, 21 Sep 2006 10:01:00 MST

When the Forward, a Jewish newspaper in New York, looked into a rumor last month that Virginia Sen. George Allen - whose political base sits securely in the Christian right - was descended from prominent Italian Jews, editor J.J. Goldberg said it was in many ways meant to satisfy "a curiosity." This week, it turned into a campaign issue. As he debated his Democratic opponent James H. Webb Jr. this week, Allen was asked whether his mother's father was Jewish. Allen lashed out. N...

Massachusetts Voters To Decide Next Governor In Historic Election

Wed, 20 Sep 2006 08:43:00 MST

Massachusetts voters face a historic choice on Nov. 7 that could result in the state's first black or its first female elected governor, after the primary campaign whittled the major party candidates to Democrat Deval Patrick and Republican Kerry Healey. While independent Christy Mihos and Grace Ross of the Green-Rainbow Party will also be on the general election ballot, Healey and Patrick showed from their acceptance speeches on Tuesday that theirs will not only be an epic, but also a hi...

Poll: Democrat Leads Minn. Senate Race - Washingtonpost.Com

Mon, 18 Sep 2006 11:17:00 MST

A new poll showed Democrat Amy Klobuchar with a strong lead over Republican Rep. Mark Kennedy in the U.S. Senate race, with the election less than two months away. Klobuchar, the Hennepin county attorney, was leading Kennedy 56 percent to 32 percent, according to the Star Tribune's Minnesota Poll published Monday. A July poll showed Klobuchar with 50 percent of likely voters' support compared to 31 percent for Kennedy. The two are vying for the seat being vacated by Democrat Mar...

Ney + Abramoff = Martinez (R-FL)

Sat, 16 Sep 2006 08:36:00 MST

It hasn't gotten much attention, but Bob Ney's guilty plea released today contained dirt on at least one other politician. In the document, Ney fessed up to lobbying Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL), then a Bush cabinet official, on behalf of an Abramoff client. The official's department later acted favorably toward Abramoff's client, according to news accounts. Ney admitted to arranging a January, 2003 meeting with Mel Martinez, then Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, to ...

Rep. Ney (R-OH) Faces Prison Term

Fri, 15 Sep 2006 08:38:00 MST

Ohio Rep. Bob Ney has admitted improperly accepting tens of thousands of dollars worth of trips, meals, sports tickets and casino chips while trying to win favors for a disgraced Washington lobbyist and a foreign aviation company run by a gambler known as "the Fat Man." Ney, a six-term Republican, had defiantly denied any wrongdoing for months, but he reversed course and agreed to plead guilty in court papers filed Friday. Prosecutors will recommend he serve 27 months in prison. Ney w...

Moderate Republican Wins But Has Tough Job Ahead

Wed, 13 Sep 2006 08:58:00 MST

Moderate Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, who has bucked President Bush on tax cuts and the war in Iraq, defeated a conservative challenger Tuesday in a contest crucial to the larger fight for control of Congress. With 72 percent of precincts reporting, Chafee was declared the winner with 55 percent of the vote to Cranston Mayor Steve Laffey's 45 percent. The last big day of primaries before the November elections also brought an intriguing Democratic contest for the Sen...

Democrats Blast Bush For 'Playing Politics' With 9/11

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 11:16:00 MST

The White House quarreled with Democrats Tuesday over whether President Bush was trying to win political points by using a September 11 anniversary speech to defend the war in Iraq and his war on terror. Bush spokesman Tony Snow said although there were "three or four sentences" in the president's 17-minute address Monday night that could be considered controversial, Bush took pains not to be partisan. He said Bush had to discuss the dominant issue of Iraq, but he wasn't "...

Commentary: Bush Still Fighting The Last War

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 10:22:00 MST

Do you feel safer than you did five years ago? Republicans hope the answer is yes and that you'll give them full credit. Of course, on a related note, they also hope you've developed full-fledged amnesia. They hope you've forgotten all about immigration reform and how the White House and GOP-controlled Congress were going to fix a broken system and seal a porous border -- things that make many Americans feel less safe and less secure. Five years after the attacks of Septembe...

Down The Homestretch, The House Wanders Off Course

Fri, 08 Sep 2006 15:19:00 MST

While I support HR503, I agree with this columnist as well. Spend a half hour to save horses, then get on with the real business! Let us stipulate, as the lawyers like to say, that horses should not be slaughtered for human consumption. Let us further stipulate that there is nothing inherently offensive about minting coins to commemorate the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth. Still, the question arises: What are House Republicans thinking? Returning from a five-...

Clinton Officials To Abc: Fix Or Pull 9/11 Miniseries

Thu, 07 Sep 2006 12:17:00 MST

A miniseries about the events leading to the September 11 attacks is "terribly wrong" and ABC should correct it or not air it, former Clinton administration officials demanded in letters to the head of ABC's parent company. But in a statement released Thursday afternoon in apparent response to the growing uproar, ABC said, "No one has seen the final version of the film, because the editing process is not yet complete, so criticisms of film specifics are premature and irrespons...

Ok, Let’S Talk About Security, Say Dems

Wed, 06 Sep 2006 09:38:00 MST

Democrats aggressively engaged Republicans on national security issues yesterday, even adopting some of the GOP’s tactics, as the two parties heightened their rhetorical battle over who is best equipped to keep Americans safe after the November election. Republicans are working in the two months before November’s vote to shift national attention to security issues that helped them win in 2002 and 2004. The president and other administration officials have made a string of speeches...

Despite Ridicule Even From Her Party, Harris Wins Race For Florida Republican Senate Nomination

Wed, 06 Sep 2006 09:26:00 MST

U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris, who as Florida secretary of state oversaw the controversial recount that gave George W. Bush the 2000 U.S. presidential election, claimed the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate despite a campaign ridiculed even by her own party. In the gubernatorial primary, U.S. Rep. won the Democratic nomination to succeed popular Gov. Jeb Bush. Harris next faces an uphill battle against incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson, who had no primary challenger. Polls have shown Nelso...

Rumsfeld And The "New Fascism"

Mon, 04 Sep 2006 21:52:00 MST

When Donald Rumsfeld warns, as he did in his speech at the American Legion Convention in Salt Lake City last week, about "a new type of fascism" he is correct, but in the opposite manner from the intent of his explosive remarks. When Democrats fight back by flailing at Rumsfeld and stating that he should leave for advocating the wrong policies regarding the Iraq War the question that remains is: If Rumsfeld leaves before sundown what kind of replacement will surface? After that the co...

Religious Zealots Don’T Belong In Congress

Mon, 04 Sep 2006 21:51:00 MST

U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris is entitled to her religious convictions. However, when the Florida congresswoman uses zealotry to misinform people about the Constitution for political gain, that’s where we have to draw the line. Even before Harris put her foot in her mouth about church-state separation, she hadn’t a prayer of being the Republican that beats Sen. Bill Nelson in November. She faces three other candidates seeking the GOP nomination in Tuesday’s primary. Other Re...

GOP's Hold On House Shakier

Sun, 03 Sep 2006 10:37:00 MST

Raye Haug, a retired librarian in northern Virginia, for years happily voted to reelect her longtime congressman, Republican Frank R. Wolf. But the GOP record of the last six years — on foreign policy, the economy and the environment — has so soured Haug that she wants to vote for a Democrat in this year's midterm election. Any Democrat. "I don't think I've ever before been willing to vote for someone just because of their party affiliation," said Haug, who ...

GOP's Hold On House Shakier

Sun, 03 Sep 2006 10:37:00 MST

Beauprez Campaign Apologizes... Again

Thu, 31 Aug 2006 16:00:00 MST

The Bob Beauprez campaign is in the news again. And, as careful observers know by now, that can't be a good thing for Bob Beauprez. In fact, it's downright appalling. And you don't have to quote me on that. You can quote Beauprez himself. It's all there in the latest Beauprez apology, which we'll get to in a moment. First, though, we should reminisce about the good old days. I remember a time - gee, I think it was sometime after Mexican Time - when Beauprez's wo...

Rumsfeld Chides Critics For Appeasing Fascism

Tue, 29 Aug 2006 21:26:00 MST

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said critics of the Bush administration's counterterrorism policies are appeasing "a new type of fascism." In some unusually blunt terms, Rumsfeld said the administration's detractors suffer from "moral and intellectual confusion" about global security threats. And he said they lack the courage to fight back. In remarks prepared for a speech to an American Legion convention, Rumsfeld recalled the failed efforts to appease Adolf H...

Sen. Clinton Offers To Raise Money For Lamont Campaign

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 19:01:00 MST

In a private meeting at her Chappaqua, N.Y., home on Friday, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton offered to help Ned Lamont in his battle to unseat Senator Joseph I. Lieberman by sponsoring a fund-raiser, campaigning by his side and lending him one of her top political strategists. That strategist, Howard Wolfson, said Mrs. Clinton wanted to throw her considerable political weight behind Mr. Lamont because the national Republican Party “is clearly invested in Ned Lamont’s defeat.̶...

What's In A Name? Opponents Fight Lieberman'S Use Of Democrat Label

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 09:58:00 MST

Democratic, independent, unaffiliated, minor party and petition candidate. What's in a political designation? Plenty, if you're a veteran U.S. senator who lost his party's primary, petitioned his way onto the November ballot and needs to define his identity in the new campaign. Despite losing the nomination Aug. 8 to Ned Lamont, it so far appears Sen. Joseph Lieberman legally can continue to refer to call himself an "independent Democrat" in his re-election bid. O...

Harris Attempts To Defuse Controversy

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 09:39:00 MST

I post these simply because Harris is so comical and because I can't stand her. She's like the true face of the Republican party and they keep trying to hide her. Rep. Katherine Harris sought Saturday to smother a campaign brushfire stoked by an earlier claim that failure to elect Christians to public office would allow lawmakers to "legislate sin." Harris, appearing at a gun show in Orlando, said she did not mean to offend non-Christians in her comments to the Florida Bap...

Grounds For Democratic November Optimism Continue

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 08:57:00 MST

Some time ago I predicted that the Democrats would win control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate this November. Despite what I felt was a lucid explanation for that assertion, some readers wanted a more expanded explanation. Voters are clearly in a sour mood. Not only did Connecticut Senator Joseph I. Lieberman lose his Democratic primary, but a freshman Republican in Michigan lost his House seat. And in what has to be a terrible humiliation, Governor Frank Murkowski came in...

Stripping Lieberman of Democrat Posts?

Sat, 26 Aug 2006 09:33:00 MST

Pressure is mounting within the Senate Democratic caucus to strip Sen. Joseph Lieberman of senior committee positions if he defeats Democratic nominee Ned Lamont in Connecticut, but Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid is expected to beat that back. Lieberman will remain part of the Democratic caucus even though he would be elected as an independent after losing to Lamont in the Democratic primary. Many liberal senators, angry with Lieberman for supporting President Bush on Iraq, don't want ...

Cheney Protested in Montana

Thu, 24 Aug 2006 16:34:00 MST

As expected, Vice President Dick Cheney’s visit to a Conrad Burns fundraiser Aug. 16 at The Lodge at Whitefish Lake in Whitefish was more than just a chance for Burns to raise funds. “It’s great exposure for Senator Burns” and for the Republican Party’s 2006 campaign message, says Chuck Denowh, executive director of the Montana Republican Party. According to an account of Cheney’s keynote speech in the Daily Inter Lake, Cheney told the Whitefish audien...

Politically Incorrect: Republican Party Officials Use The Erroneous Term 'Democrat Party' Because It Irritates Their Opponents

Wed, 23 Aug 2006 21:20:00 MST

From the president of the United States down to the Harris County clerk, Republican officials and party functionaries have taken to referring to the loyal opposition as the "Democrat Party," although there is no such thing. Voters, however, should not mistake simultaneous mass carelessness for the cause. As detailed in the Aug. 7 issue of the New Yorker magazine, President Bush sent out an e-mail to millions of Americans accusing the "Democrat Party," rather than the Democrati...

Stem Cell Breakthrough May End Political Logjam

Wed, 23 Aug 2006 17:09:00 MST

Scientists announced today the creation of human embryonic stem cells using a technique that does not require the destruction of any embryos, a development that offers a path to break the political logjam over the highly touted but ethically troubled research. The method, described in the journal Nature, involves taking a normal 3-day-old embryo with only eight to 10 cells and removing a single cell, which is then biochemically coaxed into becoming a colony that produces embryonic stem cells...

Alaska Republican Governor Loses Primary

Wed, 23 Aug 2006 08:49:00 MST

Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski lost the Republican primary to a former town mayor, who will face former two-term Democratic Gov. Tony Knowles in November. Murkowski, who has been struggling with low approval ratings for months, lost to Sarah Palin, former mayor of the town of Wasilla, northeast of Anchorage, the Anchorage Daily News reported. After winning 70 percent support of his party's vote in the 2002 primary, Murkowski began losing support after cutting a state longevity cash paym...

Senator Touts Language, Bashes Bush On DLI Stop

Wed, 23 Aug 2006 08:39:00 MST

Sen. Barbara Boxer praised the Defense Language Institute and ripped the Bush administration on energy and the Iraq war Tuesday during a stop in Monterey. The three-term Marin County Democrat spoke to 75 faculty and staff members and students for 20 minutes at the language institute -- stressing the military language school's importance in international affairs -- before offering more partisan views at a news conference. Alluding to DLI's brush with closure during last year's m...

Bush: Iraq Straining US Psyche

Tue, 22 Aug 2006 09:00:00 MST

President George W. Bush said on Monday the Iraq war was "straining the psyche" of Americans and conceded it would be a major issue in November elections, when control of the U.S. Congress is up for grabs. He also said he would not campaign for the Republican candidate in Connecticut where Sen. Joseph Lieberman lost the Democratic primary earlier this month largely because of his support for the Iraq war. Lieberman, the 2000 Democratic vice presidential candidate, now is running as...

Terrorism Plots Buoy Bush Poll Ratings

Mon, 21 Aug 2006 15:51:00 MST

The arrest of bomb plotters in London has helped buoy President Bush's approval rating and the prospects for Republican congressional candidates in November. A USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday put Bush's approval rating at 42%, the highest in six months. His approval rating on handling terrorism was 55%, the highest in more than a year. Support for an unnamed Democratic congressional candidate over a Republican one has narrowed to 2 percentage points. For the past ...

The Macaca Heard Round The World

Wed, 16 Aug 2006 22:08:00 MST

No politician, let alone a rising star and presidential hopeful, wants to spend his time insisting that he's not a racist. But this afternoon, Senator George Allen, R-VA — running for re-election and entertaining presidential hopes for 2008 — sat among 20 or so Indian Americans in a conference room at the Ritz Carlton in Tyson's Corner, VA, to show that he's not. "It was a mistake, it was wrong, and it was hurtful to people," Allen said of remarks he'd ...

Lieberman Gets Tacit GOP Support

Tue, 15 Aug 2006 12:11:00 MST

Connecticut's U.S. Senate race continued Monday along its unpredictable way: The White House declined to endorse the nominee of state Republicans - and a new "Vets for Freedom" group with ties to the GOP advertised its backing of incumbent Sen. Joe Lieberman, who is waging an independent campaign for re-election after losing last week's Democratic primary. The group's full-page ad Monday in The Courant created an immediate stir: Former Democratic State Chairman George Jeps...

Republicans Distancing Themselves from Bush

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 08:46:00 MST

When it comes to President Bush and the Republican Congress, Rep. Jim Gerlach says voters in his suburban Philadelphia district are in a "sour mood". That's why when it comes to his reelection, the two-term incumbent says "the name of the game" is to convince those same voters that he can be independent of his own party. He has turned his standard line about Bush - "When I think he's wrong, I let him know" - into a virtual campaign slogan, repeated in interviews...

Lamont Decries Lieberman & Cheney Terror Remarks

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 08:38:00 MST

Democratic Senate nominee Ned Lamont, the anti-war candidate who toppled Sen. Joe Lieberman in the Connecticut primary, says he was surprised by Lieberman and Vice President Dick Cheney's claims that his Iraq views could embolden terrorists. "My God, here we have a terrorist threat against hearth and home and the very first thing that comes out of their mind is how can we turn this to partisan advantage. I find that offensive," Lamont said in an interview Sunday with The Associate...

Terror Plot Could Have Impact On US Elections

Fri, 11 Aug 2006 16:48:00 MST

When are the American people going to wake up and realize that "Iraq War" is not equal to "Fighting Terrorism"? The fact that the Republicans exploit fear to win monetary support for the Iraq war is despicable... the fact that Americans buy into it is worse... The foiling of the terror plot in Britain targeting U.S. airliners could have a political impact on U.S. congressional elections in November. The plot to detonate homemade bombs on U.S. airliners has refocused p...

Voter Anger That Cuts Both Ways

Wed, 09 Aug 2006 22:21:00 MST

The usual political torpor of August was shattered this week by the news that three congressional incumbents had lost their races in a single day. There were special forces at work in the contests in which two Democrats -- Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Rep. Cynthia McKinney of Georgia -- and Michigan Republican Rep. Joe Schwarz were defeated. But taken together they are the strongest signal yet of voter dissatisfaction with the status quo in Washington. McKinney, a combative politicia...

Lieberman Loses... and Becomes a Sore Loser

Tue, 08 Aug 2006 21:58:00 MST

Senator Joseph Lieberman conceded defeat in the Connecticut Democratic primary, losing to businessman Ned Lamont in a race that turned into a referendum on the incumbent's support for the war in Iraq. Lieberman said he intended to file papers to run as an independent in the November general election, setting up a three-way contest. ``Tomorrow we launch a new campaign to unite the people of Connecticut,'' Lieberman said at his election headquarters in Hartford. The race dr...

Ney's Ohio Replacement May Be Ineligible

Tue, 08 Aug 2006 12:35:00 MST

The leading Republican candidate to replace scandal-scarred Rep. Bob Ney on the November ballot may be ineligible, party officials said Tuesday, complicating GOP efforts to assure a smooth transition for the fall campaign. "As far as I know, I have a green light," said state Sen. Joy Padgett, as party lawyers reviewed a state law that bars politicians who lose one primary from entering another one during the same year. The developments came one day after Ney announced he would ab...

GOP Drops Challenge To Delay On Ballot

Tue, 08 Aug 2006 10:50:00 MST

Texas Republicans abandoned their court fight to replace former House majority leader Tom DeLay on the November ballot yesterday after being turned back at the Supreme Court. The decision came after Justice Antonin Scalia rejected Texas Republicans' request to block an appeals court ruling saying DeLay's name should remain on the ballot. ``I think all our legal avenues are exhausted in terms of affecting the ruling prior to the election," said Jim Bopp Jr., the attorney who arg...

Key Republican Quits Amid Scandal

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 13:45:00 MST

A leading US Republican lawmaker facing corruption allegations has said he will not run for re-election in November. Ohio congressman Bob Ney said he would stand down from the seat he has held for 12 years because of his family. But the Democrats, who put the focus on Mr Ney as part of their election effort to paint the Republicans as corrupt, said he had been forced out. Prosecutors say Mr Ney took gifts and trips at the expense of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. He denies it....

"Peace Mom" Cindy Sheehan Resumes Protest At Bush Ranch

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 08:50:00 MST

A year after her first war protest in President Bush's adopted hometown attracted thousands and reinvigorated the nation's peace movement, Cindy Sheehan resumed her vigil yesterday. Under the blazing Texas sun, Ms. Sheehan and more than 50 demonstrators again marched a mile and a half toward Mr. Bush's ranch, stopping at a roadblock. As Secret Service agents stood silently, Ms. Sheehan held up her California driver's license and said she wanted to meet with the president. &...

GOP Moderates Feeling Heat

Fri, 04 Aug 2006 09:09:00 MST

Rob Simmons, the Republican congressman with a Democratic-voting district, works the Rotary Club lunch crowd at Angellino's restaurant with gusto, sporting an American flag tie and loads of good humor. Over angel hair pasta smothered in red sauce, he tells the local community leaders that his mother is a lifelong Democrat, his wife is an unaffiliated voter and his daughter is a Republican. "And I love them all," he says gleefully, underscoring his message that party labels are ...

The Fight Of Joe’s Political Life

Fri, 04 Aug 2006 08:58:00 MST

Here at FTR, we're definitely hoping to see Sen. Lieberman go down next week. With less than a week remaining in the campaign for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate, many journalists and political analysts have taken to calling this the race for Senator Joseph Lieberman’s political life. In less than five weeks time, Senator Lieberman has seen a double digit lead over his challenger evaporate. According to the latest Quinnipiac Poll, Lieberman trails Ned Lamont by four po...

Court Rules Delay's Name Stays On Ballot

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 14:52:00 MST

A federal appeals court panel on Thursday refused to let Texas Republicans replace Tom DeLay's name on the November congressional ballot. The finding upheld a July ruling by a federal judge that the ballot must list DeLay, who won a March primary before resigning from Congress on June 9. He now lives in Virginia but is awaiting trial in Texas state court on money laundering and conspiracy charges alleging that illegal corporate cash helped pay for legislative campaigns in 2002. Repub...

Go Dean!

Fri, 28 Jul 2006 22:56:00 MST

Hmm... I might have compared her to Rommel or Goebels. She was just doing the dirty work for the real rulers, after all... U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris demanded an apology Thursday from Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean, who during a speech this week likened the senatorial candidate to former Soviet ruler Josef Stalin. Dean, in a speech to Democratic business leaders in West Palm Beach, made the remark in reference to the Harris' handling of the 2000 presidential election recount wh...

Court Blocks Feds On Congressman's Files

Fri, 28 Jul 2006 16:12:00 MST

A federal appeals court on Friday barred the Justice Department from reviewing evidence seized from a Louisiana congressman's office during an unprecedented FBI raid on his Capitol Hill office in May. A three-judge panel ordered a federal trial judge to ensure that Democratic Rep. William Jefferson be given copies of seized evidence contained on more than a dozen computer hard drives, several floppy disks and two boxes of paper documents. The panel said Jefferson then must be given the...

After 26 Years, Time For Change in VA?

Thu, 27 Jul 2006 11:16:00 MST

Ever since U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10) was first elected to Congress in 1980, the 13-term incumbent has breezed back into office every two years. Even in those instances when he's faced a well-funded challenger, as he did in 2004, the 67-year-old Republican has won by comfortable margins. "Frank Wolf gets these challengers every few years and he just swats them away like annoying little flies," said Mark Rozell, a political science professor at George Mason University. This fal...

Poll Suggests Gop Control Of House Is Tenuous

Thu, 27 Jul 2006 09:20:00 MST

With Election Day just a little more than three months away, the Morning Edition polling team was asked to take the pulse of likely voters in the most competitive districts across the country. Democrat Stan Greenberg and Republican Glenn Bolger found that, while republicans do a little bit better with these voters than they do in a nationwide sample, the numbers still point to trouble for the party in power. Midterm congressional elections aren't conducted nationally, district by dis...

Unindicted Co-Conspirators Named in Fletcher Case

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 11:38:00 MST

State prosecutors filed documents yesterday with Franklin District Court that named at least 12 persons who have not been indicted but allegedly conspired with Gov. Ernie Fletcher to violate state personnel laws. They included Fletcher's chief of staff, Stan Cave; former Commerce Secretary Jim Host; Ralph Hacker, a former assistant to Fletcher; former Personnel Secretary Erwin Roberts; Marc Williams, deputy transportation secretary; and Roy Mundy, a state Transportation Cabinet official w...

CIA Says No Clearances Have Been Revoked Due To Leak

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 10:26:00 MST

No one in the Bush administration has been stripped of security clearances over the leak of former CIA officer Valerie Plame's identity to reporters three years ago. In a letter to Sen. Frank Lautenberg, the Central Intelligence Agency said it had no record of anyone in the administration who is no longer privy to themost sensitive U.S. secrets because of the Plame leak. The CIA also disclosed it has not yet completed a formal assessment of the damage to national security that may have bee...

Moderate Democrats Propose Giving Everyone A Shot At The American Dream

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 09:18:00 MST

Moderate Democrats think they have the key to winning back power in Washington and across the country -- a package of economic proposals aimed at giving every American a shot at reaching the middle class. "We thought it was important and necessary to rekindle the American dream," said Gov. Tom Vilsack of Iowa, a potential 2008 presidential candidate and the chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council, a centrist think tank. Sadly, Vilsack said, many of America's children...

Christian Conservative Leader Laid Low By Georgia Poll - Financial Times - Msnbc.Com

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 23:08:00 MST

He was once considered so influential that Time magazine put him on its cover under the banner, "The Right Hand of God". But on Wednesday morning Ralph Reed's political ambitions lay in ruins following the failure of his attempt to become lieutenant governor of Georgia. Mr Reed, the charismatic former head of the Christian Coalition, a powerful conservative group, was beaten in the state's Republican primary by Casey Cagle, a little-known state senator. Running for lieut...

The Spy Who Sued Me

Tue, 18 Jul 2006 12:37:00 MST

Outed CIA agent Valerie Plame says Dick Cheney ruined her career--and she wants him to pay. Plame and her husband Joseph Wilson filed suit last week against the Veep, Karl Rove, I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby and other officials. Here's our brief: Why sue? Plame and Wilson, an ex-diplomat, allege a "conspiracy" among top White House officials to punish them after Wilson exposed flaws in pre-Iraq-war intelligence. They say exposing Plame as a CIA agent jeopardized their safety and invade...

Democrat Leads In MN Senate Poll

Tue, 18 Jul 2006 08:12:00 MST

Democrat Amy Klobuchar holds a strong lead over Republican Rep. Mark Kennedy in the latest Senate poll in Minnesota. The Star Tribune Minnesota Poll showed Klobuchar with 50 percent of likely voters' support compared to 31 percent for Kennedy. The two are vying for the seat being vacated by Democratic Sen. Mark Dayton, who is retiring after one term. The poll was based on a survey of 813 adults statewide July 6-11. The margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points....

Roast Pig More Important than Foreign Policy?

Thu, 13 Jul 2006 12:47:00 MST

President Bush had more on his mind than Iran's nuclear program, Middle East tensions and Russian press freedoms during a visit to Germany Thursday. He kept mentioning a wild boar, slaughtered and roasted according to local tradition, that he planned to share at a dinner with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in her home constituency at a Baltic resort. "I'm looking forward to the feast you're going to have tonight. I understand I may have the honor of slicing the pig,"...

Clinton Faces Her Own Potential Anti-War Challenge

Thu, 13 Jul 2006 09:08:00 MST

Like her fellow Democratic senator from neighboring Connecticut, Joseph Lieberman, New York's Hillary Rodham Clinton is facing her own potential anti-Iraq war primary challenge. But with a million differences. Ned Lamont is a millionaire Connecticut businessman who has spent freely and dramatically narrowed Lieberman's lead in the polls. In New York, Jonathan Tasini is a former president of the National Writers Union who had $25,565 in his Senate campaign account as of the end of M...

Best Democrat Presidential Candidate Is Al Gore

Wed, 12 Jul 2006 10:03:00 MST

There is no doubt about it. The best Democrat presidential candidate is Al Gore for the coming election in 2008. He has much more going for him than Hillary Clinton or any of the other Democrat Party front runners. Some might scoff at his calling the president "a liar" and saying that he "betrayed his country," yet the man has the capital behind him. As reported in the AP on 2/9/2004: Al Gore: Bush "Betrayed" America Let's look at what Gore is about and where he...

Lieberman's Real Problem

Wed, 12 Jul 2006 09:38:00 MST

As Mr. Meyerson says, Democrats are upset not because Lieberman doesn't vote 100% 'correctly,' but because many of the issues that he champions are anathema to core Democratic causes (not to mention fundamental morality and human rights). Lieberman's decisions to side with the Bush administration during this fabricated 'wartime' debacle called Iraq put him at odds with me and many other Democrats. See Meyerson's column for an interesting discussion of the issue....

FBI Search Of Office Ruled Constitutional

Tue, 11 Jul 2006 12:52:00 MST

A federal judge ruled Monday that the unprecedented FBI raid on Rep. William Jefferson's Capitol Hill office was constitutional, saying the government "demonstrated a compelling need to conduct the search" in the ongoing corruption probe. U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan, in an eagerly awaited 28-page opinion, said that politicians are not above the law and rejected arguments from the Louisiana Democrat that the search violated the Constitution's "speech or debate" cla...

Still Their Cup O' Joe?

Mon, 10 Jul 2006 10:40:00 MST

Joe Lieberman is struggling for vote liquidity as he attempts to gladhand his way through a once-solid Democratic base in Connecticut. His pro-Iraq war stance has put many moderate Democrats on the fence....

Judge Rules DeLay Stays On Texas Ballot

Fri, 07 Jul 2006 09:09:00 MST

The Texas Republican Party must keep Tom DeLay's name on the November ballot, even though the former congressman has dropped his re-election bid, a federal judge ruled Thursday. DeLay, the former House majority leader who resigned June 9 and is under indictment, won the Republican primary for his district in March but decided against re-election a month later. He is awaiting trial on money laundering and conspiracy charges connected to the financing of Texas legislative campaigns in 20...

Iraq Takes Center Stage In Lieberman Debate

Fri, 07 Jul 2006 09:09:00 MST

Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2000, took a hammering over his support for the Iraq war on Thursday in a debate with an antiwar rival whose fight for the Senate is seen as a battle for the heart of the Democratic Party. Lieberman, who announced on Monday he would run for reelection as an independent if he loses his party's August primary, appeared on the defensive for much of the debate against Democratic rival Ned Lamont, a self-financed ne...

Lieberman Launches "Cut & Run" Campaign

Mon, 03 Jul 2006 13:22:00 MST

In a sign that his political future may be in hot water, three-term U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman announced on the state Capitol steps Monday that his reelection campaign will take out petitions to get his name on the November ballot as an independent -- just in case challenger Ned Lamont beats him in an Aug. 8 Democratic primary. Lieberman's brief announcement signalled both the spin he'll use to try to limit the political fallout of the move, as well as the main tack he'll use to blunt L...

GOP About-Face On '527' Groups

Mon, 03 Jul 2006 09:12:00 MST

Two years ago, Republicans were organizing against new, loosely regulated political groups that were raising money to attack President Bush. Now, illustrating how roles often reverse in politics, some of the party's conservative activists are trying to stop legislation that would choke off those groups. The dispute centers on a House bill that would curtail funding for organizations nicknamed 527s, for the section of the tax code that governs them. The groups drew attention during the ...

Marine In 'Fahrenheit 9/11' Killed

Sat, 01 Jul 2006 22:25:00 MST

A Marine and one-time recruiter who appeared in Michael Moore's documentary film "Fahrenheit 9/11" has died in a roadside bombing in Iraq. Staff Sgt. Raymond J. Plouhar, 30, died Monday of wounds suffered while conducting combat operations in Iraq's volatile Anbar province, the Defense Department said Tuesday. Plouhar, who was stationed at Camp Pendleton, Calif., had taken four years off from active duty to serve as a recruiter in Flint after donating one of his kidneys to ...

Edwards Blasts Bush on Oil Subsidies

Sat, 01 Jul 2006 05:48:00 MST

Former vice presidential candidate John Edwards delivered what could be seen as a candidate's stump speech at a conference of African American women legislators in Portland Friday. The former Democratic Senator from North Carolina advocated universal health care and a modern day war on poverty. Edwards blasted President Bush's last budget for proposing subsidies for oil companies while cutting federal spending. John Edwards: "Cutting billions of dollars from Medicaid, heal...

Former Bush Appointee and NYPD Chief Kerik Pleads Guilty

Sat, 01 Jul 2006 05:44:00 MST

Former police commissioner Bernard Kerik, whose rise from beat cop to nominee for Homeland Security head was derailed by ethics questions, dodged prison Friday in a plea bargain by admitting he took $165,000 in gifts from a company attempting to do business with the city. Kerik acknowledged accepting $165,000 in renovations on his Bronx apartment from a company attempting to land city contracts — Interstate Industrial Corp., a business reputedly linked to organized crime. And he admitt...

DeLay TRIMPAC Map Largely Stands

Sat, 01 Jul 2006 05:33:00 MST

The Supreme Court yesterday upheld former Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s middecade effort to redraw Texas’s congressional map but ruled that Rep. Henry Bonilla’s (R) new district violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and must be redrawn. The court ruled 7-2, with Justices Stephen Breyer and John Paul Stephens dissenting, that legislatures can override valid, court-drawn plans in the middle of a decade and that the appellants in the case failed to come up with a reliable stand...

Former Alabama Governor Ever The Politician After Conviction

Thu, 29 Jun 2006 20:17:00 MST

Former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman showed he's ever the politician, even in defeat in court: He praised the jury that convicted him in a government corruption case and kept an upbeat stance even though it stopped his political career and left him financially drained. Siegelman walked out of federal courthouse after his conviction Thursday afternoon with a smile on his face. He chatted with reporters, thanked supporters and predicted a reversal on appeal. He even talked about a political...

Tax Dollar Waste Alert: Flag Amendment Vote Expected

Tue, 27 Jun 2006 15:15:00 MST

A constitutional amendment to ban flag desecration faces a close Senate vote Tuesday, with supporters and opponents agreeing it stood within two votes of the number needed to be sent to the states for ratification. A vote could come as early at 6 p.m. E.T. With Independence Day a few days away, supporters said the flag amounts to a national monument in cloth that represents freedom and the sacrifice of American troops. The Senate's vote represents the amendment's best chance to ac...

From FoxNews???? Why Liberals Must Lead The War On Terror - Blog | Blogs | Popular Blogs | Video Blogs

Tue, 27 Jun 2006 15:14:00 MST

Thirty-four years ago when I first became a candidate for public office, I had to ask myself one basic question: what did I stand for? How would I present myself to the voting public? The answer turned out to be fairly simple – I was a pro-defense liberal. That may sound somewhat strange today, but it was not that unusual at the time. After all, I grew up admiring a Democratic president, Harry Truman, who had saved western Europe, Greece and Turkey from communism with the Marshall P...

Under Attack, Murtha Takes Shot At Seat Of Power

Tue, 20 Jun 2006 08:58:00 MST

A leading critic of the Iraq war says presidential adviser Karl Rove has lost touch with the harsh realities facing U.S. troops while he sits on his "fat backside" in air-conditioned Washington. U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., made the comment over the weekend when asked about Rove's recent claim in New Hampshire that Democrats want to "cut and run" from Iraq. "He's making a political speech. He's sitting in his air-conditioned office with his big, fat backsid...

Bush Election Theft Saga Heats Up In Ohio

Tue, 20 Jun 2006 08:51:00 MST

Ohio's Governor Bob Taft, and his partner in crime in stealing the 2004 election in Ohio, President George W Bush, have a lot in common. Bush holds the record for the lowest approval ratings of any President in US history, and at a whopping 26%, Taft holds the title for the lowest approval rating for any Ohio governor since the University of Cincinnati started the poll 25 years ago in 1981. And Taft's numbers are not likely to head upward any time soon. In what can only serve as anot...

Ex-Bush Aide Guilty Of Corruption

Tue, 20 Jun 2006 08:45:00 MST

A jury Tuesday convicted a former Bush administration official of four counts of lying and obstructing justice in the first trial to be held in connection with the influence-peddling scandal of lobbyist Jack Abramoff. On the fifth day of deliberations, the jury found David Safavian — a former chief of staff at the General Services Administration — guilty of four of five counts of lying and obstructing justice. Safavian sat impassively as the judge read the verdict and showed ...

Drilling, Cuba Policies Split Bush Supporters

Fri, 16 Jun 2006 15:24:00 MST

High oil prices are driving a wedge between energy companies and the Cuban-American community, two pillars of support for President Bush and his fellow Republicans. Companies, including Houston-based Marathon Oil Corp., are lobbying Congress to be allowed to bid for oil and natural gas deposits in Cuban waters. They are backed by Republican lawmakers bucking Bush by supporting legislation to exempt the companies from the 1962 trade embargo and a ban on drilling within 100 miles of U.S. shores. T...

Lawmakers' Finances Come Under Scrutiny

Wed, 14 Jun 2006 23:49:00 MST

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, under federal investigation for possible insider trading, will have a nice nest egg to fall back on when he retires from Congress in January, recording income last year of more than $5 million from his largest blind trust. Frist, R-Tenn., is hardly the richest member of the millionaires' club of Congress, but he and numerous other lawmakers whose financial dealings have been questioned were under scrutiny as House and Senate lawmakers disclosed their financ...

Bush Gets A Lift In Iraq And A Bump Back Home

Wed, 14 Jun 2006 12:49:00 MST

The pictures out of Baghdad on Tuesday morning spoke volumes. President Bush was beaming, the new Iraqi leader at his side, after pulling off a secret flight to the country that is the make-or-break project of his presidency. But Bush has more to smile about than recent successes in Iraq, foremost the elimination of terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and completion of the new government. The president's top political adviser, Karl Rove, learned late Monday that he won't be indicted in the CI...

No Charges for Rove

Tue, 13 Jun 2006 14:31:00 MST

Karl Rove, President George W. Bush's top political adviser, won't face criminal charges in a three- year investigation into the leak of a CIA agent's name, his lawyer said. Rove was formally notified by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald yesterday that the prosecutor "does not anticipate" seeking charges against him, the attorney, Robert Luskin, said in a statement. "The special counsel's decision should put an end to the baseless speculation about Mr. Rove's co...

Byrd Truly The Elder Statesman

Tue, 13 Jun 2006 04:49:00 MST

Robert C. Byrd, a champion of classical oratory in the Senate and pork barrel spending back home, yesterday became the longest-serving senator in U.S. history. The West Virginia Democrat marked his 17,327th day in the Senate by visiting his wife's grave and then listening to several colleagues praise his career. Uncharacteristically for a man who has rhapsodized about spring, Mother's Day and countless other topics in the Senate chamber, Byrd left the floor without speaking, struggling t...

How To Reconnect With Voters And Realize Your Dreams Of Victory

Mon, 12 Jun 2006 00:30:00 MST

These are dark days for the Republican Party. Voters are angry at the government over the war in Iraq, the price of gas, Capitol Hill corruption, out-of-control spending, the Dubai port deal -- and Republicans control the government. They failed to deliver Social Security reform or ethics reform, and now they're failing to deliver immigration reform. After Katrina and Haditha, NSA wiretapping and CIA bungling, President Bush's approval ratings have sunk to Jimmy Carter levels. As the Jac...

Kentucky Governor Pleads Not Guilty To Hiring Charges

Fri, 09 Jun 2006 19:04:00 MST

An attorney for Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher entered a not-guilty plea for him Friday on three misdemeanor charges of violating state personnel laws. Fletcher was not at the arraignment in Franklin District Court. The new judge appointed to handle the high-profile case told lawyers this week that the Republican governor could authorize his defense team to enter a plea for him. Fletcher has been vacationing in Florida and is expected to return to work Monday. Special Judge David Melcher, whom Ken...

Don't Vote Purely On Party Loyalty

Fri, 09 Jun 2006 17:21:00 MST

I believe most will agree that American government has fallen to new lows. It has become a government that is not "for the people and by the people," but a government that has become beholden to big business. Of course, the blame falls on us, the American citizenry. What is truly amazing is how the general public has turned into both Republican and Democratic lemmings. It is a pandemic of American naivete mixed with stupidity that some continue to support the political parties out of she...

Narrow Victory By G.O.P. Signals Fall Problems

Thu, 08 Jun 2006 16:03:00 MST

The victory that Republicans squeezed out in a high-profile race to fill a Congressional vacancy here eased party anxieties Wednesday but signaled future difficulties as they confront tougher Democratic challenges in increasingly contested districts this fall. The Republican candidate here, Brian P. Bilbray, won with 49 percent of the vote, defeating Francine Busby, the Democrat, who drew 45 percent, with the remaining votes going to an independent and a Libertarian, according to nearly complete...

Ann Coulter Lambasts Some 9/11 Widows

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 17:48:00 MST

The group of outspoken 9/11 widows who pushed for the commission to investigate the attacks are "self-obsessed" and act "as if the terrorist attacks happened only to them," conservative author Ann Coulter charges in her new book. Coulter appeared on NBC's "Today" show on Tuesday, marking the release of "Godless: The Church of Liberalism" and reiterated her stance, saying the women used their grief "to make a political point." In her book, Coulter said,...

Faith-Based Initiative

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 17:41:00 MST

Save us... looks like KS senator Brownback is going to be running for president. "He has said he tries to see Jesus in his fellow senators."...

Angelides to Challenge Schwarzenegger

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 17:25:00 MST

A Democrat, Paul Angelides, has emerged from a bitter race to win the right to challenge California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger during the biggest primary night of the US election year. A former Republican congressman from California also narrowly beat his Democratic rival early today for a House seat. Former Republican congressman Brian Bilbray emerged victorious to fill the House of Representatives seat once held by jailed Randy “Duke” Cunningham, defeating Democrat Francine Bus...

Retirement Account Of DeLay's Wife Traced

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 05:35:00 MST

A registered lobbyist opened a retirement account in the late 1990s for the wife of then-House Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) and contributed thousands of dollars to it while also paying her a salary to work for him from her home in Texas, according to sources, documents and DeLay's attorney, Richard Cullen. The account represents a small portion of the income that DeLay's family received from entities at least partly controlled by lobbyist Edwin A. Buckham. But the disclosure of its origin add...

Technology Sharpens The Incumbents' Edge

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 05:34:00 MST

In Ohio's 1st Congressional District, Republican incumbent Steve Chabot is running up against his toughest reelection challenge in years. But his Democratic opponent is running up against Chabot's computer. In one of the lesser-known perks of power on Capitol Hill, lawmakers are using taxpayer-funded databases to cultivate constituents more attentively than ever. Chabot -- a six-term legislator from Cincinnati who finds himself imperiled this year after years of easy races -- has a list ...

Distracter In Chief

Tue, 06 Jun 2006 17:37:00 MST

What uncharted realm lies beyond brazen cynicism? A wasteland of utter shamelessness, perhaps? A vast Sahara of desperation, where principle goes to die? Someday George W. Bush and the Republican right will be able to tell us all about this barren terra incognita, assuming they ever find their way home. The Decider's decision to whip up a phony crisis over same-sex marriage -- Values under attack! Run for your lives! -- is such a transparent ploy that even conservatives are scratching their ...

Feingold Calls For Bush Censure

Mon, 05 Jun 2006 14:52:00 MST

Citing recurring violations of law by President Bush over the last several years, Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold told delegates attending the Maine Democratic State Convention on Saturday that the chief executive's domestic and foreign policies warrant a congressional investigation and probable censure. Feingold, a potential Democratic presidential candidate himself in 2008, said he was unsure whether it was "appropriate" for the country to "actually go through the impeachment of a...

OH Coin Dealer Admits Illegal Donations to Bush

Wed, 31 May 2006 21:53:00 MST

A coin dealer and prominent GOP fundraiser at the center of an Ohio political scandal pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges he illegally funneled about $45,000 to President Bush's re-election campaign. Tom Noe, once a powerful political figure who also raised money for Ohio Republicans, still is charged with embezzlement in an ill-fated $50 million coin investment that he managed for the state workers' compensation fund. The investment scandal has been a major embarrassment for Ohi...

Assembly Backs Plan To Give Presidential Votes On Popular Vote

Wed, 31 May 2006 20:26:00 MST

Frustrated that presidential candidates have spent so little time in California, lawmakers on Tuesday approved legislation to change how the state awards its electoral votes for president. The bill would pledge California's 55 Electoral College votes to the winner of the national popular vote, a system critics charged was an attempt to circumvent the U.S. Constitution. "Presidential candidates would have to come to California because of our population and they would have to take a positi...

Dumb Move: Democrat Leader Took Free Boxing Tickets

Wed, 31 May 2006 15:04:00 MST

The leader of the Democratic Party in the US Senate who has accused Republicans of fostering a "culture of corruption" has said he accepted free tickets to boxing contests in Las Vegas. Senator Harry Reid, leader of the Democrats in America's upper house and a former boxer, said he had done nothing wrong and was seeking to learn more about the sport in his home state. The three tickets were provided between 2003 and last year when Mr Reid championed legislation to impose government c...

As Dem's Pick For NY Governor, Spitzer Vows Vast Reforms

Wed, 31 May 2006 15:00:00 MST

In accepting the Democratic Party's nomination for the gubernatorial race, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said he plans to bring his crusade against Wall Street and big corporations to the doorstep of the state Capitol. "In this campaign, we are fighting for the very soul of government, the very future of New York," said Spitzer, at the party's state committee convention in the Hyatt Regency hotel here. "The crowd in charge of Albany is out of touch, out of ideas and come Ja...

Ex-Reagan Official Runs As Democrat

Tue, 30 May 2006 15:38:00 MST

Thirty-seven summers ago, in the swelter of An Hua Basin, Marine Lt. James H. Webb saw more bloodshed and death than most people see in a lifetime. Since his decorated tenure in Vietnam, Webb has added hitches as President Reagan’s Navy secretary, an Emmy-winning journalist and author of best-selling, military-suspense novels to his made-for-the-movies biography. Why, then, suddenly run this year as a Democrat to unseat Sen. George Allen, a Republican former governor whom Webb endorsed jus...

Panel Hears Testimony On Raid Of Lawmakers' Office

Tue, 30 May 2006 15:22:00 MST

Constitutional experts says the F-B-I crossed a forbidden line when it raided Congressman William Jefferson's office. University of Baltimore law professor Charles Tiefer (TEE'-fur) says the raid breached "a previously sacrosanct constitutional tradition." He says the executive branch of government clearly was trying to intimidate Congress. A former deputy attorney general during the Reagan administration, Bruce Fein, agrees -- saying the administration clearly is trying to "...

Bush Quells Constitutional Fight, Orders Lawmaker'S Records Sealed

Fri, 26 May 2006 14:04:00 MST

President Bush intervened in a tense constitutional fight between Congress and the Justice Department on Thursday by ordering records seized from a congressional office over the weekend sealed for 45 days. "Our government has not faced such a dilemma in more than two centuries," the president said in his first statement on the swirl of events surrounding the FBI's search of the office of Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., who has been accused of accepting bribes. "Yet after days of ...

House Leaders Demand FBI Return Documents

Thu, 25 May 2006 16:43:00 MST

Some lawmakers are warning of a voter backlash against members of Congress "trying to protect their own" if party leaders keep escalating a constitutional dispute over the FBI's raid of a representative's office. Yet not long after House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi demanded on Wednesday the bureau return documents it took, White House aides were in talks with Hastert's staff about the possible transfer of the material, perhaps to the House ethics...

Government Secrecy Is A Farce

Tue, 23 May 2006 18:56:00 MST

Over the weekend, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales made a draconian threat to prosecute journalists for writing about the National Security Agency’s (NSA’s) clandestine and illegal monitoring of U.S.-overseas telephone calls. That threat shows what an Orwellian farce the government’s classified information system has become. Gonzales is threatening to prosecute reporters under the 1917 Espionage Act. This anachronistic act was passed during World War I to make it illegal for u...

Rice Faces Silent Protest In Boston

Mon, 22 May 2006 20:24:00 MST

Dozens of faculty and students turned their backs and waved protest signs when U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice received an honorary degree from Boston College on Monday. But the protest against Rice, a central player in President George W. Bush's Iraq policy, was smaller than had been expected and those among the 25,000 crowd who gave her a standing ovation outnumbered those who sat in silence. Rice's selection as commencement speaker had stirred controversy at the Jesuit school...

Bush's Base Betrayal

Mon, 22 May 2006 15:16:00 MST

As a candidate in 2000, George W. Bush was a Rorschach test. Country Club Republicans saw him as another George H.W. Bush; some conservatives, thinking wishfully, saw him as another Ronald Reagan. He called himself a "compassionate conservative," which meant whatever one wanted it to mean. Experts from across the party's spectrum were flown to Austin to brief Bush and reported back: "He's one of us." Republicans were desperate to retake the White House, conservatives were...

NOW To Back Lieberman's Democratic Challenger For Senate Seat

Wed, 17 May 2006 01:20:00 MST

Edward M. "Ned" Lamont, the Greenwich cable executive challenging U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman for the Democratic nomination, was expected today to collect the endorsement of the National Organization for Women's political action committee. The nod from the NOW PAC was to be announced today at a news conference jointly hosted in Hartford by Lamont and the women's organization, which said it had reached its decision "after extensive research and discussion." Lamont...

Mccain Earns Goodwill With Evangelicals

Mon, 15 May 2006 19:20:00 MST

Sarah Smith and Bryan Northup, both recent graduates of Liberty University, were surprised when the Rev. Jerry Falwell invited Sen. John McCain (R) of Arizona to deliver the commencement address at their alma mater last Saturday. After all, Senator McCain has not exactly been viewed as a friend of Christian evangelicals, especially since he tagged the Reverend Falwell - Liberty's founder and president - and a few others as "agents of intolerance" who were "corrupting influences&...

Is Bush Ready To Fire Cheney?

Mon, 15 May 2006 16:10:00 MST

On Feb. 12, 2002, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) issued a report titled "Niamey signed an agreement to sell 500 tons of uranium a year to Baghdad." After reading the report, Vice President Dick Cheney requested additional information from his CIA morning briefer. Today, it is known that the DIA report was based on a series of forged documents. Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern has described Cheney's receipt of a DIA document as very unusual. "In more than two years of briefi...

The Crash Of Big-Government Conservatism

Mon, 15 May 2006 15:00:00 MST

Big-government conservatism has a few main aims: to preserve the welfare state while mitigating its ill effects, to preserve the present American culture while mitigating its bad effects, to preserve the present international order while mitigating its bad effects, and to preserve the present system of national politics while mitigating its ill effects. The economic premise of big government conservatism is that the welfare state benefits from free markets and is not in dire conflict with them. ...

Mrs. Bush: Don't Campaign On Marriage Ban

Mon, 15 May 2006 14:54:00 MST

Some election-year advice to Republicans from a high-ranking source who has the president's ear: Don't use a proposed constitutional amendment against gay marriage as a campaign tool. Just who is that political strategist? Laura Bush. The first lady told "Fox News Sunday" that she thinks the American people want a debate on the issue. But, she said, "I don't think it should be used as a campaign tool, obviously." "It requires a lot of sensitivity to just talk abou...

Cheney The Focus Of Cia Leak Court Filing

Sun, 14 May 2006 05:48:00 MST

In a new court filing, the prosecutor in the CIA leak case revealed that Vice President Dick Cheney made handwritten references to CIA officer Valerie Plame - albeit not by name - before her identity was publicly exposed. The new court filing is the second in little more than a month by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald mentioning Cheney as being closely focused with his then-chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby, on Bush administration critic Joseph Wilson, who is married to Plame. With the two court...

McCain Gives Commencement Speech At Christian College

Sat, 13 May 2006 21:09:00 MST

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), offering an olive branch to Christian conservatives who could impede his presidential ambitions, Saturday called for more civility in politics — even as he stood next to an evangelical leader he once denounced as an "agent of intolerance." "Americans deserve more than tolerance from one another," he said in a commencement address at Liberty University, a fundamentalist Baptist institution here, where he shared the stage with its founder, the Rev....

Impeachment: It's Time To Bring Out The 100-Ton Gun

Fri, 12 May 2006 20:19:00 MST

James Bryce, in his landmark commentary The American Commonwealth, wrote that impeachment "is like a one-hundred ton gun which needs complex machinery to bring it into position, an enormous charge of powder to fire it; and a large mark to aim at." Like a 100-ton gun, impeachment is seldom used but remains a bedrock of our democracy; necessary, as was said at the Constitutional Convention, "to guard against perfidity of the Chief Magistrate" (James Madison of Virginia), or when &#...

Having Yellowcake And Eating It, Too

Fri, 12 May 2006 15:51:00 MST

Prosecution documents in the trial of former Vice Presidential Chief of Staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby revealed that President Bush himself had authorized the leak of classified intelligence that led to the exposure of a covert CIA operative. The president had heretofore feigned outrage at the leak and claimed that anyone responsible would be fired from his administration. While not denying Bush's involvement, the White House is now attempting to spin the revelation by citing the presid...

Dole Flies Into Political Head Wind

Fri, 12 May 2006 15:36:00 MST

President Bush's approval ratings are at Nixonian lows, five incumbent Republican senators are fighting for their political lives, and on issue after issue--from gas prices to ethics to the war in Iraq--Democrats seem to have the upper hand. Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.), the former Cabinet secretary and presidential candidate, has been chosen by her colleagues to head their efforts to keep the Senate in Republican hands against these forces and in spite of unease from fellow Republicans abou...

Rove Revamps The Republican Strategy

Wed, 10 May 2006 17:19:00 MST

This fall’s election season is going to make the past three look like episodes of “Barney.” The conventional notion here is that Democrats want to “nationalize” the 2006 elections — dwelling on broad themes (that is, the failures of the Bush Administration) — while the Republicans will try to “localize” them as individual contests that have nothing to do with, ahem, the goings on in the capital. That was before the GOP situation got so desper...

Bushes in Florida

Wed, 10 May 2006 16:41:00 MST

As President Bush makes his way across Florida today, essentially campaigning for his party on the benefits of the Medicare prescription drug plan, the midterm congressional elections of 2006 looming over the horizon could offer a telling preview of the open presidential contest of 2008. The president’s own brother this week conceded publicly that the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee for the Senate in Florida this year, Rep. Katherine Harris of Longboat Key, stands absolutely n...

Working To Give MI A Spending Republican Senator

Wed, 10 May 2006 16:36:00 MST

Read about another DemoRepublican... a Republican candidate who is trying to appeal to the masses... by looking Democratic-Centrist. Unbelievable....

Harris Campaign Hits Rough Waters

Wed, 10 May 2006 14:59:00 MST

As she worked the room at the Shriners Club last weekend, pressing thumb-sized Velcro oranges on the lapels of the Republicans she was courting, U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris looked like a candidate whose election-year problems are over. But this week will provide a crucial test for the U.S. Senate candidate, who gained national fame in 2000 when, as Florida secretary of state , she called an end to the search for hanging chads and declared George W. Bush the winner of the state's crucial presi...

Support For President Plummets As Americans' Pessimism Grows

Wed, 10 May 2006 14:57:00 MST

Americans have a bleaker view of the country's direction than at any time in more than two decades, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll. Sharp disapproval of President Bush's handling of gasoline prices has combined with intensified unhappiness about Iraq to create a grim political environment for the White House and congressional Republicans. Bush's approval ratings for his management of foreign policy, Iraq and the economy have fallen to the lowest levels of his p...

Conservatives Drive Bush's Approval Down

Tue, 09 May 2006 14:53:00 MST

Angry conservatives are driving the approval ratings of President Bush and the GOP-led Congress to dismal new lows, according to an AP-Ipsos poll that underscores why Republicans fear an Election Day massacre. The AP-Ipsos poll also suggests that Democratic voters are far more motivated than Republicans. Elections in the middle of a president‘s term traditionally favor the party whose core supporters are the most energized. * Just 33 percent of the public approves of Bush‘s job per...

Ex-Aide To Ney Pleads Guilty To Corruption

Mon, 08 May 2006 21:37:00 MST

A former top aide to Ohio Republican Rep. Bob Ney pleaded guilty on Monday and agreed to cooperate in an expanding political corruption investigation centered on disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Ney's former chief of staff, Neil Volz, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit fraud and to violating a one-year ban on lobbying after leaving Ney's office in 2002 and joining Abramoff's lobbying firm. "Guilty, your honor," Volz, 35, told U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal ...

The Rise And Possible Fall Of Richard Pombo

Sat, 06 May 2006 17:56:00 MST

Richard Pombo, foe of the environment and friend of business, is embattled on both the Left and Right fronts. Read about the rise and fall of this outrageously anti-environmental member of the US House....

Angry Conservatives Seen Behind Bush'S Drop In Polls

Sat, 06 May 2006 17:51:00 MST

Angry conservatives are driving the approval ratings of President Bush and the GOP-led Congress to new lows, according to an AP-Ipsos poll that underscores why Republicans fear an Election Day massacre. Six months from the November elections, the intensity of opposition to Bush and Congress has risen sharply, along with the percentage of Americans who believe that the nation is on the wrong track. This week's AP-Ipsos poll of 1,000 adults, including 865 registered voters, found: About 33...

Embattled Bush And Blair Hope Changing Staff Changes Fortunes / Britain: Prime Minister Fires Some Officials, Demotes Others After Election Setback

Sat, 06 May 2006 17:50:00 MST

Reeling from his party's poor showing in local elections, British Prime Minister Tony Blair fired several senior ministers from his Cabinet on Friday in a sweeping reshuffle intended to reassert his authority and silence party members who want him to quit. But his most powerful colleague, rival and heir apparent -- Gordon Brown, the chancellor of the exchequer -- distanced himself from the reshuffle, saying he had not been consulted. Brown also described the voting results as "a warning...

Sex, Lies, And Government Contracts

Fri, 05 May 2006 17:55:00 MST

The most extensive federal corruption scandal in a century is growing. In March, former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA) was sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison (the longest sentence ever given to a member of Congress) for accepting $2.4 million in bribes in exchange for lucrative defense contracts. Yet Cunningham's crimes, the "magnitude and duration" of which are compared to the Teapot Dome scandal of the 1920s, may end up a mere prelude. According to r...

Letter: Impeach Bush/Cheney Now!

Thu, 04 May 2006 19:33:00 MST

We must impeach Bush/Cheney NOW in order to end the War for Oil in the Middle East, stop the torture and illegal detentions in Guantanamo Bay, Iraq and Afghanistan, end the illegal wire tapping of American citizens, and uphold the laws and Constitution of the United States. There is overwhelming evidence of many impeachable offenses (see www.afterdowningstreet.org and www.impeachbush.org). The longer that Congress delays impeachment proceedings, the higher the chances are that the Bush/Ch...

Watchdog Asks Justice To Probe Harris (R-FL) Deal

Tue, 02 May 2006 14:43:00 MST

The nonpartisan watchdog group Common Cause filed a complaint with the Justice Department Monday alleging that Rep. Katherine Harris violated federal law by seeking a $10 million appropriation in exchange for an offer of fund-raising support from a defense contractor. The complaint alleges that Harris, a Republican from Longboat Key who is running for the U.S. Senate, sought the appropriation for a counterintelligence facility in her congressional district after having dinner early last year wit...

Clinton vs. McCain?

Tue, 02 May 2006 14:41:00 MST

If you think we've seen a bruising primary election campaign in Ohio this year, just wait until 2008. That's when the Buckeye State is again expected to occupy the center of the political universe in the presidential election. It will be the first White House contest in more than 50 years without a sitting president or vice president. Already, seven possible candidates are drawing double-digit support from registered Ohio Democrats and Republicans, a new Dispatch Poll shows....

Three Years Since Bush's "Mission Accomplished": Torture, Corruption, Growing Resistance In Iraq

Tue, 02 May 2006 14:38:00 MST

May 1 marks three years since President George W. Bush landed on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln for a rally, choreographed by White House spin-doctors, to celebrate “Mission Accomplished” in the US war against Iraq. Organized military resistance by the regime of Saddam Hussein had collapsed. Fewer than 150 American soldiers had been killed in the successful invasion, in which the United States seized control of a country boasting the world’s second largest oil reserve...

Rove Still in Consideration for Indictment

Fri, 28 Apr 2006 12:41:00 MST

Presidential adviser Karl Rove faces the prospect of either remaining under a lingering legal cloud or indictment in a special counsel's investigation of the disclosure of a covert CIA agent's identity, according to people familiar with the case. Rove testified Wednesday for the fifth time before a federal grand jury probing the case, and the people cited potentially ominous signs for him. Among other things, they said, Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald declined to give him any assuran...

Phone-Jamming by GOP Invokes Images Of Watergate

Thu, 27 Apr 2006 22:13:00 MST

Is it a third-rate political dirty trick by Republicans or a cheap attempt by Democrats to drag the GOP through the mud before November's elections? Democrats and Republicans here are locked in a legal battle over GOP operatives who tried to suppress voter turnout in a key 2002 U.S. Senate race by jamming Democratic get-out-the-vote phone banks on Election Day. The case has national implications. New Hampshire Democrats, through a civil lawsuit, are trying to question Ken Mehlman, the chairm...

Judge Won'T Dismiss Case Against Libby

Thu, 27 Apr 2006 22:04:00 MST

A federal judge refused Thursday to dismiss charges against I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the former top White House aide who was indicted on perjury and obstruction charges last year in the CIA leak scandal. In a 31-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton turned down a motion by lawyers for Vice President Dick Cheney's one-time top assistant, who challenged the authority of Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald to handle the case. Libby's lawyers had argued that Fitzgerald w...

Bush Adviser Testifies In Cia Leak Inquiry

Thu, 27 Apr 2006 18:33:00 MST

Karl Rove, senior counselor to President George W. Bush, has testified for several hours before a federal grand jury in the CIA leak case, in an appearance that was a sign of renewed attention by the special prosecutor in a matter that has lingered unresolved for months. The testimony Wednesday marked the fifth time that Rove has appeared before a federal grand jury in the case. The appearance came at a politically sensitive time for Rove, who was relieved of his policy role at the White House...

Two Sides To Story Of CIA's Alleged Leaker

Wed, 26 Apr 2006 14:37:00 MST

In a city that lives for the whispered nugget of information, fired CIA analyst Mary McCarthy is viewed as both hero and villain. Ask CIA Director Porter Goss, and he will tell you an officer he fired committed a grave offense damaging national security by talking to reporters and knowingly disclosing classified information. Not so, argue McCarthy's defenders, who contend that she had a stellar government career and is merely the victim of a Bush administration witch hunt for leakers. Ass...

Bush throws Conservatives Bone: Names Talk Show Host Press Secretary

Wed, 26 Apr 2006 14:35:00 MST

To the surprise of no one, President Bush named conservative commentator Tony Snow as his press secretary today to replace Scott McClellan, who announced his resignation last week. "Tony already knows most of you," Bush, with tongue in cheek, told reporters in the White House briefing room, "and he's agreed to take the job anyway." Bush said of Snow, "He's man of courage. He's a man of integrity. He loves his family." Snow becomes White House spokesman at a t...

Majority In Army Times Poll Think Rumsfeld Should Resign

Wed, 26 Apr 2006 02:49:00 MST

According to a poll at ArmyTimes.com, a majority of respondents believe that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld should resign, RAW STORY has found. At the time of this writing, 2985 readers have voted in the latest Army Times poll (link), with 1,889 (63.28%) agreeing that the "U.S. war effort is grounds for Secretary Rumsfeld to resign." 996 (33.37%) voted no and 100 (3.35%) had no opinion. In a poll taken shortly after reports of prison abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison came out in 2004,...

The Poll Battles: Bush

Tue, 25 Apr 2006 17:28:00 MST

If a presidential election were held this month, President George W. Bush might not color West Virginia or Virginia red in the returns, according to a USA Survey rating on the president’s approval by the people, released by local and national sponsors. In West Virginia, Bush’s approval rating dropped to 39 percent while his unfavorable rating was recorded at 57 percent. The remaining said “don’t know.” The poll information was released by WUSA-TV. In Virginia, the B...

Resolution Urges Bush's Ouster

Mon, 24 Apr 2006 20:39:00 MST

Note: This article is one of many recent articles showing a groundswell of desire to impeach Bush... The question was whether to accept a resolution to impeach President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. And as the debate went back and forth during Thursday's monthly meeting of the Kennebec County Democratic Committee, those in favor of the resolution began to prevail. "We rather quickly ran out of cons," said Rita Moran of Winthrop, chairperson of the Kennebec County Democratic C...

As Congress Reconvenes, GOP Remains Under Siege

Mon, 24 Apr 2006 20:35:00 MST

Just when it looked like the political climate could not get worse for President Bush and the Republican Party, more storms have gathered. This month's abrupt spike in gas prices is fueling new worries about the party's prospects in the fall elections, which have already been roiled by controversy over GOP policies on immigration, the federal budget and Iraq. So when Congress returns today from a spring recess, Republicans face a political landscape even more challenging than when they l...

Hundreds Boo, Protest President On Visit

Mon, 24 Apr 2006 03:16:00 MST

Hundreds of protesters booed President Bush as his motorcade made its way towards a fuel cell plant in West Sacramento. People showed up from all over northern California. They are outraged about the president's stance on everything from the war to illegal immigration. Since Saturday was Earth Day, protestors were most outspoken about his position on the environment. Tom Pattison, Novato resident: "We want him out of our state." Jerry Bailey, Stockton resident: "Leaders shoul...

And So the Bush Shake-Up Begins. So What?

Thu, 20 Apr 2006 16:26:00 MST

The president's new chief of staff spent his first day on the job telling folks in the West Wing to go now if they were planning to go at all. Press Secretary Scott McClellan, in a masterpiece of understatement, said, ``It's time for a little bit of a fresh start.'' The fresh start couldn't have been more timely, coming on tax day Monday, with its ineffable sense of closing the book on an old year of missing receipts and W2s, and with spring busting out at the annual Easter ...

Pentagon Says Retired Officers' Critical Views Not Widespread

Thu, 20 Apr 2006 16:22:00 MST

Recent criticism voiced by a half dozen retired generals over Iraq war planning does not reflect the mainstream views of the officer corps, a senior Defense Department official told Pentagon reporters Monday. "There are a handful of officers that have exercised their right to speak their mind, and certainly that's their right to do that," Defense spokesman Bryan Whitman said. Brushing aside a reporter's suggestion there's widespread disagreement among senior officers over I...

Good-bye and Good Riddance to McClellan

Wed, 19 Apr 2006 14:50:00 MST

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan announced his resignation, the latest personnel change in a Bush administration struggling to find its footing in the face of political setbacks and declining public approval ratings. Karl Rove, Bush's deputy chief of staff and his top political adviser also is shifting roles, the Associated Press and CNN reported, citing unnamed administration officials. Rove is giving up the job of policy coordinator and will focus on political strategy, while ...

Bush Team To Shake Things Up

Tue, 18 Apr 2006 16:54:00 MST

American President George W. Bush's new chief of staff said yesterday it was time to "refresh and re-energize the team." He told senior White House aides who might be thinking about quitting this year to go ahead and leave now. Taking charge in a time of crisis, with Bush's poll ratings at their lowest point ever and Republicans anxious about November elections, Joshua Bolten laid down his pointed directive at his first meeting with top presidential aides. He did not ask for a...

Scoop: Jason Leopold: Libby Filing - A Denial & A Mystery

Tue, 18 Apr 2006 16:53:00 MST

Defense attorneys for I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby said in a court filing late Wednesday that the former chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney doesn't remember a conversation he had with a State Department official in June 2003 in which the official told Libby that Valerie Plame Wilson worked for the CIA. But the conversation did take place, according to current and former administration officials and attorneys who have remained close to the two-year-old CIA leak probe. At least ...

Time Picks Allard As 1 Of 5 Worst Senators In U.S.

Tue, 18 Apr 2006 03:13:00 MST

Colorado Republican Sen. Wayne Allard is one of the five worst senators in Congress, according to this week's issue of Time magazine, which also chose the 10 best senators. "In a Senate full of ambitious members, Colorado Republican Wayne Allard is so bland that his critics have dubbed him 'Dullard,"' according to the article, which criticizes him for "almost never" playing a major role in legislation despite being a Republican on the powerful Budget and Appropriation...

Jury Finds Former Ill. Gov. Ryan Guilty

Mon, 17 Apr 2006 19:42:00 MST

Former Gov. George Ryan, who drew international praise when he commuted the sentences of everyone on Illinois' death row, was convicted of racketeering and fraud Monday in a corruption scandal that ended his political career in 2003. Ryan, 72, sat stone-faced as the verdict was read and afterward vowed to appeal. "I believe this decision today is not in accordance with the kind of public service that I provided to the people of Illinois over 40 years, and needless to say I am disappointe...

FOX Special Report Distorted Significance Of Leak Case Correction

Sun, 16 Apr 2006 15:59:00 MST

This interesting article documents the many ways that a FOX News Special Report distorted the facts when discussing the Libby CIA Leak investigation....

Is W a Liar?

Thu, 13 Apr 2006 00:00:00 MST

The White House is taking umbrage over new press reports that George W. Bush misled the American people on a key justification for invading Iraq. But Bush’s latest excuse – that he was just an unwitting conveyor of bad information, not a willful purveyor of lies – has been stretched thin by overuse. Nevertheless, White House spokesman Scott McClellan lashed out at a Washington Post report that in May 2003, Bush described two Iraqi railroad cars as mobile biological weapons labs...

Mccain, Clinton Put Down Early Election Markers

Wed, 12 Apr 2006 15:07:00 MST

With more than two years to go before the 2008 presidential elections, the nominal frontrunners for both the Democratic and Republican parties are already in what looks like campaign mode. ADVERTISEMENT Republican senator John McCain was in Ohio yesterday in the middle of a seven-day tour that is taking him to the key primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire, as well as critical states such as Florida, Minnesota and Ohio that were closely fought in the 2004 presidential election. Demo...

Democrat Makes Runoff In Special Election To Fill Cunningham Seat

Wed, 12 Apr 2006 06:03:00 MST

A school board member running for Congress advanced Tuesday to a runoff in a special election to fill the unfinished term of former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, now in prison for bribery. Democrat Francine Busby moved a step closer to the congressional office she first sought in 2004, when she lost badly to Cunningham. But the self-described soccer mom failed to avoid a June runoff in California's 50th District, where Republicans outnumber Democrats 3-to-2. "When we go on to Ju...

Bush Information Leak Reeks Of Watergate

Tue, 11 Apr 2006 19:30:00 MST

When President Bush was asked in September 2003 about the leak that identified CIA agent, Valerie Plame, he responded with the following: "I welcome the investigation. I'm absolutely confident that the Justice Department will do a very good job." I guess he probably didn't think, or at least he hoped that this probe and subsequent prosecution of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby wouldn't uncover evidence that Bush himself authorized leaks of classified information about Iraq ...

Pombo Targeted by Republicans and Democrats

Sun, 09 Apr 2006 14:06:00 MST

They call him the Capitol Cowboy - Republican congressman Richard Pombo. For 14 years he's represented the massive 11th District, which stretches from Lodi, over to San Ramon, down through Morgan Hill. And he's in one tough political fight. "Since I became chairman of the resources committee, I've become a bigger target," said Rep. Pombo, "and nationally, that has put me on the radar screen for the Democratic party and anything they can do to tie me down here at home they...

Specter Urges Bush Candor In Leak Case

Sun, 09 Apr 2006 00:00:00 MST

A leading Republican urged President Bush Sunday to “tell the American people exactly what happened” in a leak of information aimed at countering criticism of his reasons for taking America to war in Iraq. The president, whose popularity is slumping, is on the defensive because of a prosecutor’s disclosure that Bush authorized a former top official, Lewis “Scooter” Libby, to share intelligence data on Iraq in 2003 with a reporter to defend his decision to invade Ir...

Lamont Carves Himself A New Democratic Niche

Sat, 08 Apr 2006 21:25:00 MST

The Yale Herald interviewed Ned Lamont, SOM ’80, who is challenging Conn. Senator Joe Lieberman, DC ’64, LAW ’67, in the upcoming Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. Lamont, a self-made businessman, founded his own company, Lamont Digital Systems, which provides advanced video systems to colleges. In this campaign, Lamont’s supporters have cast him as a “real Democrat,” in contrast to Lieberman, who he claims is too conservative. Lamont lives with his wife and...

Republican embarrassed by actions within party

Sat, 08 Apr 2006 16:11:00 MST

I couldn't refuse adding this letter to the editor from a Mr. Kevin Duck to The Daily Advertiser. I wish more people would, as he says, open their eyes: I am a registered Republican and have been for 21 years. Recent events have greatly disturbed me and caused me to question my affiliation. I am embarrassed by those who have represented our party. (1) The deputy press secretary for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was arrested Tuesday for using the Internet to seduce what he thought...

Lawyer: Bush Left Leak Details To Cheney

Sat, 08 Apr 2006 00:00:00 MST

President Bush declassified sensitive intelligence in 2003 and authorized its public disclosure to rebut Iraq war critics, but he did not specifically direct that Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, be the one to disseminate the information, an attorney knowledgeable about the case said Saturday. Bush merely instructed Cheney to "get it out" and left the details to him, said the lawyer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of t...

House Votes To Limit "Soft Money," Lift Party-Spending Cap

Thu, 06 Apr 2006 21:20:00 MST

The House approved campaign-finance legislation Wednesday that would benefit Republicans by placing strict new caps on contributions to nonprofit committees that spent heavily in the last election while removing limits on political party spending coordinated with candidates. The bill passed 218-209 in a virtual party-line vote. Lifting party spending limits would aid Republican candidates because the GOP has consistently raised far more money than the Democratic Party. Similarly, barring "52...

Ensor: Lowdown On Documents In Cia Leak Case - Apr 6, 2006

Thu, 06 Apr 2006 21:17:00 MST

An interesting excerpt from a CNN interview discussion of the Scooter Libby case. Looks like the classification of documents is working against Libby this time... but hopefully it won't result in a mistrial... Vice President Dick Cheney told his top adviser in 2003 that President Bush had authorized the leaking of pre-war intelligence on Iraq, according to court papers released this week. I. Scooter Libby -- who is charged with five counts of perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to FBI...

Signs Point To Federal Investigators Zeroing In On DeLay

Wed, 05 Apr 2006 22:32:00 MST

Rep. Tom DeLay's decision to leave Congress ends his political problems, but his legal woes may be far from over. The former House majority leader announced his resignation three days after court documents revealed that federal investigators have uncovered evidence of corruption in his leadership office. Tony Rudy, former deputy chief of staff to the powerful Republican congressman from Texas, admitted in a plea agreement that he sold his influence to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff while h...

DeLay's Fall Won't End Corruption Issue

Wed, 05 Apr 2006 14:37:00 MST

Rep. Tom DeLay ‘s fall from power amid a widening scandal robs Democrats of "Exhibit A" in their allegations of Republican corruption, but analysts said on Tuesday it was unlikely to put the issue behind Republicans before November‘s elections. With control of Congress at stake in November, DeLay said he was dropping his bid for re-election so the party would have a better shot at keeping the Texan‘s Republican-leaning seat in the southern suburbs of Houston. "I t...

DeLay Announces Resignation From House

Tue, 04 Apr 2006 14:50:00 MST

Succumbing to scandal, former Majority Leader Tom DeLay said Tuesday he is resigning from Congress in the face of a tough re-election race, closing out a career that blended unflinching conservatism with a bare-knuckled political style. "I think I could have won this seat but it would have been nasty. It would have cost a fortune to do it," said the Texas Republican, first elected in 1984. DeLay said in an interview with Fox News that he was "looking forward to being liberated outsid...

Tom Delay'S Exit Is Big Loss For House Gop | Csmonitor.Com

Tue, 04 Apr 2006 00:00:00 MST

In another legislative century, Tom DeLay might be on a fast track to have a building named after him. A fierce competitor, he helped Republicans take back the House in 1994, then build a national majority - while pushing through landmark conservative policies in overtime votes. Friends and foes alike called him "the Hammer." But after years of legal woes, he may leave Congress this spring with another nickname: "Representative No. 2." That's how he's named in a plea a...

Right-Wing Bloggers Attack Freed Hostage For 'Treason'

Mon, 03 Apr 2006 17:48:00 MST

The freed American hostage Jill Carroll arrived home after 83 days of captivity in Iraq yesterday - to a barrage of criticism from Right-wingers who accused her of showing too much sympathy for her kidnappers. Miss Carroll has been under sustained assault from some on the pro-war Right. Bloggers and hosts on the country's influential talk radio stations have attacked her for stating that she had not been threatened during her confinement. Others attacked her for wearing Muslim dress and the ...

White House Shake-Up To Continue?

Mon, 03 Apr 2006 14:55:00 MST

Presidential press secretary Scott McClellan and Treasury Secretary John Snow could be next in a shake-up in the Bush administration, according to White House and GOP sources. The possible departure of both men could be among "several senior-level staff" announcements to come within the next couple of weeks, said former White House staff members, GOP strategists and administration officials. Other GOP strategists said they believe McClellan's position is secure because of his close r...

527's to Be Limited

Fri, 31 Mar 2006 20:26:00 MST

The attack-dog political groups known as 527s that helped shape the last presidential election by pouring millions of dollars into bruising advertising campaigns may soon be leashed. In a response to a lawsuit filed by Congressman Marty Meehan, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled Wednesday that the Federal Election Commission's oversight of 527s is a "total failure," demonstrated by the groups' unbridled infusion of $400 million into the 2004 elections. The FEC decided bef...

Former Delay Aide Pleads Guilty

Fri, 31 Mar 2006 17:28:00 MST

A former top aide to Rep. Tom DeLay pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy and promised to cooperate with a federal investigation of bribery and lobbying fraud that has so far netted three convictions and prompted calls for ethics reform in Congress. Tony Rudy, DeLay's former deputy chief of staff, admitted to conspiring with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff both while Rudy worked for DeLay and after he left the lawmaker's staff to become a lobbyist himself. He faces up to five years in pri...

Baucus blocks Bush pick for highway agency

Thu, 30 Mar 2006 16:25:00 MST

Flexing political muscle, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., is blocking President Bush s pick to head the Federal Highway Administration in retaliation for the agency s handling of a $50 million appropriation for Glacier National Park s Going-to-the-Sun Road. Federal Highway Administration officials have insisted that a long-term transportation bill approved by Congress last year authorized but failed to appropriate the $50 million. But Baucus argues that the money has been lost to bureaucratic misinter...

Rep. Lane Evans (D-IL) to Retire

Wed, 29 Mar 2006 19:26:00 MST

U.S. Rep. Lane Evans, a former Marine who was elected to Congress 24 years ago as a long-shot candidate who promised to "send Reagan a message," announced Tuesday that he intended to retire from his western Illinois seat after battling Parkinson's disease for more than a decade. The Rock Island Democrat, who was briefly hospitalized last month, had not cast a vote or been to his Capitol office since Feb. 14. He pledged to seek re-election to a 13th term, but over the weekend he concl...

Nelson Leads Over Harris in FL Senate Race Polls

Wed, 29 Mar 2006 19:24:00 MST

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson's re-election bid is maintaining a solid lead over the stumbling challenge of Rep. Katherine Harris, according to a statewide poll released on Tuesday. Despite a couple weeks of internal turmoil - including a financial embarrassment, the departure of some campaign aides and the announcement that she will put $10 million of her own money into the race - Harris held her base of slightly more than one-third of the vote. But Nelson, who was targeted by the White House as on...

Abramoff Gets Nearly 6 Years In Fraud Case

Wed, 29 Mar 2006 19:18:00 MST

Disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff and a former business partner were sentenced today to five years and 10 months in prison for fraud related to their 2000 purchase of the SunCruz Casinos gambling fleet. The sentences were the minimum under their plea agreement in the case. Abramoff and Adam Kidan, who both pleaded guilty to conspiracy and wire fraud, won't start their sentences immediately so they can continue cooperating in a Washington corruption investigation and a Florida probe int...

Bush finds a very different Indiana

Tue, 28 Mar 2006 20:52:00 MST

President Bush is finding that his 'base' support is eroding in the most unlikely places, such as the Indianapolis neighborhoods that helped give him a whopping victory in 2004....

Nader: A Call To All Good Americans

Tue, 28 Mar 2006 16:50:00 MST

Although I'm not a huge fan, Ralph Nader speaks for many progressives out there: Attention please, good people! Adjust your routines and come to the aid of your country, and your children with your thoughtful patriotism. Don't just hope for impeachment, demand the resignation now of the mad hatters in the White House - George W. Bush and Richard Cheney. Already, a large majority of you do not consider this shifty duo trustworthy. By more than two to one you disapprove of Bush's war ...

Good vs. Evil Doesn't Work in the Real World

Tue, 28 Mar 2006 16:48:00 MST

This commentator discusses the results of the president's marginalizing framing of world conflicts into "good vs. evil" buckets. The result is that Iran is more dangerous than ever, but also virtually untouchable by the US in a post-preemptive-strike political world....

Bush Names Bolten Chief Of Staff after Card Resigns

Tue, 28 Mar 2006 16:35:00 MST

President Bush named long-time aide Joshua Bolten as his new chief of staff on Tuesday in the first major White House shakeup since Bush was re-elected. Some Republicans have urged the president to bring in fresh blood after a series of political missteps that have weakened the White House and sent Bush's poll numbers to new lows. Bolten, director of the Office of Management and Budget, has worked on Wall Street and in Congress and brings a broad array of experience in financial and politic...

Candidates Want Bush'S Cash, Sans Bush

Mon, 27 Mar 2006 23:39:00 MST

As the 2006 congressional campaigns get into gear, there are two George W. Bushes traveling the country. One, the fundraiser, is welcome anywhere, anytime. Since January 2005, the president has set a record pace in raising cash for Republican campaign committees and individual candidates - $88 million at 26 events. The other, the campaigner, appears radioactive, at least to candidates in tough races. When President Bush delivered a speech on Iraq in Cleveland last week, Ohio Sen. Mike DeWine (R...

Some Political Ads On Net To Be Regulated

Mon, 27 Mar 2006 23:07:00 MST

The Federal Election Commission extended its rules about campaign ads to some Internet Web sites, it said, to ensure political committees properly finance and disclose their Internet communications. The FEC approved the new standards at its meeting March 27. The FEC now requires that candidates for federal office disclose their spending on advertising that appears on a Web site or accompanying an Internet search result. A large swath of the Internet and Internet publishers appear to be untouc...

NPR Tracks Burns And Abramoff Getting Cozy; Schweitzer Wants An Early Primary

Mon, 27 Mar 2006 17:41:00 MST

On National Public Radio this week, correspondent John Ydstie has closely retraced the events that brought indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and Sen. Conrad Burns together, ending in a surprise earmark on an Interior appropriations bill that sent $3 million to a Michigan tribe. As Ydstie writes, the earmark was legal but the events leading up to it raises questions whether Abramoff s influence was directly connected to Burns move to fund the tribe. In other news, Gov. Brian Schweitzer voices hi...

Bush setting up for yet another controversial power grab

Mon, 27 Mar 2006 13:34:00 MST

On March 28, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether the "military commissions" created by President George W. Bush in November 2001 to prosecute suspected al Qaeda terrorists are a time-honored presidential prerogative or (as I have reluctantly come to believe) another unwise, unconstitutional Bush power-grab. The legal issues in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld are complex and difficult, and the outcome is hard to predict. What's already clear beyond dispute, however, is that the suppos...

Katrina Donation From Bush Earmarked For Bush Firm

Mon, 27 Mar 2006 13:30:00 MST

In a poor attempt to avoid taxes and fund business, former first lady Barbara Bush gave relief money to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund on the condition that it be spent to buy educational software from her son Neil's company. The chief of staff of former President George H.W. Bush would not disclose the amount earmarked for purchases from Ignite Learning. To compund this, Neil's software company received angel funding from none other than the Dubai government....

Thomas plays into W's hands; Bush uses hostile D.C. veteran correspondent to energize the

Thu, 23 Mar 2006 14:39:00 MST

James P. Pinkerton Remember the golden apple of discord? That fateful fruit triggered the Trojan War. At his Tuesday press conference, President George W. Bush showed that he, too, can lob a mean apple at the Democrats. In Greek mythology, the gods were feasting when Eris, the goddess of strife, threw a golden apple on the dinner table; inscribed on it were the words, "To the most beautiful." Naturally, all the goddesses thought that the apple was meant for them. To settle the controvers...

Where is the money tree? The House Oks $92B For Wars, Hurricanes

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 14:30:00 MST

The Senate probably will give President Bush most of the money he wants for the Iraq war and Gulf Coast hurricane reconstruction while setting aside bipartisan worries about the enormous costs of both. That's what the House did when it voted 348-71 Thursday to approve $92 billion in supplemental funds for Iraq and Afghanistan military operations and Hurricane Katrina cleanup, slightly less than what the president sought. "Our troops need every resource available to stay safe on the groun...

Will Russ Feingold Stand Alone Again? - CBS News

Tue, 14 Mar 2006 16:59:00 MST

Russ Feingold is used to being alone. He is the one in the 99 to 1 vote in the Senate against the Patriot Act in 2001 and the lone Democrat to vote against dismissing impeachment charges against President Clinton in 1999. On Monday Feingold introduced a resolution to censure President Bush for his actions in authorizing the illegal wiretapping program and then misleading the country about the existence and legality of the program. He says the resolution is an appropriate and responsible step ...

Feingold Draws Little Support For Censure

Tue, 14 Mar 2006 06:07:00 MST

Democrats distanced themselves Monday from Wisconsin Sen. Russell Feingold's effort to censure President Bush over domestic spying, preventing a floor vote that could alienate swing voters. A day of tough, election-year talk between Feingold and Vice President Dick Cheney ended with Senate leaders sending the matter to the Judiciary Committee. It would be good to see a debate on this topic....

Country on "Wrong Track"

Fri, 10 Mar 2006 16:37:00 MST

U.S. President George W. Bush's approval rating dropped back to its lowest level, and two-thirds of Americans think the country is on the ``wrong track,'' an Associated Press/Ipsos poll showed. Bush in the past month has battled with Republican lawmakers over his approval of a deal that would have allowed Dubai's state-owned DP World to take over terminal operations at six U.S. ports. His administration has also been beset by an upsurge of sectarian violence in Iraq since the Fe...

Professor Calls Bush War On Terror "Mostly Rhetoric"

Wed, 08 Mar 2006 19:51:00 MST

Writing in the Danville, KY Advocate-Messenger, Brian Cooney, a Professor at Centre College, today called President Bush's war on terror "mostly rhetoric - an excuse for invading Iraq and an election slogan to distract us from the damage he is causing at home and abroad." I suspect that many Americans would consider that harsh. I don't. I think that's an assessment that's fully supported by the evidence of how our President and his crew have handled their announced war ...

Texas Republican Voters Still Stupid... Vote for DeLay

Wed, 08 Mar 2006 15:52:00 MST

Proving that Texas Republicans are either stupid, clueless, or completely in corrupt politician's pockets, embattled Texas Congressman Tom DeLay has won the Republican primary. The lawmaker from Sugar Land will face Democratic ex-congressman Nick Lampson, who had no primary opponent. DeLay won the G-O-P race in his first election since losing his U-S House majority leader post last year. ...

Presidential Impeachment on the Move?

Wed, 08 Mar 2006 15:45:00 MST

Today ImpeachPAC endorsed its third pro-impeachment candidate for Congress, Jeeni Criscenzo, who is running unopposed in the Democratic primary to challenge Republican incumbent and former car thief Darrell Issa to represent California's 49th District. Criscenzo has already been endorsed by the San Diego Imperial Counties Labor Council, Progressive Democrats of San Diego, Democracy for America Meetup #23 (San Diego), and Progressive Democrats of America (national). Criscenzo has been a lea...

Prepared Text Of Gov. Jeb Bush's Final State Of The State Speech

Tue, 07 Mar 2006 18:26:00 MST

Jeb is headed out due to term limitations in Florida... and I thought at one point that those were a bad thing... Poke a little fun at his speech if you like....

U.S. Rep. Thomas Announces Retirement From Congress

Mon, 06 Mar 2006 20:10:00 MST

U.S. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas said on Monday he would retire from the House of Representatives at the end of his current term, leaving open to speculation the future for the veteran lawmaker. The California Republican, who was instrumental in helping President George W. Bush win passage of his tax cut proposals, would have stepped down as chairman of the powerful tax writing committee after this year anyway because of term limits set by House Republicans....

America For Sale: New Report Documents Cost Of Republican Corruption For American People

Sun, 05 Mar 2006 00:00:00 MST

Rep. Louise M. Slaughter (D-NY), Ranking Member of the House Rules Committee, today released a report documenting the unprecedented level of corruption which has come to define Congress and the federal government under Republican leadership. "America for Sale: The Cost of Republican Corruption," presents for the first time a comprehensive review and analysis of the major ethics scandals which have shaken Washington during the last five years of Republican rule, and reveals how deep the c...

The Failed Bush Presidency

Sun, 05 Mar 2006 00:00:00 MST

For a hundred fifty years we have known that President James Polk, who bumbled through the war with Mexico during the mid 1840s, was arguably the most inept chief executive ever to hold the highest national office in Washington. Polk was a worse president than Ulysses Grant who tried to deal with the Congress as he had dominated his Civil War subordinates. Polk may even have made as many mistakes as Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon combined, when they were destroying a generation s faith in Amer...

Another Indictment Expected In Phone-Jamming

Thu, 02 Mar 2006 17:27:00 MST

Federal prosecutors reportedly intend to indict a fourth person in the jamming of Democratic get-out-the-vote telephone lines in 2002. WMUR-TV reported Wednesday that an indictment is expected at the end of the month. Former state Republican Executive Director Chuck McGee pleaded guilty to devising the idea of jamming the lines and served seven months in prison. Telemarketer Allen Raymond pleaded guilty to executing the plan and is to serve a three-month sentence. ...

Patricia Madrid Takes Aim At NM Congressional Race

Wed, 01 Mar 2006 17:21:00 MST

Ready or not, New Mexico's 1st Congressional District contest is under way. Barely two months into 2006, Republican Rep. Heather Wilson and her Democratic challenger, Attorney General Patricia Madrid, are ratcheting up the rhetoric and raising lots of money for what could be the most expensive congressional campaign in New Mexico history. Democrats, buoyed by President Bush's sinking poll numbers and Madrid's high profile and well-known tenacity, are convinced they can finally un...

Polls Show Support for Iraq War at New Low

Wed, 01 Mar 2006 00:00:00 MST

America's backing for President George W. Bush's handling of the war in Iraq has tumbled to an all-time low, and the vast majority of troops fighting there want out within the next year, new polls showed on Tuesday. The latest surveys painted a grim picture for the U.S. president as he decried a surge of sectarian violence that has pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war and dented U.S. hopes for stability needed to pave the way for a U.S. withdrawal. "The choice is chaos or unity,"...

Bush: Job Ratings

Wed, 01 Mar 2006 00:00:00 MST

Poll results for Bush's overall job rating... interesting. ...

Another Case of Questionable Ethics in Congress: Senator Thune (R-SD)

Tue, 28 Feb 2006 15:00:00 MST

Why is a small provision inserted in last summer's mammoth transportation bill for $2.7 Billion attracting scrutiny? Becasue, the provision was a project that Senator Thune (R-SD) had been a lobbyist for prior to becoming Senator. It seems self serving and a a direct action for Thue's business assoicates that has provoked Sen. Mark Dayton, D-Minn., to introduce legislation on Tuesday that would ban elected representatives from advocating for any former client during his or her first tw...

Not Lame Yet?

Mon, 27 Feb 2006 18:50:00 MST

Interesting, if long winded, look at the troubles surrounding the Bush administration. The question is... will issues from the ports debacle to the Katrina response trickle down to hurt the Republican party this fall at the ballot box?...

California Governor Rejects Call By GOP For Makeover

Mon, 27 Feb 2006 17:53:00 MST

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger yesterday rejected right wing calls for him to change his governing style as a threatened conservative uprising at the state Republican convention ended in a mild rebuke of his policies. Schwarzenegger supporters at the weekend California Republican Party convention here squelched an attempt by some conservatives to put the party on record as criticizing the governor's fiscal policies but went along with a resolution gently suggesting that he not appoint so many...

The Case For Impeachment

Mon, 27 Feb 2006 00:00:00 MST

On December 18 of last year, Congressman John Conyers Jr. (D., Mich.) introduced into the House of Representatives a resolution inviting it to form a select committee to investigate the Administration's intent to go to war before congressional authorization, manipulation of pre-war intelligence, encouraging and countenancing torture, retaliating against critics, and to make recommendations regarding grounds for possible impeachment. Although buttressed two days previously by the news of t...

U.S. Democrats Pin Their Hopes On State Races

Sun, 26 Feb 2006 00:00:00 MST

While considerable political attention is now focused on the Democrats' uphill struggle to regain control of Congress, leaders of both parties say Democrats appear to be in a much stronger position on another pivotal battlefield in November: contests for state governors. According to party officials, Democrats have a strong chance of picking up a number of governorships held by Republicans and of retaining seats now held, even in states that President George W. Bush won in 2004. That could...

Sometimes Politics Can Make You Laugh

Fri, 24 Feb 2006 14:20:00 MST

I cant even imagine how funny this must have been. I will have to catch the replay. The headline is: 'Daily Show' humor befuddles governor...

Harris Uses 2000 Election To Raise Cash

Wed, 22 Feb 2006 20:42:00 MST

In a recent direct-mail fundraising appeal, U.S. Senate candidate Katherine Harris makes her most direct use yet of her role in the 2000 presidential election to rally Republican support, and then asks Republicans to make a "pledge of loyalty," signified by a contribution to her campaign. "As Florida's Secretary of State during the hotly-contested 2000 Presidential election recount, I was thrust into the national spotlight for five grueling weeks," she wrote prospective donor...

NSC, Cheney Aides Conspired To Out CIA Operative

Wed, 22 Feb 2006 20:41:00 MST

The investigation into the leak of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson is heating up. Evidence is mounting that senior officials in the office of Vice President Dick Cheney and the National Security Council conspired to unmask Plame Wilson's identity to reporters in an effort to stop her husband from publicly criticizing the administration's pre-war Iraq intelligence, according to sources close to the two-year-old probe. In recent weeks, investigators working for Special Prosecutor...

Calling President Bush a hypocrite and a warmonger, about 70 to 80 protesters shouted from a distance today as the president toured Golden's National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Wed, 22 Feb 2006 17:03:00 MST

Calling President Bush a hypocrite and a warmonger, about 70 to 80 protesters shouted from a distance today as the president toured Golden's National Renewable Energy Laboratory. "Bush is just creating another spin story, with his sudden epiphany about supporting alternative sources of energy," said Richard Andrews, 60, an environmental engineer from Boulder. He complained that the government's spending on alternative energy is only a fraction of its military spending. ...

Port Deals Conflict with Republican Values

Wed, 22 Feb 2006 16:30:00 MST

So if Republican values support privatization, promoting democracy and not doing business with anyone who supports terrorism then why is Bush agreeing to give operational contract of U.S. ports to a foreign run government agency that supports Hamas and the destruction of Israel, knowingly has support within their government for terrorism, and is not a democracy nor does it ever intend to be anything close to a democracy. Talk about a contradiction of principals....

Chertoff Vs. Brown, Round Two

Tue, 21 Feb 2006 20:40:00 MST

It's been one year since Michael Chertoff was appointed head of the Department of Homeland Security, and it's not a happy anniversary. Chertoff spoke before a Senate hearing this week, facing his critics and explaining his agency's lackluster performance during Hurricane Katrina. "Curiously disengaged" during the onset of the crisis is how Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins depicted Chertoff; she also wondered why he took a trip to Atlanta rather than directing the effort...

Bush And Cheney Are Threat To Democracy

Mon, 20 Feb 2006 18:16:00 MST

Many Bush administration supporters say that the President, "Vice," or administration officials should not be criticized for their statements and actions. Critics are called unpatriotic, cowards and obstructionists. Why, to intimidate the critics? Here are some reasons for valid criticism. Giving false reasons (and changing the reason many times) for the Iraq war, not having plans for the occupation, and not providing sufficient troops, armored vehicles or body armor. Dozens of military,...

Frist: No New Spy Legislation Needed

Mon, 20 Feb 2006 18:08:00 MST

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, continuing his political jockeying in preparation for a Presidential run, stood firmly with the White House on the administration's eavesdropping program. He said Sunday he doesn't think new or updated legislation is needed to govern domestic surveillance to foil terrorists. "I don't think that it does need to be rewritten, but we are holding hearings in the Judiciary Committee right now,'' Frist said on CBS' "Face the Nation.&...

Bush's Dishonest Politics - The Trillion-Dollar Gimmick

Sun, 19 Feb 2006 15:27:00 MST

Back when the late John Mitchell was attorney general in the Nixon administration, he advised reporters, "Watch what we do, not what we say." That advice certainly applies to the Bush administration as well. The latest bit of evidence to come to my attention is what you might think of as the Case of the Disappearing Trillion. The tip-off arrived last week in an e-mail from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. It is a Washington research organization with a distinctly liberal point...

Democratic Bloggers Abuzz Over Hackett Exit

Fri, 17 Feb 2006 15:47:00 MST

The Democratic blogosphere was abuzz Tuesday with the news that one of its heroes, Iraq war veteran Paul Hackett, had dropped out of the Ohio Senate race. Hackett, a civilian lawyer and a major in the Marine Corps reserves, caused a sensation last year when he nearly defeated Republican Jean Schmidt in a special election in a heavily Republican congressional district in southern Ohio. ...

Democrat Wins Bid For TX Republican's State House Seat

Thu, 16 Feb 2006 16:47:00 MST

Democrat Donna Howard won election to the Texas House on Tuesday to serve the remainder of Republican Todd Baxter's term. Baxter, who resigned Nov. 1, became a lobbyist for the Texas Cable and Telecommunications Association. He said he stepped down from House District 48 when he did to allow his successor to speak for the Austin district in a special legislative session on school finance this spring. ...

Cheney Controversy Persists

Wed, 15 Feb 2006 16:52:00 MST

Questions about why Vice President Dick Cheney did not tell the public that he had accidentally shot Texas lawyer Harry Whittington during a quail hunting outing in Texas on Saturday continue to persist. Now the White House is under fire for not releasing information on the Cheney shooting quickly enough. Sources told ABC News that the vice president's team had debated issuing a statement early Sunday morning per the White House's request. But sources said Cheney's team decided it w...

Gary Hart: Pressuring Paul Hackett To Abandon Campaign Is Old Politics At Its Worst

Tue, 14 Feb 2006 22:48:00 MST

Based on news reports alone and knowing nothing (thank goodness) about behind-the-scenes politics, the pressure brought on Paul Hackett, the bold Iraqi veteran, to abandon his campaign for the U.S. Senate from Ohio is deplorable. This is simply old politics at its worst. There is a party which hand-picks its candidates, decides who can and cannot run, directs money to the favorite candidate, and dictate terms. Up till now, that party has been the Republican party. Now, it seems, my Democratic p...

Noe Case Heading to OH Grand Jury

Tue, 14 Feb 2006 19:07:00 MST

As Columbus prosecutors yesterday filed criminal ethics charges against two former aides to Gov. Bob Taft for their ties to former Ohio Republican fundraiser Tom Noe, Lucas County Prosecutor Julia Bates said she will soon seek charges based on her investigation of Mr. Noe s failed state rare-coin investment fund. Ms. Bates said her office, which is working with a federal-state task force looking into Mr. Noe and others, nearly has finished its investigation into the former GOP fund-raiser s $50 ...

Democrats Think Small

Tue, 14 Feb 2006 18:58:00 MST

Establishment Democrats are openly lobbying Iraq War vet and original "Fighting Dem" Paul Hackett to drop out of the Senate primary in Ohio, to again challenge "Mean Jean" Schmidt for her House seat. The official rationale is that Hackett is the only guy who has a chance of picking off Schmidt in blood-red suburban Cincinnati, while establishment Dem Sherrod Brown also stands a strong chance of unseating Republican Senator Mike DeWine in a state rocked by GOP corruption. Unfortu...

Abramoff Claims Close Ties to Rove

Tue, 14 Feb 2006 05:42:00 MST

Three former associates of Jack Abramoff said Monday that the now-disgraced lobbyist frequently told them during his lobbying work he had strong ties to the White House through presidential confidant Karl Rove. The White House said Monday that Rove remembers meeting Abramoff at a 1990s political meeting and considered the lobbyist a "casual acquaintance" since President Bush took office in 2001. New questions have arisen about Abramoff's ties to the White House since a photo emerged ...

Veterans take to TV to build Iraq war support

Mon, 13 Feb 2006 21:20:00 MST

Veterans take to TV to build Iraq war support after they were approached by the organization Conservative Progress for America who is sponsoring the advertisement. The ad is suppose to raise awareness and draw attention to the accusation that the media is not reporting the facts. The ad will air on several media outlets over the next month. The web site http://www.midwestheroes.com/ is the launch pad for this ad campaign....

Dean Says Cheney May Have Broken The Law

Mon, 13 Feb 2006 17:59:00 MST

Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean said Monday that Vice President Cheney should resign if he ordered a top aide to leak classified information to the media to defend the invasion of Iraq. On CNN's "American Morning" program, Dean repeated calls he first made Sunday, saying Cheney may have broken the law if he ordered his former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, to share secret information with reporters in 2003. "If Vice President Cheney has, in fact, ordere...

The Fact: 97% of Bush Tax Cuts Goto People with Income > $1.2 Milllion per Year

Mon, 13 Feb 2006 17:16:00 MST

The Facts: 97% of Bush Tax Cuts Go to People with Income > $1.2 Milllion per Year - 20% of Americans (59,613,153 people) live on less than $11,000/yr - 40% of Americans (119,226,306 people) live on less than $23,000/yr - 3% of Americans (8,941,973 people) live on $300,000/yr and receive 97% of the tax cuts under the Bush Tax Plan -More than 99 percent of Americans would receive nothing at all from these new tax cuts in 2006. -The scheduled cuts would cost $2.6 billion in 2006 if allowed to ta...

Audits Show Millions in Katrina Aid Wasted

Mon, 13 Feb 2006 17:01:00 MST

Profiteering rears its head again. How many times are we going to stand by idle while decision makers in Washington take Billions in tax dollars and misappropriate them? Almost half the people monies were distributed to had bad or false social security numbers. The government is allowing profiteers to charge exorbitant rates for services and materials with no questions being asked or justifications being requested. This is the irresponsible fiscal behavior the American people have come t accept ...

GOP Backs Ex-Steeler Swann

Mon, 13 Feb 2006 16:38:00 MST

Pennsylvania's Republican Party leaders endorsed former Pittsburgh Steeler star Lynn Swann for governor Saturday, virtually guaranteeing that he will be the candidate to face Democratic incumbent Ed Rendell this fall. "I haven't cried this much since I was inducted into the Hall of Fame," Swann told the applauding crowd as he wiped tears from his eyes. Swann, 53, was unopposed for the endorsement, which came in a unanimous voice vote during a meeting of the 300-plus-member Repu...

First Photo Of Bush And Abramoff

Mon, 13 Feb 2006 16:14:00 MST

Just how close was the relationship between the White House and disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff? The Bush Administration again faced questions about those ties after an e-mail Abramoff sent a journalist friend surfaced last week in which Abramoff wrote that he had met President Bush almost a dozen times over the past five years, and even received an invitation to the President's Crawford, Texas, ranch along with other large political donors. Bush "has one of the best memories of any pol...

Bush Intervened for Abramoff Twice

Mon, 13 Feb 2006 15:55:00 MST

President Bush intervened to remove federal prosecutors from investigating Jack Abramoff not once, but twice. On two occasions, Bush personally prevented Abramoff from being investigated. On another occasion, one newspaper has documented evidence of Jack Abramoff taking a $25,000 check from an Indian tribe for a meeting with the President. The meeting took place and seems to show the President in the same light as many of his Republican colleagues in the House and Senate. His influence has be...

Libby Was Told to Leak Plame's Name

Mon, 13 Feb 2006 15:39:00 MST

The biggest piece of news not to make the news happened last week. It concerns the leaking of a covert CIA agent s identity in revenge and Vice President Dick Cheney s lackeys. It should all make us shiver in pause that a Machiavellian prince is pulling the strings and triggers in Washington. The vice president s former chief of staff, Lewis Scooter Libby, testified to a grand jury last week that he was authorized by his bosses to leak classified information in retaliation and an effort to ju...

Conservative From The U.S. Heartland Is A Maverick - Americas

Fri, 10 Feb 2006 00:00:00 MST

With a bluntness that seems habitual - and more than occasionally strikes fellow Republicans as disloyal - Senator Chuck Hagel started voicing skepticism about the Bush administration's fixation on Iraq as a place to fight the Global War on Terror more than half a year before the president gave the go-ahead for the assault. What the senator said in public was milder than what he said in private conversations with foreign-policy gurus like Brent Scowcroft, the national security adviser in ano...

Will Gop Hold On To Congress?

Thu, 09 Feb 2006 19:12:00 MST

In Pennsylvania, Sen. Rick Santorum has been running behind his challenger for months. In Montana, Sen. Conrad Burns, linked to the Jack Abramoff scandal, is on the defensive. In Ohio, Sen. Mike DeWine is struggling to overcome a toxic environment of in-state scandals that has tarnished his party. Not since 1994 has the party in power in this case the Republicans faced such a discouraging landscape in a midterm election. President Bush is weaker than he was only a year ago, a majority of vot...

Tuke Calls On Mcleary To Return Democrat Contributions

Wed, 08 Feb 2006 22:54:00 MST

Tenessee Democratic Party Chairman Bob Tuke today called on former Democratic state Sen. Don McLeary "to immediately return $79,679 in campaign contributions he accepted from the Tennessee Democratic Party and the Senate Democratic Caucus during the 2002 election cycle and to refund individual Democratic contributions as well." Mr. Tuke said, "Those were dollars contributed by good Democrats in good faith. By accepting our support and then switching parties before his term expired, D...

Democrats Fear Failure To Exploit Bush Problems

Wed, 08 Feb 2006 18:46:00 MST

Democrats are heading into this year's election in a weaker position than they might have hoped, party leaders say, stirring concern that they are letting pass an opportunity to exploit what they see as widespread Republican vulnerabilities. In interviews, senior Democrats said they were optimistic about making marked gains in congressional elections this autumn, describing this as the best political environment they have faced since President George W. Bush took office. But Democrats de...

King Eulogists Jab Bush

Tue, 07 Feb 2006 00:00:00 MST

Speakers took a rare opportunity to criticise US President George W. Bush's policies to his face at the funeral of Coretta Scott King, widow of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Civil-rights leader the Rev. Joseph Lowery and former President Jimmy Carter cited King's legacy as a leader in her own right and advocate of nonviolence as they launched barbs over the Iraq war, government social policies and Bush's domestic eavesdropping program. ...

Put Wiretaps To Test, Bush Urged - World - Smh.Com.Au

Tue, 07 Feb 2006 00:00:00 MST

A sceptical Senate judiciary committee has challenged the Bush Administration's legal justification for its domestic eavesdropping program, with members from both political parties calling for a ruling from a special federal court on whether the practice violates US law. In testimony before the committee on Monday, the Attorney-General, Alberto Gonzales, defended the surveillance program as a legal and vital tool in protecting the country. Mr Gonzales maintained that President George Bush ha...

FEMA is just a money making machine for contractors with political connections

Mon, 06 Feb 2006 21:27:00 MST

Once again the U.S. government and this administration are demonstrating their ability to waste taxpayers money. It was recently uncovered that contractors were renting single room tow behind trailers to residents displaced by hurricane Katrina for $3,322/month. The government approved this gross overpayment for these trailers and has been making payments to contractors that own these trailers. In some cases the residents dont even live in the trailer due to the lack of space and yet the traile...

How much $$ should a company make off the Iraq war?

Mon, 06 Feb 2006 21:14:00 MST

I recently watched, "Off to War" on the Discovery Times channel and one glaring issue in the documentary was the lack of equipment. The U.S. Soldiers expressed frustration that they had trained Iraqi police but they still had not recieved armor, ammo, weapons, vehicles, or even shoes to wear. How are the soldiers suppose to transition security to these people? Where is the money going and why are the simple things like shoes not available? I cannot help but take a look back at defense co...

Dissent in the Democratic Party

Mon, 06 Feb 2006 19:07:00 MST

There's definitely some dissent and suspicion about the Democratic party leaders' motives and goals right now. The party seems pathetically poor at captializing on Republican failures and, to some, seems more concerned with looking Centrist than actually advocating for individual rights and social well-being....

Beauprez, You're No Vet

Mon, 06 Feb 2006 18:08:00 MST

Bob Beauprez, congressman and candidate for governor of Colorado, apparently didn't learn anything from President Bush's "Mission-Accomplished" appearance on a U.S. carrier, wearing a flight jacket. That photo-op later turned into a P.R. nightmare for Bush, and fodder for late-night comedians for weeks. Beauprez looks like he may have pulled a similar blunder. According to a group of Vietnam veterans, Beauprez has no business appearing in uniform, as he did at the Front Range Air...

GOP Banking On National Security For Another Election Victory

Mon, 06 Feb 2006 18:05:00 MST

Pumped up by tough talk from President Bush's State of the Union address, Republicans are hoping for a hat trick relying on national security credentials to win their third congressional election since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. But some wonder whether the winning campaign strategy used in the 2002 and 2004 races will be a third-time charm or a big-time bust. "Clearly, Americans love golden oldies, but this golden oldie will have much more difficulty hitting the charts this t...

Handful Of Races May Tip Control Of Congress

Mon, 06 Feb 2006 17:58:00 MST

In Pennsylvania, Sen. Rick Santorum (R) has been running behind his challenger for months. In Montana, Sen. Conrad Burns (R), linked to the Jack Abramoff scandal, is on the defensive. In Ohio, Sen. Mike DeWine (R) is struggling to overcome a toxic environment of scandals that have tarnished the state Republican Party. Not since 1994 has the party in power -- in this case the Republicans -- faced such a discouraging landscape in a midterm election. President Bush is weaker than he was just a year...

Will Bush's War on Terror Bring Back Detention Camps?

Mon, 06 Feb 2006 00:00:00 MST

On Jan. 24, the Halliburton subsidiary KBR announced that it had been awarded by the Department of Homeland Security a $385 million contract to build detention centers in the United States. The purpose was to prepare for "an emergency influx of immigrants, or to support the rapid development of new programs" in the event of emergencies. What lessons can we learn from the history of detention centers of an earlier war? Like the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Centers, Japan...

CIA "Was Making Specific Efforts To Conceal" Plame's Covert Status When Outed

Mon, 06 Feb 2006 00:00:00 MST

Newly released court papers could put holes in the defense of Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, in the Valerie Plame leak case. Lawyers for Libby, and White House allies, have repeatedly questioned whether Plame, the wife of White House critic Joe Wilson, really had covert status when she was outed to the media in July 2003. But special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald found that Plame had indeed done "covert work overseas" on counterproliferation matters in...

Bush's Oil Sell Meets Resistance

Fri, 03 Feb 2006 00:00:00 MST

George W. Bush started a three-day tour of the US yesterday to sell his State of the Union vision of breaking America's addiction to oil, only to find plenty of sceptics and a sense of unease over the direction of the country. As administration officials appeared to backtrack on his bold vision that alternative fuels could help the US replace 75per cent of its oil imports by 2025, Mr Bush headed to Nashville, Tennessee, for a follow-up address to Wednesday's speech to both houses of Cong...

Rep. Boehner Elected House Majority Leader

Thu, 02 Feb 2006 20:22:00 MST

Rep. John Boehner of Ohio was elected House majority leader Thursday to replace indicted Rep. Tom DeLay. Boehner defeated fellow Republican Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri, 122-109, after lagging behind his rival in a first, inconclusive vote of GOP House members. The third contender John Shadegg of Arizona withdrew after finishing last in the initial round. Blunt, who had been the front-runner, remains the GOP whip. "Believe me, the world goes on," he said. ...

Right Wing Propaganda Mixed With Nonsense

Thu, 02 Feb 2006 19:29:00 MST

Fox News is downplaying the criminal activities of Jack Abramoff, a powerful Republican lobbyist who has pleaded guilty to conspiracy, mail fraud, and tax evasion, preferring instead to politically indict the Democrats. CNN is giving an equal opportunity slant on the Abramoff story, reporting that both parties are corrupt. MSNBC's right wing "presenters," reading from their Karl Rove scripts, are beating up on the Democrats as the true culture of corruption, citing Frankl...

Police Red-Faced Over T-Shirt Tussle

Thu, 02 Feb 2006 16:42:00 MST

The chief of the Capitol Police on Wednesday dropped a charge of unlawful conduct against anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan and apologized for ejecting her and the wife of an influential Republican congressman from the State of the Union address for wearing T-shirts with war messages. ``The officers made a good faith, but mistaken effort to enforce an old unwritten interpretation of the prohibitions about demonstrating in the Capitol. The policy and procedures were too vague,'' said Capito...

'Denver 3' Upset By Sheehan Treatment At Capitol

Wed, 01 Feb 2006 20:35:00 MST

Two people who were ejected from a Colorado meeting featuring President Bush last year expressed indignation Wednesday that Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a fallen soldier in Iraq, was ejected from the State of the Union address for wearing a shirt with an anti-war slogan. "The Bush White House has a pattern of stifling dissent, having those who disagree with the president arrested or threatened with arrest and removed, and then denying any responsibility afterward," Leslie Weise and Alex ...

College Students' Reaction Mixed To Bush Speech

Wed, 01 Feb 2006 20:33:00 MST

Stephen Noriega watched President Bush's State of the Union address Tuesday in a rare spare moment between classes at Metropolitan State College of Denver and his full-time job as a hotel front desk clerk. Bush's talk about the war on terror and lessening the country's dependence on foreign oil didn't surprise Noriega, but he was immediately concerned when the president began talking of cutting more than 130 programs deemed obsolete or ineffective from the budget to save $14 bill...

Tom Delay Stays Focused On Re-Election Bid

Tue, 31 Jan 2006 16:09:00 MST

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) spoke with Chris Matthews about the fight he ll wage for his seat in Texas, the landscape of politics in his state and his controversial trip to Scotland. DeLay says it is incredibly unfair to say he took a trip to Scotland as a junket and asserts that a legitimate conservative organization paid for the trip. In this interview he also touts all the things the Republican's have gotten done, including paying down the national debt! What ...

Cindy Sheehan Arrested In House Gallery

Tue, 31 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

Peace activist Cindy Sheehan was arrested Tuesday in the House gallery after refusing to cover up a T-shirt bearing an anti-war slogan before President Bush's State of the Union address. "She was asked to cover it up. She did not," said Sgt. Kimberly Schneider, U.S. Capitol Police spokeswoman, adding that Sheehan was arrested for unlawful conduct, a misdemeanor. The charge carries a maximum penalty of one year in jail, Schneider said. ...

Lieberman and Kerry Need to Go Away

Mon, 30 Jan 2006 18:38:00 MST

Tired of flip-flopping Dems? President Bush famously punctuated his State of the Union address last year by stepping from the podium, grabbing U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, D-Conn., by the head and planting a very enthusiastic smooch on his cheek. The next day friend and fellow moderate U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., dubbed Lieberman "the Lone Ranger," because he stood alone applauding Bush among Democrats during the speech. Then and increasingly since, Lieberman, arguably the stan...

State of the Union 2006... Bush Under Fire

Mon, 30 Jan 2006 18:33:00 MST

President George W. Bush gives his State of the Union speech tomorrow night facing an unpopular war, an ethical cloud shrouding his fellow Republicans and a midterm election that will decide whether the party keeps control of Congress. The president has one formidable weapon available to meet these challenges: the ``bully pulpit'' of his office. Tomorrow's address will provide clues to how Bush will use that weapon to persuade voters to stay with him and his party. A strong speech ...

Replacing Bill Frist By Dustin Hawkins

Fri, 27 Jan 2006 17:20:00 MST

With Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist not seeking re-election in 2006 due to a term-limit promise and a possible White House run, the Democratic Party is placing all hopes of snagging Tennessee s open seat on the shoulders of U.S. Representative Harold Ford Jr. But Republicans, who have held both U.S. Senate seats since 1994, have other plans for this red-leaning state that has voted for George W. Bush twice. Ford hopes to be the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in the state since Al Gore, a...

Majority Believe White House Should Release Abramoff Records

Fri, 27 Jan 2006 17:17:00 MST

A strong bipartisan majority of the public believes President Bush should disclose all contacts between disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and White House staffers despite administration claims that media requests for details about those contacts amount to a "fishing expedition," according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. The survey found that three in four--76 percent--of all Americans said Bush should disclose contacts between aides and Abramoff while 18 percent disagreed. Two in ...

Reid Blasts Bush

Tue, 24 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid on Tuesday urged President George W. Bush to "swagger" less and show more honesty and humility in his annual State of the Union speech to the nation next week. In a speech at a liberal think tank, Reid gave a scathing assessment of the state of the nation under Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress. "Republicans run good campaigns, but when it comes to actually governing and protecting Americans, they have a record of incompetence," Reid ...

Party-Line Vote Sends Alito To Supreme Court

Tue, 24 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

By a party-line vote, the Senate Judiciary Committee today approved the nomination of Samuel A. Alito Jr., to the U.S. Supreme Court. The 10-8 vote sent Alito's nomination to the full Senate, where he is expected to be confirmed, as quickly as later this week. Despite their near-unanimous opposition to Alito, Democrats lack the votes in the full Senate to mount a filibuster against his nomination. ...

Photos Show Bush With Abramoff

Mon, 23 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

At least five photographs show President George Bush in the company of the disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, two US magazines report. The White House has tried to play down any contact with Abramoff, who pleaded guilty to fraud charges this month and agreed to help prosecutors in a congressional corruption investigation. ...

Rove Outlines Gop Strategy For 2006

Sat, 21 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

Presidential adviser Karl Rove addressed the Republican National Committee Friday, giving a road map for the party's strategy in the 2006 elections. After beginning with a brief call for political civility, Rove spent the rest of his speech going after the Democratic Party, the New York Times reported. He accused Democrats of wanting to cut and run in Iraq. ...

Evidence Of A Stolen Election By Paul Craig Roberts

Fri, 20 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

The pre-election statement by Diebold s CEO that he would work to deliver the election to Bush was apparently no idle boast. In five states where the new "foolproof" electronic voting machines were used, the vote tallies differed substantially from the exit polls. Such a disparity is unusual. The chances of exit polls in five states being wrong are no more than one in one million....

Site Targets Liberal Professors

Thu, 19 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

A Web site purporting to expose "UCLA's radical professors" and offering students cash payouts in return for information about their classes was thrust into the national spotlight Wednesday after a barrage of media coverage. The site, uclaprofs.com, was launched just last month by the Bruin Alumni Association, a non-profit organization unrelated to the UCLA Alumni Association. The site was started by alumnus Andrew Jones with the goal of publicizing and reforming the "exploding ...

Bush Hires Dissenters... Really

Thu, 19 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

President George W. Bush disputed accusations he relies only on advisers who agreed with him and cited Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Thursday as one "crusty old guy" who could freely offer opinions. Many Republicans and Democrats have said Bush was overly reliant on a tight group of key aides who rarely disagree with him, and that one result was U.S. involvement in the Iraq war over weapons of mass destruction that were never found. ...

Rice for President? Ollie North for VP?

Thu, 19 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

The White House likes the idea of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice running for president, even if Rice herself keeps saying no. At a time when Republicans like Arizona Sen. John McCain are openly pondering a run for president in 2008, Rice's name keeps popping up at the White House. All I can say is... Please, God, NO!...

The Return Of Bush's Brownshirts

Thu, 19 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

The corrupt Republicans who took office on a mandate of fighting corruption have launched yet another dirty smear campaign. We've become so used to Republican smear tactics that many Americans can no longer tell the difference between legitimate investigative reporting and a staged smear. It began with the Clintons, but it did not end there. In fact "they" saw how well it worked, and it has become Tool No. 1 in their box of tricks. ...

Democrats Claim A Better Idea On Controlling Lobbying

Thu, 19 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

Congressional Democrats proposed a lobbying overhaul on Wednesday that they said far exceeded new Republican proposals in curbing the influence of moneyed special interests on Capitol Hill. Also, check out the Rep's angry smear campaign. These guys are too much....

No More Free Lunches In Congress

Wed, 18 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

More on the proposed lobbying changes. Politicians would have to pay for their own lunches and privately funded "fact-finding" trips to warm-weather resorts would be curbed under proposed changes to rules for members of Congress....

Obama Backs Clinton's Criticism Of GOP

Wed, 18 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

Sen. Barack Obama on Wednesday defended Sen. Hillary Clinton for describing the House of Representatives as a "plantation," saying he felt her choice of words referred to a "consolidation of power" in Washington that squeezes out the voters. ...

Democrats Should Learn To Love The Presidency, Even If They Hate This One

Wed, 18 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

Al Gore is a poster child for enmity toward the Republican party, especially the Nixon and BushW presidencies. Gore is stepping up the rhetoric and fellow Democrats are following, but they should remember that the presidency, in general, is a good thing....

Republicans Propose Ethics Overhaul

Wed, 18 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

Republican leaders in the House and Senate proposed overhauling rules that govern congressional relations with lobbyists Tuesday, but Democrats said the moves are too weak to head off a growing influence-peddling scandal....

Hillary Stirs Debate

Wed, 18 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

The furor over Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's "plantation" comment is showing no sign of being gone with the wind. In a fiery Martin Luther King day appearance at a Harlem church, New York's junior senator claimed Republican leaders run the House "like a plantation," quashing Democratic dissent. For good measure, she predicted the Bush White House will go down as "one of the worst" in history....

White House Accuses Gore Of Hypocrisy

Tue, 17 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

The White House accused former Vice President Al Gore of hypocrisy Tuesday for his assertion that President Bush broke the law by eavesdropping on Americans without court approval. Gore called the program, authorized by President Bush, 'a threat to the very structure of our government' and charged that the administration acted without congressional authority and made a 'direct assault' on a federal court set up to authorize requests to eavesdrop on Americans. ...

Rep. Ney To Temporarily Cede Panel Chair

Sun, 15 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

Rep. Bob Ney, an Ohio Republican implicated in the Jack Abramoff lobbying corruption investigation, said Sunday he will step aside temporarily as chairman of the House Administration Committee....

Pro-Corporate, Anti-Environment, Anti-Women And Minorities: Should Alito Be On The Supreme Court?

Fri, 13 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

Samuel Alito is probably the best stealth candidate that Bush could have chosen to fill O'Connor's boots. Let's hope that he gets a stern introduction to the court by it's senior members if he passes the nomination process....

The Year Of Living Dangerously

Fri, 13 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

In 2006, major political crises will be taking shape including a war over the balance of power in US government, increasing cost of the war in Iraq, and down and dirty political elections. ...

The New Etiquette Of Lobbying

Wed, 11 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

The rules of lobbying may and may not change in the post Jack Abramoff error, but everyone for the moment is checking the rule book and doing their best to stay in bounds....

Democrat Asks Inquiry Into Ehrlich Aide

Tue, 10 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

The chairman of the Maryland Democratic Party asked the state prosecutor yesterday to investigate whether Edward B. Miller, deputy chief of staff to Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., committed criminal wrongdoing in his work with Grassroots Interactive, the company he founded that played a part in lobbyist Jack Abramoff's elaborate scheme to defraud clients....

Florida: Much Ado Over What's Now Taboo For Legislators

Tue, 10 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

Florida passed an anti-lobbying and gift law for state legislators and now... they have no idea how to obey it. It seems lobbyists and legislators are really intertwined in the Sunshine State....

Delay Tried, Failed To Aid Abramoff Client

Tue, 10 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay tried to pressure the Bush administration into shutting down an Indian-owned casino that lobbyist Jack Abramoff wanted closed - shortly after a tribal client of Abramoff's donated to a DeLay political action committee, The Associated Press has learned....

Potential House Majority Leaders are Same Old Stuff

Tue, 10 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

Representatives Roy Blunt of Missouri and John Boehner of Ohio, both Republicans who are in contention for the vacant House leadership role, share numerous lobbying and financial ties with embattled representative Tom DeLay. Same old stuff, if you know what I mean....

Alito's Main Qualification: A Lot of Class

Mon, 09 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

President Bush seems to think that the Supreme Court is lacking class and that Judge Samuel Alito is the man to provide it. If that's Bush's major criterion for the Supreme Court, we're lost....

DeLay Gives up House Leadership

Sun, 08 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

Rep. Tom DeLay, the defiant face of a conservative revolution in Congress, stepped down as House majority leader on Saturday under pressure from Republicans staggered by an election-year corruption scandal. Apparently DeLay views criminal charges as a mere distraction by his opponents....

Scandalous! A Year Of Republican Treachery

Thu, 05 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

A list of some of the biggest scandals in the Republican party in 2005....

Lobbyist's Guilty Plea Seen As Threat To Delay Return

Thu, 05 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

House Republicans arranged an unusual monthlong January recess to give Representative Tom DeLay ample time to escape legal troubles in Texas and retake his post as majority leader. But a triumphant return was dashed this week when his longtime associate, Jack Abramoff, pleaded guilty to public corruption....

Congress, The Fbi, And The Rule Of Law

Thu, 05 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

To put it bluntly, we need an independent prosecutor to investigate the escalating corruption scandal in the Republican controlled congress....

Bush, the Mushroom: They Keep Him in the Dark and Feed Him...

Wed, 04 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

Sadly amusing speculation on the reasons why Bush is so obviously deceitful. He's probably allowed him to become the first coprophagous president of the modern area because he granted too much power to Dick Cheney....

Alito Gets High Marks From Bar Association

Wed, 04 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

Judge Samuel Alito on Wednesday gained the American Bar Association's highest rating for a Supreme Court nominee, giving him a boost before next week's Senate confirmation hearings....

Former House Speaker Gingrich Says Dump DeLay

Wed, 04 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

Former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, suggested today that House Republicans are facing an uphill battle over the Abramoff scandal and that they need to dump Tom DeLay and elect a new Majority Leader who has fewer troubles to face....

Bush To Give Away Abramoff Donations

Wed, 04 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

The President Bush election campaign will give thousands of dollars that the campaign received from Jack Abramoff to the American Heart Association. How can that be legal? If you gave me $100 in stolen cash and I then gave it to a church, I'd still be responsible for trafficking in stolen money. Hell... it's awfully close to money laundering, especially if I take a deduction for that money....

Who Is Jack Abramoff?

Wed, 04 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

Interesting discussion about Jack Abramoff and his political history. Follow the money....

Impeach Bush And Cheney Now!

Tue, 03 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

The Green Party in the US is advocating the impeachment of George Bush and Dick Cheney, citing numerous alleged high crimes and misdemeanors. The Greens claim that Bush has flouted the law and should be removed from office before more harm is done....

G.O.P. Lobbyist Pleads Guilty In Deal With Prosecutors

Tue, 03 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to three felony counts in Washington today as part of a settlement with federal prosecutors, ending an intense, months-long negotiation over whether the Republican lobbyist would testify against his former colleagues....

Question For Judge Alito: What About One Person One Vote?

Tue, 03 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

Danger from Samuel Alito's viewpoint on the Supreme Court could come not from his views on abortion, but from his views of how our representative system works....

Issues That May Hit Home In 2006-Iraq, Economy, Politics Share Center Stage

Tue, 03 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

A brief article about some of the things that may impact our lives in 2006... a hard fought mid-term election is sure to be one of them....

Abramoff Scandal May Have Far Reaching Effects

Tue, 03 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

The Jack Abramoff lobbying investigation may finally have the teeth it needs to really bite into some of our elected officials now that Abramoff himself has turned state's evidence....

NYC Mayor Bloomberg Sworn In For 2nd Term

Mon, 02 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

New York mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) has been sworn in for a second term with a fairly good amount of popularity and succes in his first term....

Governor Should Honor Law

Mon, 02 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

Alabama needs a governor who will uphold the rule of law and pay more attention to what the citizens need and less to what conservatives state the Bible requires....

Voting Fraud in Ohio During the 2004 Elections?

Mon, 02 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST

It seems that some still think that there may have been massive voting fraud and regulations violations in Ohio during the 2004 presidential election. Is there really smoke here and should it be investigated?...

Mary Macelveen: With Hitler Is Was The Reichstag And With Bush It Was 9/11

Fri, 30 Dec 2005 00:00:00 MST

A vote for Gore for president in 2008 and a comparison of Bush to Hitler. It's sad, but unfortunately Bush is, in fact, using Hitler's tactics to control the electorate. This will surely be one of the sad times in American history....

The Republicans: Winners, Perpetrators, or Poodles?

Thu, 29 Dec 2005 00:00:00 MST

I've been referring to Tony Blair as George Bush's poodle for years. Finally nice to see some in the MSM beginning to recognize the Republican 'in crowd' for what they are....

DeLay Jockeying for Speedy Money Laundering Trial

Thu, 29 Dec 2005 00:00:00 MST

Texas Rep. Tom DeLay has convinced Texas' top criminal court to consider his request for an expedited trial....

Republican Strategist Is Taking Heat For Taking Mexico As Client

Wed, 28 Dec 2005 00:00:00 MST

If we didn't already know that Republican lobbyists are for sale, here's an example of one who took on Mexico as a client... trying to make a better public relations image out of illegal immigration....

Bush Thinking About '09?

Wed, 28 Dec 2005 00:00:00 MST

Apparently Bush has a lot of time left in his presidency and will accomplish 'big things.' Sounds like he should count learning to read 'big books' among those 'big things.'...