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| BLOG ARCHIVE: JANUARY 1-15, 2007. LEGISLATORS
BREAKING WITH PARTY LEADERSHIP ON PREZ'S IRAQ ESCALATION PLAN. REPUBLICANS AGAINST THE "SURGE":
DEMOCRATS SUPPORTING THE PRESIDENT'S PLAN:
US
Senators Dick Lugar (R-IN), Richard Shelby (R-AL), Jim Bunning
(R-KY), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Arlen Specter (R-PA), Larry Craig
(R-ID), David Vitter (R-LA), Pete Domenici (R-NM), George Voinovich
(R-OH) and a significant number of House Republicans expressed
skepticism and said they remained undecided on the proposal. Several
Democrats -- including Congressmen Chet Edwards (D-TX) and Henry
Cuellar (D-TX) -- said they were against the surge, but would
still support adequate funding for it if the President pushes
forward on his escalation plan. Congressman Virgil Goode (R-VA)
supports the surge, but opposes the President's plan to spend
$1 billion in additional funds to rebuild Iraq's economy to promote
political stability "until a like amount is appropriated
for rebuilding the economy of [my] District, which saw its anchor
[textile] industries disappear because" of free trade treaties. FREE
SPEECH ZONE. RON
PAUL JUMPS IN; FLORIDA MOVING UP; DEMS PICK DENVER; GOP GRABS
MS SENATE. FREE
SPEECH ZONE. BUSH
PROPOSES IRAQ ESCALATION; BROWNBACK, OTHER GOP SEN'S OPPOSE IT.
FREE
SPEECH ZONE. HARKIN
NOT YET COMMITTED TO '08 RUN; OLLIE OPPOSES SURGE; JOHNSON IMPROVES.. FREE
SPEECH ZONE. RICHARDSON
THE DIPLOMAT; SHARPTON RETURNS; FIRST P2008 DEBATE SET. FREE
SPEECH ZONE. POWELL
OPPOSES "SURGE"; FREE
SPEECH ZONE. EX-POLS
PASSED-OVER FOR U.N.; POLL SAYS AMERICANS BACK DEM "100 HOUR"
AGENDA. FREE
SPEECH ZONE. WARNER2;
RUDY'S PLAN GOES ASTRAY; SENATOR THOMAS AILING AGAIN. NO
GOP SURGE FOR THE SURGE; SOLDIERS SPEAK OUT; EX-JCOS CHIEF SAYS
"LET GAYS SERVE" FREE
SPEECH ZONE. FORD
MOURNING PERIOD, NEW YEAR'S HOLIDAY STALLED POLITICAL NEWS. BUSH
REJECTS STUDY GROUP REPORT: AN EDITORIAL IN THE FORM OF SATIRE. FREE
SPEECH ZONE. |
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price
for this war, and now is not the time to escalate the tragedy
even further";
President,
this time as a Republican. Still an outspoken libertarian iconoclast,
Paul stridently fights to slash taxes and reduce the role of the
federal government. He also has opposed the Iraq War from the
inception and opposes the President's domestic surveillance program
and the Patriot Act as unconstitutional. On many House votes --
even routine ones of seemingly uncontroversial matters -- Paul
frequently casts the lone dissenting vote. That is why Paul, a
physician, earned the moniker of "Doctor No." Paul's
campaign chair concedes Paul is "an underdog ... but we think
it's well worth doing and we'll let the voters decide" ...
A bill with bipartisan sponsors is advancing in the Florida legislature
to move the state's Presidential primary to January 29. The bill,
which was the subject of committee hearings this week, would make
Florida the fifth Presidential primary of 2008 ... The Democratic
Party designated 
"new
strategy" for Iraq. However, some prominent Republicans were
also quick to attack the proposal. "I do not believe that
sending more troops to Iraq is the answer. Iraq requires a political
rather than a military solution," said US Senator Sam Brownback
(R-KS), a 2008 White
House hopeful, in a major surprise move. "I oppose the troop
surge in Baghdad because it is not a strategy for victory,"
said US Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN). "I want real evidence
that a potential surge in troops will do more good than harm and
will not exacerbate the existing violence in Iraq," said
US Senator George Voinovich (R-OH). "The President ignored
the recommendations of members of both parties, military leaders,
foreign policy experts, and the will of the American people by
announcing that he intends to escalate our involvement in Iraq
by sending more troops there. Congress must bring an end to what
has been one of the greatest foreign policy mistakes in the history
of our nation," said US Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI). Congressman
Jerry Moran (R-KS) said it "does not make sense to send in
more troops if the Iraqi people aren't willing to set aside sectarian
differences and commit to rebuilding their country." On the
opposite end of the debate is US Senator Joe Lieberman (Ind Dem-CT),
who called the surge "necessary" and said he "applaud[ed]
the President for rejecting the fatalism of failure and pursuing
a new course to achieve success in Iraq." House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi (D) promises a roll call vote on sending more troops to
Iraq. US Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) introduced legislation requiring
the President to get Congressional approval before sending more
troops to Iraq. In related news, Great Britain plans to start
withdrawing UK forces from Iraq. Reuters reports Prime Minister
Tony Blair's government plans to reduce their 7,200 solidier force
by 3,000 by the end of May 2007.
DODD
JUMPS INTO P2008 RACE; ILL. MAY MOVE FORWARD; FORD TO CHAIR
DLC.
comment
this week to the New York Daily News: "We have now
gotten 11 of the 12 Democrats to commit to running again. Tom
Harkin (D-IA) is still making up his mind. He's a great Senator.
He does more in a couple of years than many senators have done
in a lifetime." A visit to Harkin's 
wants
to remind Americans he is also a
former US Ambassador to the United Nations with extensive
foreign policy experience. Richardson is currently in Sudan meeting
with government leaders in a private attempt to get them to agree
to allow UN peacekeepers into the Darfur region. More than 200,000
have been killed to date in the 
frustrating diplomatic history of seeming to agree to deals with
Western governments, then later backing out of the agreements.
Richardson is keeping the details of his ongoing talks private,
merely telling the media that "the meeting was good, we made
some progress"... The first debate of the 2008 Presidential
campaign season is set for the Democratic hopefuls on April 26,
2007 at South Carolina State University ... Controversial and
colorful civil rights activist Al Sharpton (D-NY) told the AP
on Monday he is seriously considering making a second run for
President in 2008. "I don't hear any reason not to. If we're
talking about the urban agenda, can you tell me anybody else in
the field who's representing that right now? We clearly have a
reason to run, and whether we do it or not we'll see over the
next couple of months," he explained. Sharpton also said
a potential candidacy by US Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) would
have little impact on his own plans because Obama was offering
"little substantive discussion" of his urban agenda.
PELOSI
SUGGESTS TAX HIKE FOR WEALTHIEST TO HELP KIDS.
polling
related to a possible 2008 challenge against US Senator John Warner
(R) ... In an embarrassing gaffe, a Rudy Giuliani campaign
staffer seemingly lost his 140-page Giuliani campaign plan notebook.
The lays out the GOP primary strategy, Rudy's pros and cons, and
the fundraising plan. Fortunately, the notebook was found by someone.
Unfortunately for Rudy, the person sent a copy to the New York
Daily News. Giuliani's campaign claims someone stole the notebook
out of the staffer's luggage when it went astray on a trip, photocopied
it, then placed it back in the luggage before it was returned
to the staffer a few days later ... US Senator Craig Thomas (R-WY)
is hospitalized again for more treatment related to his leukemia.
Thomas announced after his re-election in November that he has
cancer. His staff described the new hospitalization as "normal"
and part of "more treatment" towards his recovery.
Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) initially supported the short-term
surge proposal, but now says "I don’t believe that
more troops is the answer for Iraq ... Apparently even the Joint
Chiefs do not support increased combat forces for Baghdad."
US Senator Joe Lieberman
(D-CT) and new House Intelligence Committee Chair Silvestre Reyes
(D-TX) are the leading Dems most openly supportive of the "surge"
concept ... In related news, the annual Military Times
poll released this week shows that only 35% of US service members
approve of President Bush's handling of the Iraq War. Just half
said victory in Iraq was likely. In 2004, by contrast, 83% of
respondents in the same poll expected the US to win in Iraq. Also,
only 41% of the soldiers said the US was correct in going to war
with Iraq. Of respondents, 60% identified themselves as Repubicans
in 2004, versus just 46% today. The 14-point shift didn't favor
the Dems (who remain mired around the dismal 16% mark) as nearly
all the shift moved into the "Independent" column. Respondents
to the poll are described as coming predominantly from the ranks
of the more conservative career officers and long-term enlisted
soldiers. ... Retired 4-star Army General John Shalikashvili --
who served as the Joint
Chiefs of Staff Chairman in 1993-97 -- penned an op-ed
in Tuesday's New York Times expressing support for allowing
gays to serve openly in the military. He opposed the idea in 1993
when he was the JCOS Chairman. "The compromise that came
to be known as 'don’t ask, don’t tell' was ... a useful speed
bump that allowed temperatures to cool for a period of time while
the culture continued to evolve. The question before us now is
whether enough time has gone by to give this policy serious reconsideration.
Much evidence suggests that it has. ... I now believe that if
gay men and lesbians served openly in the United States military,
they would not undermine the efficacy of the armed forces. Our
military has been stretched thin by our deployments in the Middle
East, and we must welcome the service of any American who is willing
and able to do the job," wrote Shalikashvili. A few hours
after the column was published, former US Senator and Clinton
Administration Defense Secretary Bill Cohen (R-ME) in an interview
with CNN expressed support for Shalikashvili's
new stance.
Baker-Hamilton
Calendar Study Group. The bipartisan group recently suggested
that 2006 should end at the close of December 31. "I'll follow
those recommendations that make sense, but we're
not going to 'cut-and-run' from 2006 until we finish the job in
2006 that we set out to do -- like winning in Iraq and holding
Republican control of Congress. We're making good progress on
both those fronts, but much still needs to be done before we can
leave 2006 and move forward," Bush explained. The Calendar
Study Group suggested that 2006 should be viewed as having been
divided into 12 months and 365 days, with the year ending on December
31. "That's just 'Washington bureaucrat thinking.' It's not
'American thinking.' I've
made it clear that I'm not gonna pick an arbitrary date like December
31, or announce a timeline for when 2006 should come to an end.
If we go down that road, then our enemies will win. You know,
there's no federal law that says a year must only have 365 days.
There's nothing that says 2006 can't have 400 or 600 days. Let
me be very clear: I'm not a quitter and this Administration will
not quit on 2006 until we meet our mission objectives and the
time is right. We owe that much to the American people,"
said Bush.
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