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| BLOG ARCHIVE: JULY 1-31, 2007. RON'S
OPEN THREADS TO KEEP YOU BUSY UNTIL HE'S BACK FROM VACATION. I'm
on TOPIC:
PRESIDENT BUSH & THE ADMINISTRATION. TOPIC:
CONGRESS. TOPIC:
THE P2008 DEMS - HILLARY, OBAMA, EDWARDS, RICHARDSON & ALL
THE REST. TOPIC:
THE P2008 GOP - RUDY, JOHN, NEWT, MITT, SAM, CHUCK & ALL THE
REST. TOPIC:
IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN, IRAN, CUBA, NORTH KOREA, ETC. TOPIC:
POLITICAL SCANDAL & CORRUPTION.
TOPIC:
EVERYTHING ELSE. HILLARY,
RUDY LEAD IN SC; RUSS REVIVES CENSURE IDEA; GONZALES WON'T QUIT;
HASTERT PLANNING DEPARTURE. FREE
SPEECH ZONE. PAUL
SIGNS DEM IRAQ DE-FUNDING LETTER; NH SEN POLL; BROUN LEAD HOLDS
IN GA. FREE
SPEECH ZONE. WANNA
TRADE? FREE
SPEECH ZONE. BROUN
WINS UPSET IN GA CD-10 SPECIAL; BESHEAR LEADS IN KY GUV RACE;
MORE NH NUMBERS. FREE
SPEECH ZONE. WANNA
TRADE? MITT,
HILLARY LEAD IN NH; RON PAUL'S MONEY; CONGRESSIONAL MONEY ANALYSIS. FREE
SPEECH ZONE. WANNA
TRADE? P2008
NEWS: HUCKABEE NEEDS FOURTH PLACE; GILMORE QUITS; FRED ADMITS
PRO-CHOICE LOBBYING; OHIO LOOKS TO JANUARY. CONGRESS:
NH SENATE POLL; VITTER RESIGNATION PUSH SUBSIDES; DCCC OUTRAISES
NRCC. FREE
SPEECH ZONE. WANNA
TRADE? FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE. FREE
SPEECH ZONE. VITTER
PRESSED TO QUIT; FLYNT TARGETS 20; McCAIN STAFF ABANDONS SHIP;
KY GOV POLL. FREE
SPEECH ZONE. WANNA
TRADE? VITTER
WAS FREQUENT BROTHEL CLIENT; McCAIN SHAKE-UP; DEMS AGREE TO GAY
DEBATE. FREE
SPEECH ZONE. STEVENS
ADMITS "TROUBLE"; FRED SPINS; VITTER CONFESSES; TAMMY
DUCKS; SHEEHAN THREATENS PELOSI. FREE
SPEECH ZONE. HAGEL'S
'08 PLANS STILL MURKY; THOMPSON DENIES ABORTION LOBBYING STORY. FREE
SPEECH ZONE. DOMENICI'S
IRAQ SHIFT; TANCREDO'S REAL '08 PLAN; GILMORE SUSPENDS; ILLINOIS
ABSURDITIES. FREE
SPEECH ZONE.
McCAIN'S
MONEY WOES, CUTS 50+ STAFFERS; PREZ COMMUTES LIBBY PRISON TIME. FREE
SPEECH ZONE. OBAMA
SETS RECORD; MITT & McCAIN SPIN; TOMMY DECLARES "MUST
WIN"; LUGAR CALLS FOR IRAQ WITHDRAWAL. FREE
SPEECH ZONE. |
BLOG
ARCHIVE:
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|
Pelosi,
Reid ... Boehner, McConnell ... the 2008 campaigns ... committee
hearings ... and Congress' plunging approval ratings.
Rudy,
Mitt, Fred ... and all the other guys.
TOPIC:
STATE & LOCAL POLITICS.
Corporation
poll of likely Presidential primary voters shows Rudy Giuliani
(R) and Hillary Clinton (D) leading in South Carolina. The GOP:
Giuliani - 30%, John McCain - 21%, Fred Thompson - 18%, Mitt Romney
- 6%. The DEMS: Clinton - 43%, Barack Obama - 27%, John Edwards
- 17%. 
Burns
are also both interested in seeking the GOP nomination if Hastert
vacates the seat. Four Democrats -- including State Representative
Linda LaVia -- are already announced candidates for the CD-14
seat.
adventure
story from this weekend. I was at the beach inline skating (8
miles Saturday and 10 miles Sunday) and swimming this weekend.
On Saturday, it was scorching sunny day, no waves, and clear water
with high underwater visibility. I grabbed my dive mask and snorkel
-- but didn't use my fins (a mistake!) -- and went leisurely swimming
out
alone. For the first 25 yards, I saw a school of very small mullet,
then a few small yellowtails ... and then no fish at all for several
minutes as I snorkeled further out. I was hoping to see a string
ray, as they always look beautiful swimming along the ocean floor.
As I approached the "boat exclusion zone" buoy maybe
100 yards from the beach, an area with maybe 20 feet of water
depth and well before the reef starts, I sensed movement. I looked
to my right ... did a quick double-take (even had a split-second
moment of awe when I said "wow" to myself) ... and saw
a 
Ron
Paul (R) -- who is apparently planning to make a major push for
a strong showing in next month's Ames, Iowa, Straw Poll -- has
found another way to grab some attention. Paul is the lone GOP
co-signer of the letter from 70 US House members addressed to
President Bush. "We are writing to inform you that we will
only support appropriating additional funds for U.S. military
operations in Iraq during Fiscal Year 2008 and beyond for the
protection and safe redeployment of all our troops out of Iraq
before you leave office," demands the letter. Translation:
We will only support further military funding for operations in
Iraq if it is pegged to a total US withdrawal from Iraq by January
2009. The letter also focuses on more than just US casualties
in Iraq, noting that "hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have
[also] been killed or injured in the hostilities and more than
4 million have been displaced from their homes."
Paul
Broun Jr. (R) continues to cling to a 373-vote lead from Tuesday's
CD-10 special election. State Senator Jim Whitehead (R), who was
heavy favorite to win, was hoping roughly 1,700 absentee ballots
were still outstanding from his home base of Columbia County.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Columbia
County Elections Director Debbie Marshall said all outstanding
absentee ballots in the county were already counted and included
in the earlier totals. If Whitehead is likewise hoping for a large
number of late military ballots to arrive, Marshall says only
66 such ballots were ever requested from her office. Whitehead
has since issued a statement to the Augusta Chronicle saying
he expects Broun will be the eventual winner by around 100 votes
once the recount is completed. Broun told the AJC he attributes
his upset victory to "a coalition of Christian conservatives,
disaffected Republicans, and Democrats." From other comments
Broun recently made to district residents, Broun sounds like he
intends to closely ally with Congressman Ron Paul (R) -- a fellow
physician -- as a second conservative-libertarian "Doctor
No" in the House.
average
number of days enjoyed is a mere 12," says the American Prospect.
With that segue way, let me give y'all a heads-up that I'm heading
back to France for another week of vacation starting on Wednesday,
so there will be no updates between July 25-31.
With
more than 46,600 votes cast on Tuesday, Broun's victory margin
is close enough to trigger an automatic recount.
will
need at least a fourth place finish or better in the Ames Straw
Poll next month in Iowa to keep his campaign Presidential afloat.
Failing that, Huckabee said he would "have to seriously ask
'Do we keep going?'" Former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson
(R) previously said he needs a third place or better finish in
the straw poll to remain in the race. Former Massachusetts Governir
Mitt Romney (R) is currently viewed as most likely to place first
in Iowa. The funniest Iowa quote in recent days comes from newly
promoted John McCain campaign manager Rick Davis -- who is seemingly
the last remaining McCain staffer to not quit or be fired over
the past week. With the McCain campaign organization in shambles
and nearly out of money, Davis joked with reporters that McCain
has "successfully lowered expectations in Iowa." The
McCain campaign is essentially finished, but McCain must continue
acting like a real candidate until January to qualify for the
federal matching funds he needs to pay off the campaign debt and
operating costs for the next few months. 
THOMPSON:
Former US Senator Fred Thompson (R) withdrew his campaign's previous
categorical denial about his past lobbying activities in 1991.
According to The Politico, Thompson now admits the truth
of the Los Angeles Times article from a week ago which
reported Thompson lobbied for a national pro-choice organization
in 1991 in an effort to convince the Bush 41 White House to gut
proposed abortion restrictions. Thompson told the newspaper on
Friday that he now "doesn’t remember" doing the
lobbying work but does "not dispute evidence to the contrary"
that he lobbied for the pro-choice group.
Sununu
by a 56% to 34% vote. These lopsided numbers are consistent with
two other independent polls over the past month. Shaheen appears
lately to be leaning towards entering the Senate race. If Shaheen
doesn't run, Sununu currently leads the field of announced Dems,
all of whom are much lesser-known statewide than Shaheen. The
numbers: Sununu (R) - 46%, '02 congressional nominee Katrina Swett
(D) - 32% ... Sununu (R) - 46%, Portsmouth Mayor Steve Marchand
(D) - 29% ... Sununu (R) - 46%, former astronaut Jay Buckey (D)
- 24%. The same poll also showed 43% of all NH voters support
impeaching President Bush and 52% support impeaching Vice President
Cheney. As for the Iraq War, 23% said they thought the war in
Iraq was "worth launching" versus 70% who said it was
not.
David
Vitter (R) into quickly resigning his seat over his oblique admission
Monday that he repeatedly patronized prostitutes in past years.
These GOP leaders -- several of whom seem to have ties to Congressman
Bobby Jindal's (R) gubernatorial campaign -- "are packaging
a deal with ... Blanco to appoint a Republican to take [Vitter's]
place." According to the newspaper, the GOP leaders are seeking
to have Blanco appoint 79-year-old former Congressman and former
Governor Dave Treen (R) to Vitter's Senate seat. Treen has been
openly discussing a primary challenge to Jindal in recent weeks.
Treen is viewed as an interim replacement who would not seek to
run for the remaining two years of the term in a speculative 2008
special election. Besides eliminating Treen as a Jindal primary
foe, the move could convince multimillionaire businessman John
Georges (R) to exit the gubernatorial race and instead run for
the open Senate seat next year. These two moves would clear the
gubernatorial primary field of any significant Republican opponents
to 
Jindal,
making an outright gubernatorial win a possibility in the first
round of voting on October 20. Before you think this is just idle
speculation, the newspaper article quoted influential GOP political
consultant Roy Fletcher, who is responsible for the Louisiana
Republican Party’s advertising campaign on behalf of Jindal
this year. Fletcher said this Vitter problem could be good news
for Jindal, as it "opens a new door in this Governor’s
race" for his possible GOP primary foes to exit. Fletcher
also said he believes Vitter will quickly be pressured by party
leader into resigning. "I don’t think Vitter will last
a week," said Fletcher. State Representative Don Trahan (R)
also hinted he would like Vitter to resign because the scandal
"could have a dribble down effect" on GOP candidates
in this year's state elections. "It’s no longer about
the scandal. It’s about credibility. It’s not so much
what he did but the stuff that’s coming out. If more comes
out, he may have to resign not totally for what he did …
but how it affects his family and others," added Trahan.
State GOP Chair Roger Villere declined to offer any statement
on Vitter -- pro or con -- telling the newspaper he first wanted
to speak directly with Vitter. Nothing, however, can legally force
Vitter to resign if he won't voluntarily agree to it. Vitter remains
in hiding, unavailable to anyone for direct comments. His office
released a statement late Wednesday which simply read: "Senator
Vitter is with his wife Wendy and with his children and is looking
forward to returning to work soon." If Vitter simply choses
to ignore the pressure to resign, even if party leaders become
privately hostile towards him, he can still serve out the remaining
half of his term.
publishing
mogul Larry Flynt -- a 2003 California Governor candidate and
a 1984 White House hopeful -- announced Wednesday in DC that Vitter
is only the tip of the political hypocracy iceberg he is targeting.
Flynt claims his efforts uncovered the dirt about Vitter which
prompted the Senator's confession, a claim which appears unrebutted.
Flynt recently published ads offering a $1 million award for verifiable
evidence of corruption or sexual hypocracy involving members of
Congress. Flynt announced that the thousands of juicy tips he
received since publishing the ad has led to active investigations
involving 20 more sitting federal legislators. Flynt said he is
not "conducting a witch hunt" against Republicans. Rather,
he explained, "I’m not exposing anyone’s sex
life, that’s not what I’m about. I’m only exposing
the hypocrisy ... I don’t want a man like [Vitter] legislating
for me, especially in the areas of morality."
GAY
RIGHTS: In a first-ever event, the Democratic Presidential
candidates have agreed to participate in a one-hour televised
debate next month devoted entirely to the topic of gay rights.
Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards and Chris Dodd have
confirmed their participation, and Bill Richardson's campaign
is trying to juggle his schedule so he can attend. The debate
is sponsored by the GLBT cable channel LOGO and the Human Rights
Campaign gay rights advocacy group. The debate will be televised
live on LOGO on August 9 and webcast on the channel's site. Candidates
in the past -- including in the current cycle -- have participated
in targeted debates devoted to African-American community issues
and Hispanic community issues. 
83-year-old
incumbent told the AP he is worried the ongoing US Justice Department
investigations could impact his 2008 re-election race. "The
worst thing about this investigation is that it does change your
life in terms of employment potential ... If this is still hanging
around a year from November, it could cause me some trouble,"
said Stevens. Bill Allen -- an oil field contractor who received
tens of millions in federal dollars in federal contracts -- has
pled guilty to bribing several Alaska state legislators and is
now cooperating with the Feds in an attempt to get a reduced prison
sentence. The incident that drew FBI interest is that Allen apparently
arranged for the $85,000 renovation project in 2000 that more
than doubled the size of Stevens' vacation home in an Alaska.
A carpentry contractor who worked on the renovation said he was
told to submit all of his bills directly to Allen. Stevens said
Allen oversaw the project, but Stevens made the payments for the
work. Stevens' son -- former State Senate President Ben Stevens
-- is also a central figure in the corruption probe. The FBI raided
Ben's office last summer, seizing box loads of records.
convince
Duckworth to make a second run. With her out of the picture, the
Democrats currently have no others currently interested in the
seat.
sort
of, kinda -- but certainly not definitively -- said on Meet
The Press that he doesn't plan to run for President next year
as an Independent. Well, maybe. Here are Hagel's own words: "For
right now I am [ruling out an Independent run for President].
And what the world looks like next year, I don't know. But I have
no plans to change parties or run for President as an independent."
But, moments later, he hedged some more: "You try to keep
as many options open for yourself in life as you can. And you
try to be in a position where you've got some opportunities ...
And then if there might be a place for me along the presidential
road somewhere to try to have some influence and change the course
of this country, then I'll look at that. But the decision needs
to be made soon and I'll make it soon." He also said waffled
again on his re-election plans for next year, explaining that
"two terms may be enough ... [but running for re-election]
is another option."
Pete
Domenici (R) -- who may potentially face a competitive re-election
contest next year in the swing state of New Mexico -- on
Thursday became the latest Republican to abandon his support for
continuing the Iraq War. "I am unwilling to continue our
current strategy ... [The US needs to adopt a new strategy to
] move our troops out of combat operations and on the path to
coming home," said Domenici in an Albuquerque speech. The
blame for the failure in Iraq should be placed almost entirely
on the Iraqi government because it failed "to make even modest
progress to help Iraq itself or to merit the sacrifices being
made by our [US] men and women in uniform." Domenici said,
however, he doesn't support an immediate withdrawal. Instead,
he wants to see the 79 recommendations of the Baker-Hamilton Iraq
Study Group quickly adopted. US Senators George Voinovich (R-OH)
and Dick Lugar (R-IN) both announced within the past week they
each now support a prompt withdrawal of US forces from Iraq.
TANCREDO:
Congressman Tom Tancredo (R) said this week that "it's not
impossible" for the US to deport the estimated twelve million
immigrants living in the United States illegally. While that kind
of incendiary comment is not unusual for Tancredo, his other comments
this week to a crowd back in his Colorado district were more telling
of his real 2008 plans. "If I'm re-elected, when I'm re-elected
to Congress, and by the grace of God [and] the people in my district,
I end up back there ...," reported the Rocky Mountain
News. No real surprise, as Tancredo just wants a national
forum for his hardcore anti-immigration platform.
interested
in the appointment and suspended his congressional fundraising
as he pursued the appointment. "I’m still considering"
the job, said LaHood again on Thursday. The reporter then repeated
that the search committee had already cut him from the list of
finalists. "I just told you where I’m at with it ...
I’ve pretty much said what I want to say about it. I’m
just going to leave it at that," snapped LaHood, clearly
ignoring the reality of the situation. 
US
Senator John McCain's GOP Presidential campaign is on the ropes,
his campaign acknowledged some very bad news on Monday.
McCain Campaign Manager Terry Nelson told the media McCain raised
$11.2 million in 2Q-07 -- far short of the campaign's goal --
and had only $2 million cash-on-hand remaining in the bank. Nelson
conceded the campaign will fall far short of the $100 fundraising
million goal for 2007, and said the campaign declined the reveal
the newly revised fundraising goals. Further, the AP reports McCain's
campaign eliminated 50+ staff positions due to the financial woes.
"We confronted reality and we dealt with it in the best way
that we could so that we could move forward," said Nelson.
He also says he agreed to work as manager without salary for the
next few months, and other surviving staffers agreed to pay cuts
as part of the campaign shake-up. While McCain's campaign originally
intended to forego federal matching funds, Nelson said the campaign
was now considering accepting the matching funds. To date, McCain
would be eligible for around $6 million in matching funds. McCain
has also retooled his message within the past week: he is now
the courageous candidate disliked by insiders because he is willing
to take tough stands (i.e., his Iraq War and immigration stances)
and won't pander to polls and the special interests.
Bush
said he "respects" the jury decision to convict, declining
to pardon Libby or waive the $250,000 fine or probation. "My
decision to commute his prison sentence leaves in place a harsh
punishment for Mr. Libby. The reputation he gained through his
years of public service and professional work in the legal community
is forever damaged ... The consequences of his felony conviction
on his former life as a lawyer, public servant, and private citizen
will be long-lasting," said the President's statement. He
also praised Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald as "a
highly qualified, professional prosecutor who carried out his
responsibilities as charged." However, he wiped away the
30 month prison sentence because it found it to be "excessive."
The decision came the day an appellate court refused to stay Libby's
imposition of sentence, meaning he would soon have to report to
federal prison as an inmate. As expected, Dems were highly critical
of the move and Republicans generally praised the sentence commutation.
"Today's decision is yet another example that this Administration
simply considers itself above the law ... This commutation sends
the clear signal that in this Administration, cronyism and ideology
trump competence and justice," said Hillary Clinton (D).
"I am very happy for Scooter Libby ... While for a long time
I have urged a pardon for Scooter, I respect the President's decision,"
said Fred Thompson (R). [Brief Editorial: Since the President
is generously and graciously commuting excessive federal prison
sentences, perhaps he needs to look at the excessive amount of
prison time imposed under federal guidelines on crack rock cocaine
distribution convictions compared to the much lower sentences
imposed under the guidelines for distribution convictions of much
larger amounts of cocaine in powder form.]
excess
of $32.5 million in 2Q-07, according to a statement released by
Obama's campaign on Sunday. That amount is an all-time record
high for a Democratic Presidential primary hopeful during a fundraising
quarter. Obama also reports having over 250,000 individual donors
to date. Hillary
Clinton will report she raised "in the range of $27 million"
in the fundraising quarter which ended June 30, according to comments
a spokesman made to CNN. John Edwards' campaign spokesman said
Sunday that their campaign had raised "over $9 million"
during the period. Bill Richardson will report he raised more
than $7 million, placing him ahead of all of the other "second
tier" Dem hopefuls. 
IRAQ:
US Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) -- the ranking Republican on the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee -- told CBS on Sunday he now
supports the "withdrawal of a majority of American
troops [from Iraq] in a calm, orderly way over the next few months."
Lugar said the US force in Iraq is endangering the US military's
ability to respond to other crises elsewhere in the world. "I
think we are too much stretched," he explained. Lugar is
the immediate past Chair of the committee. He said Congress and
the White House need to start discussing a planned withdrawal
"now, not punting the ball down to September." While
conservatives note nearly all of the Senate Republicans who have
become critical of the Iraq War are facing re-election next year,
Lugar is not up for re-election again until 2012.
Wisconsin
Governor Tommy Thompson (R) said next month's Ames GOP Straw Poll
is a "must win" for his struggling campaign. Thompson
said he's spent more time in Iowa to date than any other candidate.
Of course, having Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Fred Thompson
not competing in the straw poll should also help. If the former
Bush Cabinet member cannot win even with that very favorable handicap,
look for him to exit the race soon after.
universal
national health care
system for the US. Here's an excerpt from my July 2004 editorial
on the topic: "Why do critics always deride it as 'socialized
medicine'? And why, when people call it socialized medicine, do
moderates quickly shy away from any meaningful discussion on the
merits of the topic? We have universal public education through
the high school level (to wit: everyone pays taxes regardless
of whether or not they will have a kid in school in order to ensure
that every child has the opportunity to attend public schools
for free) ... but no mainstream politician ever calls it 'socialized
education.' The same universal method of tax payments coupled
with full public access -- usually without user fees -- applies
to all of our public roads, parks, police, and fire/rescue. Despite
this, I've never once heard anyone decry 'socialized streets'
or 'socialized parks' or 'socialized law enforcement' or 'socialized
public safety.' When do we set aside the rhetorical war -- and
some of this political polarization of the nation -- and start
having calm, serious, thoughtful discussions about real solutions
to real problems facing real people?" I don't care what you
want to call it -- including the feared "S-word" --
but our nation desperately needs universal health care coverage.
And I could care less if we put all of the private health insurance
companies out of business.
While we're on the topic of fixing our nation's problems, adopting
the living wage wouldn't be a bad idea either ... but I'll save
that one for another day.
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