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Home > Window on Washington > Archives > 2006 > October
October 2006
The Politics of Low Price
This past summer, WakeUpWalmart.com, the union-backed group that criticizes Wal-Mart’s business practices, urged Democratic candidates to join their battle to change the world’s biggest retailer.
The organization sponsored a nationwide bus tour that rolled through Ohio, Iowa and other politically important states. It attracted support from several Democrats pondering 2008 presidential runs, including Sens. Joe Biden and Evan Bayh.
But in this final week of 2006 campaigning, the Wal-Mart issue has not figured prominently in debates or candidate ads.
On Tuesday, Working Families for Wal-Mart, a “grassroots” campaign launched in December with Wal-Mart funding, released a poll that shows most voters are not interested in Wal-Mart as a political issue.
When asked, “Do you approve or disapprove of political candidates making Wal-Mart an issue in the upcoming elections,” 68 percent disapproved, with 37 percent strongly disapproving. Only 21 percent of approved.
The nationwide poll was conducted Oct. 5-8 by RT Strategies Inc., a bipartisan polling organization. Working Families issued a press release quoting Thom Riehle, the Democratic partner at the polling firm, saying that anti-Wal-Mart campaigning “does far more to anger and annoy than it does to motivate.”
Chris Kofinis, spokesman for WakeUpWalmart.com., dismissed the poll. “I trust independent polls, not ones bought and paid for by Wal-Mart,” he said, pointing to a Wall Street Journal/NBC poll showing most Americans say Wal-Mart should be more regulated if it doesn’t boost wages and benefits.
“This is just the beginning” of making Wal-Mart a political issue, he predicted.
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Say Goodbye To The King Of Acronyms
STAPPA/ALAPCO, pronounced “Stappa/Alapco,” announced Tuesday that it has become NACAA, pronounced “Nacka.â€?
The 12-letter acronym stood for two different organizations, State and Territorial Air Pollution Program Administrators and the Association of Local Air Pollution Control Officers, which functioned as a single Washington voice for officials who enforce air pollution laws of 54 states and territories and over 165 metropolitan areas.
In recent years, the organizations have often charged that Bush Administration actions on such issues as soot, mercury and power plant pollution failed to adequately protect the public’s health.
“Our message is too important to be distracted by a long name people couldn’t spell or pronounce,” said Bill Becker, who served as executive director of (This will be the last time) STAPPA/ALAPCO and now has the same job with the National Association of Clean Air Agencies (NACAA).
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Give ‘Em Hell, Zell
Former Sen. Zell Miller, a Georgia Democrat, has signed on to head Democrats for Santorum, a group trying to help Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., keep his job next Tuesday.
In a Monday radio interview, Miller said, “I am not involved in any other race in the country. I am only doing this for Rick Santorum. I believe in Rick Santorum’s leadership that much. … Rick Santorum was more than just a good friend to me, he was someone I looked up to for guidance.”
Santorum faces a stiff challenge from Democrat Bob Casey.
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EPA Closes Principal EPA Chemical Library
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has closed its principal library for researching the effects and properties of chemicals.
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) strongly opposes the closure, saying it will undermine the ability of researchers to reveal chemical hazards in the future. There are some 1,700 new chemicals introduced each year.
“Without this research assistance, EPA scientists have fewer resources to conduct thorough analyses on hundreds of new chemicals for which companies are clamoring for agency approval to launch each year into the mainstream of American commerce,” said Jeff Ruch, director of PEER.
The EPA says the materials will still be available
“The EPA is committed to ensuring unique library materials are available to the general public, the scientific community, the legal community and other organizations,� spokesperson Suzanne Ackerman wrote in an e-mail statement.
Physical holdings of the Office of Prevention, Pollution, and Toxic Substances library will be made available on-line, Ackerman said. Other services will be made available electronically, she said.
Typically, data used in the new chemicals program is considered confidential business information and is subject to sensitive data access restrictions, Ackerman said. This data will continue to be available to EPA scientists through internal mechanisms.
Citing budget pressures, EPA has closed several of its regional libraries across the country.
“EPA’s hasty, buzz saw slashing at its library network is now interfering with its mission of harnessing the best available science to protect human health and the environment,” said Ruch, noting that Congress has yet to approve EPA’s actions. “Given the tremendous public health risks, this is absolutely the last place EPA should be cutting.”
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White House movie night
It was dinner and a movie Sunday night at the White House. (Trivia du jour: First feature-length movie screened in the White House? “Birth of a Nation” in 1915 while Woodrow Wilson, first southern-born president after the Civil War, lived at 1600 Penn.)
Here’s what they saw, what they ate and who was there:
What they saw: “Children of Glory,” the first Hungarian film shown at the White House, recounts Soviet suppression during the 1956 Hungarian revolution. The film centers on the semi-final water polo match between Hungary and the Soviet Union at the Melbourne Youth Olympics in December 1956. (Stop reading here if you don’t know want to know the outcome). Hungary went on to win the gold medal.
What they ate: After an “early harvest salad” (avocados, grape tomatoes and maytag blue cheese tartlettes) and toasted couscous, the movie-goers enjoyed miniature veal schnitzel with lemon caper butter or hot smoked salmon on potato pancakes with chive sour cream. Dessert choices were warm apple cake, cinnamon ice cream and “chocolate movie ticket.”
Who was there: The president, Mrs. President and lots of folks, including Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and date (his mother Stacy), actor Tony Curtis and wife Jill Ann, Hungarian-American Coalition President George Dozsa and wife Matilda B., U.S. Ambassador to Hungary April Foley, New York Gov. George Pataki and wife Elizabeth, tennis pro Monica Seles and her mom Efter, Hungarian Ambassador Andres Simonyi and wife Nada P., and several other current and former Hungarian officials.
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Best friends, again
After a week when, at times, it looked like President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Miliki were not always on the same page concerning benchmarks and strategy, the two leaders issued this statement Saturday morning.
The White House sent it out shortly after The Associated Press reported that the Iraqi leader, in a Friday conversation with U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, said he was Washington’s friend but “not America’s man in Iraq.�
JOINT STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE PRIME MINISTER OF IRAQ
We were pleased to continue our consultations today. Via secure video, we discussed a range of issues of great importance to our common mission in Iraq, including the development of Iraqi security forces, efforts to promote reconciliation among all Iraqis, and the International Compact for Iraq and the economic reforms associated with it. As leaders of two great countries, we are committed to the security and prosperity of a democratic Iraq and the global fight against terrorism which affects all our citizens.
We have three common goals: accelerating the pace of training the Iraqi Security Force, Iraqi assumption of command and control over Iraqi forces, and transferring responsibility for security to the Government of Iraq. We have formed a high-level working group including the Iraqi National Security Advisor, Minister of Defense, Minister of Interior, General Casey, and Ambassador Khalilzad to make recommendations on how these goals can be best achieved. This working group will supplement existing mechanisms to better define our security partnership and enhance our coordination.
We are committed to the partnership our two countries and two governments have formed and will work in every way possible for a stable, democratic Iraq and for victory in the war on terror.
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Veep speaks
For the record, here’s what Vice President Cheney said Friday evening about his comment earlier in the week that some interpreted as an endorsement of water boarding to get terrorist suspects to answer questions.
These comments came in a brief chat with reporters aboard Air Force 2 as Cheney headed back to Washington from a campaign swing:
Q: Well, listen, we appreciate you taking a couple of minutes. I guess, just as an initial matter we’d like to ask you to clarify those comments that have now been in the news today concerning …
Cheney: I was being interviewed by a talk show host. I don’t talk about techniques and I wouldn’t. I have said that the interrogation program for a select number of detainees is very important. It has been I think one of the most valuable intelligence programs we have. And I believe it has allowed us to prevent terrorist attacks against the United States. I did not talk about specific techniques involved.
Q: So it was not about water boarding, even though he asked you about dunking in the water?
Cheney: I didn’t say anything about water boarding. Those were all his comments. He didn’t even use that phrase.
Q: He said dunking in the water.
Cheney: I didn’t say anything, he did.
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GOP AIDE BEHIND ATTACK AD QUITS WAL-MART POST
WASHINGTON — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced Friday night it no longer is doing business with a controversial political consultant responsible for a political attack ad widely condemned as racist.
The consultant, Terry Nelson, had been working for Wal-Mart as a “voter participation expert.” He also heads the Republican National Committee unit responsible for the ad attacking Harold Ford Jr., the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Tennessee.
Wal-Mart spokesman David Tovar issued a statement saying that Nelson’s company, Crosslink Strategy Group, had “sent a letter to Wal-Mart ending its working relationship with our company. We believe this is the right course of action.”
Nelson did not return a call for comment on Friday. But in an interview with the Associated Press, he said, Wal-Mart had “come under political pressure from liberal special interest groups” as well as labor unions. “It’s unfortunate that this pressure has had an impact on Wal-Mart.”
He said about the Ford ad, “There was no intention to offend anybody, and its unfortunate if people took offense. That was certainly not what people planned for or hoped for.”
Earlier Friday, civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., said that if Wal-Mart didn’t cut ties with Nelson, it would show “disregard” for its African-American workers and customers.
The TV ad features a bare-shouldered blonde white woman who claims to have met Ford at a Playboy party. With a wink, she says: “Harold, call me.”
Ford, now serving in the House, is seeking election as the South’s first black senator since Reconstruction.
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Everybody in the pool
Press Secretary Tony Snow, scoffing at the notion, said today there was no way that Vice President Cheney had endorsed “water boarding” – an aggressive technique for getting suspected terrorists to talk – when he was asked about interrogation methods during a radio interview this week.
Here’s what Cheney said Tuesday to Scott Hennen of Fargo’s WDAY on Tuesday:
Hennen: I’ve had people call and say, “Please, let the vice president know that if it takes dunking a terrorist in water, we’re all for it, if it saves American lives.” Again, this debate seems a little silly given the threat we face, would you agree?
Cheney: I do agree. And I think the terrorist threat, for example, with respect to our ability to interrogate high-value detainees like Khalid Sheik Mohammed, that’s been a very important tool that we’ve had to be able to secure the nation. Khalid Sheik Mohammed provided us with enormously valuable information about how many there are, about how they plan, what their training processes are and so forth. We’ve learned a lot. We need to be able to continue that.
Hennen: Would you agree a dunk in water is a no-brainer if it can save lives?
Cheney: Well, it’s a no-brainer for me, but for a while there I was criticized as being the vice president for torture. We don’t torture. That’s not what we’re involved in. We live up to our obligations in international treaties that we’re party to and so forth. But the fact is, you can have a fairly robust interrogation program without torture, and we need to be able to do that.
Here’s some of what Snow said today when White House reporters asked about Cheney’s comments:
Snow: The vice president didn’t make any comments about water boarding.
Q: That was what the question was about.
Snow: No, the question was a loosely worded question. Now the vice president never talks about questioning techniques in a theoretical or a real manner. We just don’t talk about that.
Q: The question was, “Would you agree a dunk in the water is a no-brainer if it can save lives?” Cheney: “It’s a no-brainer for me.”
Snow: Yes, but that is not a question — do the words “water boarding” appear there?
Q: No, they don’t, but …
Q: What was he talking about?
Snow: He did not interpret it as water boarding.
Q: Come on. What is that supposed to mean? Let’s be real here.
Snow: I am being real here. Do you really think the vice president is going to talk about water boarding when we have said many times …
Q: I don’t know.
Snow: The answer is no.
Q: No, he said he doesn’t support torture, but there was sort of a wink implied with the …
Snow: No, there’s not. Let me just say one more time, let me be very clear, and then you can go at me as many times and I’ll say the same thing over and over, which is: We don’t talk about techniques, that would include water boarding. He neither confirms nor denies its use; neither supports nor shows a lack of support for it. He is not, that was not the context that he thought it was being asked in.
Q: He didn’t explicitly talk about …
Snow: Not explicitly or implicitly.
Q: But he certainly…
Snow: No, you think he did. A reasonable person interpreting this when the questioner …
Q: A reasonable person interpreting this …
Snow: Well, … I’m telling you what the vice president’s view is, which is it wasn’t about water boarding and he wasn’t talking about it. Period.
Q: Then what was it about? What is a “dunk in the water” then by vice president?
Snow: It’s a dunk in the water. It’s a dunk in the water, as I said.
Q: To elicit answers?
Snow: No, look, you can look at the transcript.
Q: So the detainees go swimming?
Snow: I don’t know. We’ll have to find out.
Q: It just doesn’t make sense.
Snow: No, what doesn’t make sense is I’ve already told you what his position is, and also you know as a matter of common sense that the vice president of the United States is not going to be talking about water boarding. Never would, never does, never will.
Q: We know that’s your policy, but did the vice president slip up and …
Snow: No. Are you kidding? You think Dick Cheney is going to slip up on something like — no. Come on.
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Senators Oppose EPA Library Closing
The Environmental Protection Agency’s plans to shutter regional libraries around the country is meeting vigorous opposition from prominent Democrats.
Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., urged colleagues this week to keep the network of 10 regional libraries and the headquarters library open to the public.
The senators sent a letter this week to the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s panel overseeing the agency, saying the libraries are an important repository of information to protect the public’s health and enforce environmental laws.
“We are concerned that the EPA is already dismantling its unique library system without including the public or members of Congress in the decision-making,” Boxer and Lautenberg wrote. “Congress should not allow EPA to gut its library system.”
EPA officials did not have an immediate comment about the letter. Marcus Peacock, deputy administrator of the agency, recently addressed the closing on the blog site Yubanet. In a letter to the site, Peacock wrote that the “EPA is providing comprehensive access to agency documents and materials through the EPA’s public web site.”
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You Do the Math
The political spinning began moments after the Commerce Department announced this morning that the U.S. economy grew at the slowest pace in three years — an annual rate of 1.6 percent — in the third quarter.
Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., senior Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, said “the numbers show that the economy is slowing to an even greater extent than had been widely expected,” and fretted over the “particularly troubling” problem of wage stagnation.
“If the Democrats win control of the House of Representatives in November, dealing with the wage problem will be high on our agenda,” he promised.
But House Majority Whip Roy Blunt, a Republican from Missouri, stubbornly stuck to the GOP story that the economy is booming. “The economic numbers prove we are experiencing strong, steady economic growth,” he said in a statement released just before the stock market opened and began tumbling. “The Dow is at a record high, unemployment is at a record low, home ownership and consumer confidence are up, and gas prices are down.”
He warned that Democratic control of Congress would “dampen this robust recovery.”
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Name identification
From the transcript of President Bush’s remarks today at a Des Moines fund-raiser for GOP congressional candidate Jeff Lamberti. That’s JEFF Lamberti:
“This campaign only ends after the voters have had a chance to speak. No doubt in my mind, with your help, Dave Lamberti will be the next United States congressman. Dave and I believe a lot of things. We believe that you ought to keep more of your own money. We believe in family values. We believe values are important. And we believe marriage is a fundamental institution of civilization.”
He did correctly refer to him as Jeff 11 times during the remarks.
Things got better later Thursday in Warren, Michigan, where Bush raised money for GOP Senate contender Mike Bouchard. Got that name right every time.
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DID WILD PIGS CAUSE E. COLI OUTBREAK?
The outbreak of E. coli illness among people who ate raw spinach from a California field may have been caused by wild pigs.
Spinach traced to the field has been implicated in nearly 200 human illnesses and three deaths.
California health officials said Thursday afternoon they had compared the DNA “fingerprint” of E. coli O157:H7 specimens from persons who became ill with bacteria found in cattle waste in nearby pastures.
Bacteria with precisely the same DNA as the germ that caused disease was found only in cows in an adjacent pasture and from a stream running through the pasture, they said.
Since the pasture and the stream were both downhill from the field, it appears unlikely the bacteria could have been washed into the field by rainwater. Irrigation wells were at least a mile away.
The culprit may have been wild pigs, officials said. E. coli taken from the intestines of a wild pig — one of many that roam the ranch — also had the same deadly DNA fingerprint as the germs that caused illness, said Kevin Reilly, of the California Department of Health Services.
There were two other clues: holes in a fence between the pasture and the spinach field and numerous pig tracks in the field.
“We think there is a reasonable possibility that the contamination came from these pigs,” said Reilly, who would not say whether exterminating the wild pig population would be a recommended way of “reducing that risk factor.”
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Corker’s Color Scheme
Bob Corker, the Republican in Tennessee’s closely watched U.S. Senate campaign, may have learned an important color-scheme lesson from another Tennesseean, former Vice President Al Gore.
Corker’s campaign website is striking in that the intro page is almost entirely done in earth tones.
Most campaign websites feature the good old red, white and blue, the staple palette of Amercan politics.
And that includes the Website of Corker’s Democratic opponent, Harold Ford Jr.
But Corker’s features gold, tan, burnt orange and several shades of green, just like the suits and ties Gore sported in his 2000 presidential campaign, at least until it was disclosed that Gore was getting fashion advice from feminist author Naomi Wolf and conservatives began to poke fun at him as a “beta” male.
Corker, so far, has been spared the ridicule for his slick, fall-like Ralph Lauren-esque presence on the web. See it at www.bobcorkerforsenate.com.
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NOBODY MOVE, AND NOBODY WILL GET HURT
When it comes to Congress, is gridlock good?
Some Americans believe that having Democrats control one chamber of Congress, and Republicans the other, is good because a gridlocked Congress can’t do much harm.
But Pat Toomey, president of the Club for Growth, which supports tax cuts and limited government, told reporters at a breakfast Thursday that any time Democrats have any power, Congress will cause trouble.
“We saw some pretty bad legislation pass when there was divided government recently,” he said, referring to the period between May 2001 and December 2002 when Democrats controlled the Senate. During that time, Congress passed a farm bill to provide agricultural subsidies and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to further regulate corporate accounting.
Toomey described each law as “terrible.”
“So I don’t subscribe to the view that divided government is great because nothing happens,” he said.
— Marilyn Geewax
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McCain Adviser Linked to Anti-Ford Ad
Terry Nelson, who heads up the Republican National Committee unit responsible for a widely denounced TV ad against U.S. Senate candidate Harold Ford Jr., also serves as a senior adviser to Republican Sen. John McCain.
Nelson, who served as political director for President Bush’s 2004 re-election, runs the RNC’s independent expenditure unit, RNC spokesman Josh Holmes confirmed Thursday.
The independent effort drew charges of racism with its ad featuring a bare-shouldered blond woman saying she had met Rep. Ford at a Playboy party.
Ford, a Tennessee Democrat, is running to become the first black senator elected from the South since Reconstruction.
The ad drew fire from all sides, including from Ford’s Republican opponent, Bob Corker. RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman, who denied that the TV spot was racist, said that he had no control over the independent expenditure unit.
The Republican chairman announced Wednesday that the controversial ad was being pulled off the air.
Nelson, a former deputy chief of staff at the RNC, now heads Crosslink Strategy, a Washington consulting firm.
His Website lists among his clients Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse and Senator McCain’s Straight Talk America Political Action Committee.
McCain’s Senate spokeswoman Melissa Shuffield declined to comment on the Ford ad.
Craig Goldman, executive director of Straight Talk America, said Nelson’s role has been to advise McCain on where he should go to campaign for Republican candidates in this year’s elections.
Nelson did not return a reporter’s call for comments on the anti-Ford ad.
Late Thursday afternoon, CBS-NEWS reported on its Web site that the TV spot had been produced for the Republican independent expenditure unit by media consultant Scott Howell.
Among Howell’s best known campaign work has been for Saxby Chambliss in his successful 2002 race to unseat Sen. Max Cleland, a Georgia Democrat.
In that campaign, Howell produced a TV commercial that generated Democratic anger by showing Cleland, a disabled Vietnam veteran, along with Iraq’s Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Ladin to suggest that the Democrat was soft on national defense.
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Relief is on the way
Here’s the problem, personal though it may be:
While the White House Press Room is undergoing a massive remodeling scheduled for completion in the spring, the press corps is temporarily bivouaced in the nearby White House Conference Center. The accommodations are comfortable, save for some pesky temperature control issues that seem to have been solved.
In conjunction with the temporary move, a trailer has been set up on the White House grounds to house the pool reporters, photographers and TV technicians who have to be on hand for events open only to the pool.
The bathroom in the trailer is, shall we say, overtaxed and balky. At times, it’s a jiggle-the-handle deal. At times, jiggling was of no use because the little chain that connected lever and flapper was missing. There’s a White House souvenir for you.
So, with some urgency, the White House Correspondents Association has sought permission for the poolers to use nearby bathrooms within the complex. Help, it can now be announced, is on the way.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Joe Hagin has told WHCA President Steve Scully that pool denizens can use a unisex bathroom in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building when nature calls. The trailer is adjacent to the EEOB. And - the best news of all - poolers will not have to be escorted into the EEOB (as long as they behave).
“If we abuse the use of the bathroom, if folks begin roaming the halls of EEOB, Joe said he will end this immediately and we’re back in the trailer bathroom,” Scully told colleagues.
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What, us worry?
Polls and conventional wisdom aside, White House planning for next year’s legislative agenda is rooted in confidence that its folks will continue to be in charge in both chambers on Capitol Hill.
“I think the president has been very clear that he’s preparing for a Congress that has Republican leadership, and that’s the way we’ll continue to proceed. It’s the only way to proceed,” Tony Fratto, a relatively new White House spokesman, said aboard Air Force One today as President Bush headed to Florida for political fund-raising events.
Why not also plan for the possibility that Democrats might control the House, the Senate or both?
“We’re still in the game,” Fratto said, “and if you’re in the game, you’re in it to win.”
But nobody knows the outcome of the game, a reporter reminded Fratto.
“We feel confident about the outcome, and that’s the way we’re going to proceed,” he replied.
Fratto remained on his game in the face of a couple of contentious follow-up questions.
“We are ready. We’re ready to work with a Republican Congress,” he said.
Confronted with the possibility that that meant the White House is not ready to work with a Democatic Congress, Fratto said, “Questions? Anything else? Thank you.”
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Bush’s first freebie
After months of limiting his political events to fund-raisers, President Bush will attend his first no-door-fee political event of the year on Saturday in Sellersburg, Indiana.
The White House says Bush will speak at a rally for GOP Rep. Mike Sodrel and the Indiana Victory 2006 organization at Sellersburg’s Silver Creek High School. It will be the first of several rallies for GOP candidates Bush will attend around the country as Election Day (Nov. 7) approaches.
Sodrel is being challenged by Democrat Baron Hill, who held the seat for six years before Sodrel beat him two years ago.
First Lady Laura Bush is due in the district on Wednesday for a Sodrel rally.
The president, the first lady and Vice President Cheney also each have headlined fund-raising receptions for Sodrel this year. White House Press Secretary Tony Snow is due in the district next Monday to help raise money for Sodrel’s re-election campaign.
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Dangerous School Label is Dangerous
The persistently dangerous schools label is ineffective and leads stigmatization and underreporting of violent incidents, a panel of experts told U.S. Department of Education officials Monday.
“We all know [the words] ‘persistently dangerous’ was a death sentence to this legislation,� said Bill Bond of the National Association of Secondary School Principals.
Bond knows about school violence firsthand. He was principal of Heath High School in Paducah, Ky. in 1997 when a 14-year-old shot and killed three students and wounded five other students.
Education officials from several states including Texas, New Jersey, Colorado, and California addressed the effectiveness of the label and other components of the unsafe school choice option of the No Child Left Behind Act in front of the Safe and Drug Free Schools and
Communities Advisory Committee.
The provision requires schools identified as persistently dangerous to develop and implement a corrective action program within 20 days, notify parents of the designation, offer students the opportunity to transfer to a safe public or charter school and complete transfers
for students who accept.
“It’s a violation of a lot of people’s belief systems,� said Janelle Krueger of the Colorado Department of Education. “We don’t want to spend time simply reacting to when children have been behaving badly.�
Panelists pointed to the fact that Pennsylvania currently has more than 20 schools with the ‘persistently dangerous’ label, whereas more populous states like California have none as evidence of the provision’s ineffectiveness and the need to focus on violence
prevention.
Congress will consider reauthorization of the legislation in 2007. The safe and drug free schools and communities advisory committee will give Education Secretary Margaret Spellings recommendations
about the provision.
Educators who spoke in front of the committee Monday characterized the provision as reactionary and said it does not provide schools with enough resources to avoid receiving the persistently dangerous label.
“It’s one more thing we have to deal with,� said Cory Green, of the Texas State Education Agency when asked if Texas was better off because of the law.
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Italian, to go
President Bush, a famous White House homebody not known for unannounced forays outside the building, made an off-the-schedule trek Friday evening to the National Italian American Foundation annual gala at the Washington Hilton.
The surprised crowd gave him an enthusiastic welcome as he completed a father-and-son doubleheader at the event. Ex-President Bush was the keynote speaker earlier in the day.
The president, in brief remarks, acknowledged the presence of some of his favorite Italian-Americans, including Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito, baseball notables Yogi Berra and Tommy Lasorda, and lesser-known ex-player Ken Aspromonte.
Bush noted that he meets Saturday with Gen. Pete Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. On this night, Bush referred to Pace as pa-chay, the venue-appropriate pronunciation of the Italian-American general’s name.
Others on hand included Alan Alda, Neil Sedaka, Jerry Vale and Jack Valenti.
The Friday night schedule at the NIAF also included the group’s annual “Salute to the Martini.” Really.
This year’s performers at the salute were Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.
“I understand you’re honoring Frankie Valli,” Bush told the audience. “Sorry I’m not going to be around to hear you. But rest assured I’ve heard plenty of you when I was growing up.”
The festivities also included sale of tickets for a shot at winning a Maserati Quattroporte. Tickets: $1,000 apiece.
You do not have to be present to win.
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You say Grenada, he says Granada
Through the power of mispronunciation President Bush today changed the location of a significant U.S. military action in 1983.
In a speech at a National Republican Senatorial Committee event in Washington, Bush said “Many leaders fought Reagan’s defense buildup, they fought his strategic defense initiative, they opposed the liberation of Granada. They didn’t like America’s support for freedom fighters resisting Soviet puppet regimes.”
Bush meant to say Grenada (gre-nay-da). But he said Granada (gra-na-da).
By way of review, Granada (gra-na-da) is a city in southern Spain. There was no U.S. support for freedom fighters resisting Soviet puppet regimes in Granada while Ronald Reagan was in the White House.
Grenada (gre-nay-da) is an island between the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, north of Trinidad and Tobago. U.S. forces invaded in October 1983 after Marxists took over. Free elections were held in 1984.
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Bush and the Sherwoods
Here’s how President Bush opted to address GOP Rep. Don Sherwood’s marital infidelity. The comments came today during a fund-raising event today for the Pennsylvania incumbent:
“And I’m glad Carol’s here with us today. I read Carol Sherwood’s letter to the citizens of this congressional district. I was deeply moved by her words. Carol’s letter shows what a caring and courageous woman she is. I’m delighted to be here with Carol and their daughter Maria. Thanks for coming.”
And here’s Mrs. Sherwood’s letter, sent earlier this month:
Dear Friends,
After watching the debate last Wednesday night between my husband and Chris Carney, I decided to write this letter. This is not an easy thing for me to do because I am basically a private person. But as I sat in the auditorium listening to the debate, I realized that I would never want a person like Chris Carney to represent me anywhere, especially in Congress.
Chris Carney talks a lot about family values - but the “substance” of his campaign is to attack my family. He says his campaign is justified in publicizing over and over my husband’s infidelity under the guise of “factual information.”
He won’t admit that it is negative campaigning or a personal attack. I think we all know the facts by now, as the media has not let us forget. Chris Carney might be trying to make himself look squeaky clean, but we have all made mistakes we regret over the years… nobody is perfect. I am certainly not condoning the mistake Don made, but I am not going to dwell on it either.
We are a strong and loving family and have been put to the test… WE ARE NOT RUNNING AWAY FROM OUR PROBLEMS! On the contrary, we have gained strength from each other and, as a family, continue to pull together. It seems like a long process, but we are slowly and surely rebuilding our family.
As with most couples, Don and I have worked through our differences during our 34 year marriage and, although this is hard, we’re not about to give up. Don is a good person and has always been a hero to our daughters and, without a doubt, will be again. We do not believe in flogging dead horses or living in the past. It is time to move on and that is exactly what we are trying to do.
The negative ads approved by Chris Carney seem to be needlessly cruel. Private humiliation is one thing to endure, but to be repeatedly, publicly humiliated is quite another. When somebody hurts one of us, he hurts everyone in the family. Perhaps Carney gets some pleasure out of hurting our family, or maybe that’s what he thinks will make him a winner. He seems to be self-appointed judge and jury. “I will make you proud” he so frequently likes to say… but I find nothing in his actions during this campaign that would make anybody proud.
We have all done a lot of soul searching and put many hours into restoring our family unity. Without Don, we are not a whole family. It is a fact that good people can and do make mistakes. Don is a good person. I took a break from politics and campaigning for a while, now I am back and willing to work as hard as you to keep a good man doing a good job for all of us.
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Cheney: It’s looking good for the GOP
In case you missed Rush Limbaugh’s radio show today, here’s a quick highlight from his interview with Vice President Cheney, who thinks the GOP is “going to do reasonably well” on Election Day.
Cheney says “We’ll hold the Senate and I also think we got a good shot at holding the House.”
Limbaugh asked Cheney if he is seeing any GOP apathy around the nation. Cheney said “the mood that I find in terms of the people I’m talking with is very positive.”
“Now of course, I’m probably not going to see a lot of Democrats coming to a Republican fundraiser, so I don’t want to misread the situation,” said Cheney. “But I think I find a far more positive attitude out there than one would led by believe just by reading the national press.”
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New face at National Security Council
Gordon Johndroe, who has held a variety of jobs for President Bush dating back to the Texas gubernatorial days, is taking over in the critical slot of lead spokesman for the National Security Council.
Johndroe will replace Fred Jones, who is returning to the State Department later this month and probably will wind up leaving the government payroll shortly after that.
Johndroe’s lofty new title will be special assistant to the president and National Security Council press secretary. He now serves as director of strategic communications and planning at the State Department. Prior to that, he was Laura Bush’s press secretary.
While working for Mrs. Bush, Johndroe did an “Ask the White House” online chat.
Here’s the third question. It came from Beverly:
“You’re cute. Are you single? And has Mrs. Bush ever tried to fix up with anyone? I have heard her comments on how the president has been quite the matchmaker in this White House.
Johndroe’s reply: “Mrs. Bush has pointed out some cute girls to me before. I think she is following the president’s lead in being a matchmaker. I’ll let you know if any of them work out.”
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TANCREDO URGES CITGO BOYCOTT
Rep. Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican who has gained national prominence as a strong critic of illegal immigration, is turning his ire at Venezuelen President Hugo Chavez.
In protest of Chavez’s recent speech at the United Nations, in which he called president Bush “the devil,” Tancredo is urging the Bush administration to ban federal employees from using government credit cards to purchase gasoline at Citgo, the Venezuelan government’s oil subsidiary.
Tancredo said that Chavez’s “delusional outburst” was an insult to the entire country and that “it is time for U.S. taxpayers to stop pouring money into the pockets of this despot.”
In addition, he said in a press release: “Americans can make their own private decisions about whether or not they want to purchase CITGO gasoline products, but U.S. taxpayers certainly should not be compelled to bankroll Chavez’s menacing rise. Banning the use of government credit cards to purchase CITGO gasoline would be a good start."
The Congressman sent a letter requesting the boycott to Thomas Dryer, acting associate administrator for Congressional affairs at the General Services Administration. It can be seen at: http://www.tancredo.house.gov/press/press_releases.aspx
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Let Saigon be Saigon’s
President Bush heads to Vietnam next month, making a question about that upcoming trip a must-ask when former Texas Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes spoke at the National Press Club in Washington Wednesday evening.
It was during the 2004 campaign that Barnes acknowledged that as speaker of the Texas House he had found a National Guard slot for young George W. Bush, then the son of a Houston congressman, during the Vietnam War. Barnes said he acted at the behest of a Bush family friend.
Any advice for Bush as he prepares for his first-ever trip to Vietnam long after the Guard stint that kept him out of the war?
“It’s a lot safer than it was when he didn’t go the first time,” Barnes quipped.
Barnes was at the National Press Club to speak about his book, “Barn Burning Barn Building,” an account of his long years at and near the power centers in Austin and Washington.
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Isn’t anybody named Smith anymore?
Some names are more difficult to pronounce than others. Take Gonyea, for example. Or Abramowitz.
So then, what’s a president to do when confronted with such monikers? Cut and run would be the answer.
At today’s Rose Garden news conference, President Bush looked to the front row and recognized National Public Radio’s Don Gonyea for a question.
“Let’s see,” said Bush. “Yes, sir, Mr. NPR. Welcome to the front row.”
For the record, it’s gon-yay, kind of like it is spelled.
A few minutes later, Bush turned to Michael Abramowitz of the Washington Post.
“Washington Post man,” said Bush, moments later referring to him as “Mike.”
For the record, it’s a-bram-o-witz, just like it’s spelled.
Another Rose Garden sidenote: For some reason, upon entry, Karl Rove was doing a Bill Clinton impression, complete with the familiar raised thumb. Not a bad impression, either, as he said something about northwest Arkansas and Fayetteville.
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Reporter’s attire suits Bush
Here’s the latest from Mr. Fashion.
Two months after he dissed a reporter’s seersucker suit, President Bush had kind words – mostly – for the journalistic wardrobe he encountered at today’s Rose Garden news conference.
“If I might say,” Bush told NBC’s Kevin Corke, “that is a beautiful suit.”
Corke offered thanks on behalf of his tailor, leading to this additional presidential praise: “And I can’t see anybody else that even comes close.”
Bush then corrected himself to compliment the suit warn by CNN’s Suzanne Malveaux.
The president was not as charitable when CBS’ Jim Axelrod prefaced his question by saying, “My best suit’s in the cleaners.”
“That’s not even a suit,” Bush correctly noted about Axelrod’s sport-coat-and-slacks combination.
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Poll: Nelson 61, Harris 33
Sen. Bill Nelson is still way ahead of Rep. Katherine Harris in Florida’s U.S. Senate race, according to the latest Quinnipiac University poll.
Among likely voters, the poll found Nelson leading Harris 61 percent to 33 percent with 6 percent undecided.
If there was a ray of hope for Harris it was that 18 percent of likely voters said they could change their minds before the election.
Nelson’s lead among all registered voters was slightly less, at 56 - 31 with 11 percent undecided. Nelson’s margin among all registered voters has declined since late July when he led 61 - 24.
Harris still has a wide lead over Nelson among GOP voters, 67 - 27, but Democrats are even more solidly behind Nelson, 85 - 10. Independent voters also overwhelmingly support Nelson, 65 percent to 26 percent.
“Congresswoman Harris has made some progress in her race against Sen. Nelson, but with four weeks until the election, it isn’t nearly enough to make her a serious threat to the incumbent,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, in a news release.
“Floridians, by almost a two-to-one margin, still view her unfavorably — an indication of just how difficult a task she faces. In order to win, she’ll have to convince Floridians she is not who they think she is,” Brown continued.
The poll found that only 20 percent of voters had a favorable opinion of Harris, while 37 percent were unfavorable, 16 percent were mixed and 26 percent and said they hadn’t heard enough to form an opinion.
Women were toughest on Harris, with 40 percent of female voters giving her an unfavorable rating. Only 16 percent of women gave her a favorable rating.
Overall, Nelson received a 31 percent favorable rating compared to 12 percent unfavorable, 19 percent mixed and 38 percent who hadn’t heard enough to form an opinion. Nelson received a 31 percent favorable rating from women, and 24 percent unfavorable. He had a 29 percent favorable rating from men, and 17 percent unfavorable.
Despite Nelson’s lead, Brown said that “for a politician who has held statewide office for more than a decade, Sen. Nelson’s profile is surprisingly fuzzy. Four in 10 voters say they need to know more about him before they can decide if they view him favorably or unfavorably.”
“But it doesn’t matter because Congresswoman Harris is so weak. She is losing a quarter of the Republican vote and more than 60 percent of the independent vote and getting only half of the white evangelical vote — a recipe for electoral disaster for a Republican in Florida,” Brown said.
Among likely voters, the poll — conducted between Oct. 3 and Oct. 5 — had a margin of error of 3.5 percent.
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Tony’s road trips
Administration spokesman Tony Snow, who has acknowledged his participation at GOP fundraising events is an unprecedented role for a White House press secretary, today said he would subtract a vacation day to make up for his absence from the building last Friday when he went to Kentucky and Ohio to do events for Republican candidates.
But, alas, according to an asterisk note at the bottom of the official transcript of today’s White House briefing, Snow will not have to skip a day of vacation to make up for his political travel.
“Mr. Snow, like other commissioned officers in the White House, is construed to be on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and therefore is not required to track vacation or leave time,” said the note. “As such, the law permits him to engage in political activity (such as speaking at fundraising events) during normal working hours without the paperwork required of employees who are on a leave system.”
Snow’s political fundraising schedule continues this week with a Thursday stop in Wisconsin and weekend events in Iowa and Illinois, including an event for embattled House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.
Snow said his White House job always takes precedence over his political travel, and he would cancel a political trip if news developments demanded such.
“It’s one of those things where you figure out, you use your judgment on it,” he said, adding, “And the point I’ve made is if it does interfere with the day job and it starts to detract from it then I stop doing it.”
While he was gone last Friday, Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino pinch hit at the two daily White House briefings with reporters.
“I think Dana did a terrific job,” Snow said.
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A Grant, Six Months and A Ton of Work
OMB Watch, a nonpartisan budget watchdog group, spent six months and just under $200,000 to create a massive database of most types of federal spending.
The group publicly launched its federal spending database Tuesday (www.FedSpending.org) more than a year before the federal government plans to launch its own database of federal spending, which is estimated to cost millions of dollars.
The time and cost difference between the two databases prompts the question of why the government’s version will cost so much more.
Gary Bass, director of OMB Watch, said that the government database will be more extensive in that it will include all types of government spending.
The FedSpending.org database includes data from the Federal Assistance Awards Data System, which covers financial assistance but only for domestic spending and not all agencies report to the system. And the data comes from the Federal Procurement Data System, which covers contracts but only for those agencies required to report contracts under the federal acquisition regulations. This excludes Congress and some agencies.
Bass said he hopes that the new database will serve as a prototype for the government run database.
The funding for the database came from the Sunlight Foundation, a new nonprofit dedicated to teaching the public about Congress through new technologies.
The FedSpending.org database includes data from the Federal Assistance Awards Data System, which covers financial assistance but only for domestic spending and not all agencies report to the system. And the data comes from the Federal Procurement Data System, which covers contracts but only for those agencies required to report contracts under the federal acquisition regulations. This excludes Congress and some agencies.
Bass said he hopes that the new database will serve as a prototype for the government run database.
The funding for the database came from the Sunlight Foundation, a new nonprofit dedicated to teaching the public about Congress through new technologies.
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CHAMBLISS OFFICE TOPS IN TRAVEL
The corruption scandal that engulfed Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his friends in high places has prompted renewed scrutiny of congressional travel paid for by private interest groups.
The Center for Responsive Politics launched a new database Tuesday on its Website (www.opensecrets.org) that lists congressional travel from July of 2005 to August 21 of this year. Georgia Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss and his staff took more trips than any other lawmaker’s office.
Chambliss, the powerful chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and/or his staff took 53 trips during that time frame at a cost of $84,431. That makes Chambliss’ office first among lawmakers in terms of number of congressional trips taken and second, behind Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, in terms of cost, according to the data amassed by the center.
"By providing these trips, corporations, trade associations, labor unions and other private interests get politicians on their turf, to see and hear their side of an issue-and their side only. The average citizen isn't invited to ride along in the golf cart," Sheila Krumholz, acting director of the nonpartisan center.
Krumholz said Chambliss aides “repeatedly neglected” to fill in the line on the travel disclosure form indicating where he and his aides actually went.
Krister Holladay, Chambliss' chief of staff, said his staff had consistently filled the travel disclosure forms out correctly.
Holladay defended the trips as necessary fact-finding missions to learn more about the state of agriculture and the impact that Washington regulations have on local businesses and farms.
Most of the trips were taken by Chambliss’ staff or where the senator was invited to speak at a conference, Holladay said. The trips included a visit to Minnesota in January hear concerns of the Minnesota Corn Growers. “It’s hardly Bermuda,” he said. The trips in Chambliss’ case were not about luxury, but about finding out the needs of groups like the Dairy Farmers of America or rural healthcare in Georgia.
” I think it (the database) leaves a false perception about what the staff is doing,” said Holladay, who estimates that the senator has more than 70 employees between the Agriculture Committee, his personal staff in Washington and his staff in Georgia.
The senator prefers his staff to get out of the office to see how programs work, Holladay said. He wants staffers to understand the issues, not just read about them. He wants them to be able to provide real and meaningful answers, not just Washington lingo, Holladay said.
Permalink | | Categories: Colorado, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Washington
What the secretary meant to say…
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings’ opening remarks at today’s White House summit on school violence included weapons-related rhetoric perhaps not quite right for an event sparked by the most recent round of shootings in U.S. schools.
“So I’m very glad that your organizations are here,” she said. “And there will be a little call to arms before the day is over about things that we can do and continue to do together to make sure every community is as prepared as possible.”
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Big bang theories
This one could develop during the day, but White House Press Secretary Tony Snow this morning took some steps toward downplaying the significance of the nuclear test that North Korea announced Sunday.
As part of announcing that U.S. intelligence still has not confirmed whether there was a nuclear test, Snow said the realm of possibilities includes that North Korea simply used something “old and off the shelf” and not something new and nuclear.
“This is a question simply worth posing,” he said.
During a morning session with White House reporters, Snow got into a discussion with the New York Times’ Jim Rutenberg about whether the North Korean claim of a nuclear test was a “big deal.”
Rutenberg, in a question, referred to it as a “massive event.”
“A massive event?” said Snow, spokesman for a White House that urged the U.N. Security Council into emergency session on Monday to deal with it.
Rutenberg then said it was “a big-deal event.”
“A big-deal event?” Snow said.
“It’s not?” said Rutenberg.
“It was an event,” Snow replied, adding, “The earth moved,” a reference to seismic measurements that recorded the event.
In the end, Snow said it was “an important deal” because North Korea, merely by claiming to have set off a nuke, had defied international cautions against such behavior.
Asked if the White House now is trying to play down the significance of the North Korean announcement, Snow said, “No. I was just being snarky with Rutenberg.”
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Ah, that’s Wolf, not Chris…
Name recognition is as important in Washington as anywhere - and, apparently, just as tough to come by.
As CNN veteran Wolf Blitzer interviewed New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson on live television Monday, a competing cable news network - MSNBC - was airing its earlier taped interview with the same source.
As a former Clinton administration envoy to North Korea, Richardson was in demand a day after Pyongyang test-fired a nuclear weapons.
Confused by the intense coverage, Richardson closed out his CNN interview by saying “Thanks Chris,” apparently mistaking the grey-haired and famously bearded Blitzer for the blond and baby-faced Chris Matthews.
“I don’t know who Chris is,” Blitzer joked before playfully reminding his guest of his well known moniker.
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Kickbusch at White House
No way the president could let this one slip by without comment at today’s Hispanic Heritage Month celebration in the East Room.
“I am proud to be here with Lieutenant Colonel Consuelo Kickbusch. She’s the winner of the Hispanic Heritage Award 2006. Interesting name: Kickbusch. Sounds like a political campaign,” Bush said.
Kickbusch, who retired from the Army in 1996, is a Laredo native. She is the founder of Educational Achievement Services and is a motivational speaker.
Bush also welcomed “his royal highness, Prince Felipe de Borbon, the crown prince of the kingdom of Spain.”
“Please give your best to His Majesty and your mom,” Bush said. “And I will do the same on behalf of you to my father and Her Majesty, my mother.”
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Timing is Everything
Release of the latest edition of the George Washington University Battleground 2006 Poll is supposed to be a breaking-news event.
On Thursday morning, political reporters gathered at the Sofitel Lafayette Square Hotel, near the White House, to hear pollsters divulge the latest results.
But instead of getting a scoop, reporters found themselves peering into a time capsule, learning what Americans were still thinking back in the day.
The poll was conducted Sept. 24 to 27. The sex scandal involving Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., began breaking on Sept. 28. He resigned on Sept. 29.
Since then, the Foley fallout has dominated the news. The new poll captures none of it.
For what it’s worth, the poll shows that even in pre-scandal days, the Democratic Party enjoyed an eight-point advantage over Republicans on a generic congressional ballot (49 percent to 41 percent). The majority of likely voters believe the country is on the wrong track (62 percent) while a majority (52 percent) think the country is worse off than four years ago.
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The first lady meets Miss Diva
Here’s the first few lines - verbatim - from First Lady Laura Bush’s radio interview on Wednesday with AM 1700 Teen Radio in Buffalo:
Q. This is AM 1700. I am Miss Diva, Amber Bellamy, here with the first lady, the first lady, Mrs. Laura Bush. Wow, it’s a great experience.
MRS. BUSH: Thanks, Amber.
Q And I’m here with Mrs. Bush and Amber Bellamy. This is DJ Whiter. We’re here with Mrs. Bush, like Amber, Miss Diva, said.
Q Mrs. Bush, the first lady, this is a great experience, wow.
Q Yes, real great.
The interview allowed Mrs. Bush to promote her Helping America’s Youth initiative.
Let’s listen in a little more:
Q. In Buffalo today, a lot of our committees are being swiped away because of the funding. So now it’s like, if it wasn’t for your Buffalo, I couldn’t meet teen radio, I wouldn’t be able to meet you, which is a wonderful experience. But we don’t have — there’s really nothing for the teens to do anymore because no more funding.
MRS. BUSH: Well, that’s a problem, and Helping America’s Youth is not a funding program. It does support community groups around the country — or I’ve visited community groups around the country that do receive federal funding. But not all of them do. Some are faith-based, some are supported by different churches or mosques or synagogues. Others are just started by groups that want to do something good and raise their own money privately, without federal funding.
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Facebook Foley Follies
Mark Foley has achieved a cult following on the Internet social network Facebook.
More than 30 message groups refer to Foley in either titles or descriptions. Groups range from the tongue-in-cheek “I WAS a House Page, and Mark Foley Weirded Me Out!” to “LBAMF” (Little Boys Against Mark Foley), and “Mark Foley is on my Buddy List.”
The 155-member group “Rep Foley: donate your campaign money to help exploited children.” lists five Foley office contact numbers and says, “Tell him that he has a chance to do a good thing and start to repair the wrongs he’s done and his reputation, but just issuing a statement isn’t going to cut it.”
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Banquet Fodder
The Mark Foley scandal is already joke fodder on the Washington banquet scene.
Last night, at a dinner roasting former CBS anchorman Bob Schieffer to raise money for the Spina Bifida Association, master of ceremonies Mark Shields began the evening with this question: “Do you know how they separate the men from the boys on Capitol Hill? The answer is, they don’t.”
Shields said that until the scandal broke, Foley “had been cruising” for the election.
Former Fed chief Alan Greenspan joked that he was glad to be a roaster “even if I was a last minute replacement for a former congressman from Florida.”
Foley wasn’t the only politician who was targeted for jokes. Don Imus told Schieffer that if he couldn’t find his car keys he could “get a ride with Patrick Kennedy.” When the crowd groaned, Imus quipped that “it could have been worse,” an unspoken reference to Patrick’s father, Ted Kennedy.
Then, turning his attention to George Allen’s troubles, Imus said “Mel Gibson has called Sen. Allen and said he wants his campaign donation back.”
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RUMSFELD IN NICARAGUA, A BOOST FOR THE RIGHT?
MANAGUA, Nicaragua - Donald Rumsfeld is in town, headlining the 7th annual Defense Ministers of the Americas conference.
It will be interesting to see whether he makes any comments about Nicaragua’s upcoming election and the possibility that Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega could return to power.
U.S. officials like Ambassador Paul Trivelli and Congressman Dan Burton have come under fire in the Nicaraguan media for what many see as meddling in the country’s internal affairs. The United States is widely considered to be behind an effort to unite right-wing parties in Nicaragua to ensure that Ortega doesn’t win. Ortega leads the polls, but not with enough support to avoid a second-round of voting.
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