Lobbyists Find New Congress is Open for Business
“Surprising as it might seem in view of the Democrats’ public rhetoric, business groups are getting their telephone calls returned. And they’re getting plenty of face time with the new House and Senate leaders….
“‘There was a lot more anxiety initially because of not knowing what was going to transpire,’ said Stuart Roy, a member of the prominent Washington lobby shop DCI Group and once an aide to Tom DeLay when DeLay (R-Texas) was House majority leader. Now, Roy said, ‘the anxiety level is down.'” (LA Times)
Ex-FEMA Head Brown: Politics Influenced Katrina Response
Michael Brown, the former head of FEMA, said Friday that the debate over whether to take federal control over New Orleans and other Katrina-afflicted areas was influenced by political considerations. According to a speech Brown gave to students at Metropolitan College of New York, “[s]ome in the White House suggested only Louisiana should be federalized because it was run by a Democrat, Gov. Kathleen Blanco.” (AP)
Padilla’s Attorneys Question His Sanity
After having the “dirty bomber” accusations initially leveled against him by the Bush administration quietly dropped, Jose Padilla is set to go on trial on lesser charges in April. His lawyers, however, “said in court papers that 1,307 days of extreme isolation, abuse and interrogation in a U.S. military prison had left the 36-year-old American too mentally impaired to stand trial for aiding Islamist terrorists in the Middle East, eastern Europe and Africa. They want the charges dropped.” Padilla, was held for over 3 ½ years as an “enemy combatant” without being charged with anything. (Reuters)
Bush Refused Maliki’s Request for no Escalation
In a Nov. 30th, 2006 meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Amman, Jordan, President Bush quickly shot down Maliki’s plan to have “U.S. troops withdraw to the outskirts of Baghdad and let Iraqis take over security in the strife-torn capital.” By the time Bush returned to the states, he was explaining to his military commanders that he didn’t think the plan could work. (The Washington Post)
Central Figure in Corruption Investigation Proving Very Helpful
Michael Wade, the Washington defense contractor who pled guilty to paying then-California Rep. Randall “Duke” Cunningham more than $1 million in bribes, is providing a wealth of useful information to authorities conducting a widening federal corruption probe. As a result, he’s likely to stay out of jail, at least for the immediate future. (U.S. News & World Report)
No More “Secret Holds”?
“Secret holds,” the legislative maneuver that allows a single senator to anonymously obstruct a bill, may not be around for much longer. The ethics bill approved last week by the Senate would force a senator putting a hold on a bill to identify him- or herself within three days. (AP)
Senate Provision Will Make Fundraising More Transparent
Another important part of the ethics package deals with fundraising. The “Senate adopted a measure that, for the first time, would require registered lobbyists to disclose not only the limited money they can donate to candidates personally but also the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars they raise from clients and friends and deliver as sheaves of checks â a tradition known as bundling.” (The New York Times)
House Opens Investigation of GSA Head
“The chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee yesterday opened an investigation into a no-bid contract that the chief of the General Services Administration attempted to give to companies operated by her longtime friend.” (The Washington Post)
Jury Selection Issues Could Foreshadow More Iraq-Related Trouble In Libby Trial
The “slow and contentious” jury selection process in the perjury and obstruction trial of former Dick Cheney chief of staff I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby “may foreshadow a. . . trial constantly interrupted by disputes over how much jurors should hear about the Bush administration’s Iraq war policy.” (AP)
Texas Gov. Reaches Out To Dems
Rick Perry, the Republican governor of Texas, on Friday “met privately in Washington with Texas’ Democrats in Congress”âthe first such meeting since his inauguration in 2000. The meeting was suggested by the Democrats as a way of beginning to repair the damage done by Tom DeLay’s reign as a Texas rep. (Austin American-Statesman)
A Special Report on the Death Penalty
McClatchy Newspapers is running a special report on the state of capital punishment in America. A number of the system’s flaws are examined, including incompetent and underpaid public defenders, appeals courts that overlook attorneys’ errors, and the treatment of defendants with severe psychological impairments. (McClatchy Newspapers)
