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Frist Expected to Get Medical Board Fine
“Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist will probably be fined and have to make up for failing to do continuing medical education that Tennessee requires of doctors with active licenses.

“Additional disciplinary action, such as suspending his medical license, is unlikely, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Health said Wednesday….

“In a license renewal form filed with the board earlier this year, Frist certified he had met the state’s continuing education requirement — 40 hours over the previous two years.

“In response to several inquiries from The Associated Press, however, the Tennessee Republican acknowledged Tuesday that he had not done all the work.” (AP)

Taxpayers Pay for Campaigner-in-Chief’s Travel
“Bankrolled almost entirely by taxpayers, President Bush is roaming far and wide on Air Force One to help Republicans retain control of Congress and capture statehouse contests in high-stakes midterm elections.

“In 15 months, including back-to-back fundraisers Wednesday in Little Rock, Ark., and Nashville, Tenn., Bush has collected $166 million for the campaign accounts of 27 Republican candidates, the national GOP and its state counterparts across the country, according to the Republican National Committee.” (AP)

Drug Makers’ Dime Funds Congressional Travel
“Members of Congress and their aides accepted more than $600,000 in free travel from pharmaceutical interests during a 5½-year period in which drug company profits climbed, in part due to federal legislation favorable to the industry.” (CPI)

Senate Panel Won’t Confirm Bush Broadcast Chief
“A White House nominee may lose his job overseeing U.S.-backed international TV and radio services after a Senate committee said on Wednesday it would not vote this year on another term for Kenneth Tomlinson, following a government report that said he used the office for personal gain. . . .

[T]he Republican-controlled Senate Foreign Relations Committee will not take up his nomination this year, panel spokesman Andy Fisher told Reuters. Democrats in Congress have demanded Bush fire Tomlinson.” (Reuters)

Recipient of Lewis Earmarks Opens Office in His District
Trident Systems opened an office in Redlands, Calif. two months ago, shortly after a political blogger noted that the company received earmarks from Lewis yet didn’t do business in California. (Redlands Daily Facts)

Alaska’s Stevens Put a Hold on Pork-Barrel Transparency Bill
“Ending a mystery that had captivated conservative and liberal Internet activists, Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) emerged Wednesday as the senator who secretly held up action on a bill to create a searchable online catalog of federal grants and contracts aimed at helping the general public find out who receives government support.

“The acknowledgment by Stevens ended an innovative exercise in Internet-based political activism. Several blogs had urged readers to call senators and ask whether they had placed a ‘hold’ on the legislation to create the online database. Many activists believed the catalog would make it easier to root out pork-barrel spending.” (LATimes)

Hearings Begin for Marines Accused of Killing Iraqi
“Military prosecutors submitted maps, letters from Iraq and incriminating statements to military courts Wednesday as they argued that two Marines should be tried in the killing of an Iraqi civilian and its alleged coverup. Defense attorneys said the government’s case is thin.” (WaPo, NYT)

Ohio to Delay Destruction of Presidential Ballots
“With paper ballots from the 2004 presidential election in Ohio scheduled to be destroyed next week, the secretary of state in Columbus, under pressure from critics, said yesterday that he would move to delay the destruction at least for several months.” (NYT)

As Money Rolls in to Calif. Legislature, Laws Flow Out
“On Monday, the start of the final four days of the [Calif.] legislative session when 600 bills were awaiting action, interest groups donated at least $193,000, according to information filed with the secretary of state’s office and posted on its website.

“Insurance companies, rental car firms and major pharmaceutical makers were among the donors whose four-figure checks arrived Monday, as legislators were voting on bills that could mean millions in profits or losses in years to come.

“‘The whole thing has turned into an almost 24-7 crazy, obsessive system,’ said attorney Barry Broad, a longtime Capitol lobbyist for the Teamsters union. ‘All this money is corrosive. It is eating away at the credibility of democratic government.'” (LATimes)

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