The Blue State

Federal spending increased 23% under Republican Congress

President Bush is threatening to veto at least nine out of twelve appropriations bills that were passed by Congressional Democrats before the August recess.  On Thursday, Bush slammed Democrats for what he called reckless spending:

"That's a lot of money -- even for career politicians in Washington."

Maybe the President and his party forget that when they had control of the Executive and Legislative branches, spending was significantly out of control.  In fact, according to the Heritage Foundation -- a conservative think tank -- spending after inflation increased by 23% between 2001 and 2006:

Some conservatives have questioned Bush's commitment to fiscaldiscipline, noting — as the Heritage Foundation did in a March report —that federal spending increased 23% after inflation from 2001 to 2006.Bush did not veto any appropriations bills passed by RepublicanCongresses, which included hikes for defense, homeland security,entitlements, education and thousands of special-interest items calledearmarks that are tacked onto spending bills at lawmakers' requests.

And now suddenly Bush pretends to be shocked when Democrats try to pass appropriations bills, which must be signed into law or else the government cannot function.

The Republican House and Senate campaigns will attempt to make this a big issue in 2008.  They will say that spending has increased even more under the Democratic Congress.  That might turn out to be true -- but only because in the waining weeks before Democrats took the gavel, Republicans decided not to pass 11 appropriations bills and instead leave them for the Democrats to deal with.  Because these burdens were given to the Democrats, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi were left with two options:

• Don't pass the appropriations bills, and let funding for federal agencies run out.
• Pass the appropriations bills, but get unfairly blamed for spending increases in Washington.

They picked the second option, and are getting blamed even though the government must get funding in order to function.

Bush to veto 6 million children out of health coverage

The House of Representatives voted along partisan lines to pass a health care bill that would cover 6 million more children.  That would mean six million more kids getting regular physicals, immunizations and other preventative care so that down the road many of them won't require pricey emergency procedures that taxpayers usually end up paying for.

To President Bush and most Republicans, this is a horrible idea.  Since the measure passed the House, it heads to the Senate for debate.  In a statement, the White House issued a veto threat, saying the plan "clearly favors government-run health care over private health insurance."

This bill will likely not make it through the Senate.  Instead, a bipartisan group of Senators support a more scaled back proposal, which increases funding for the program by $35 billion.  It doesn't beat the $47 billion in the House bill -- but it's still not bad.  Bush says he would veto either bill.

What the President wants instead is a bill that only increases federal funding for the program by $5 billion.  But according to columnist Art Levine, Bush's plan guts states of resources:

Bush’s proposed $5 billion increase in funding to the program would still leave nearly 20 stateswithout sufficient funds to cover all those now enrolled. Bush opposesmajor expanded funding for SCHIP because he’d like to link the programwith his dead-in-the-water proposals to offer tax credits or deductionsto help people pay for high-cost, often exclusionary private insuranceon their own.

It is interesting how the Republican Party brags about being for states rights, yet their policies of unfunded mandates actually hurt states and empower the federal government.  No Child Left Behind and the Patriot Act are two perfect examples.

Articles of Impeachment against Alberto Gonzales

In the Blue Radar this morning, I touched on the fact that Congressman Jay Inslee (D-WA) would submit a resolution for articles of impeachment against Alberto Gonzales today.  What I didn't know was that the House coalition sponsoring this bill was extremely diverse in ideology, and almost all of the lawmakers practiced law.

Here is a copy of the impeachment resolution:

Directing the Committee on the Judiciary to investigate whether AlbertoR. Gonzales, Attorney General of the United States, should be impeachedfor high crimes and
misdemeanors.
1 Resolved, That the Committee on the Judiciary shall
2 investigate fully whether sufficient grounds exist for the
3 House of Representatives to impeach Alberto R. Gonzales,
4 Attorney General of the United States, for high crimes
5 and misdemeanors.

On Sunday, Senator Pat Leahy (D-VT), Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said he would give Alberto Gonzales one week to re-clarify his statements from last week's testimony.  Gonzales' statements have already been contradicted by federal documents and the FBI Director.  But as of this morning, according to Newsweek, Gonzales stands by his story.

That means many Democrats will stand by impeachment as the most appropriate option.

Special Counsel or Impeachment -- It's Bush's Choice

Today on CBS' Face the Nation, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said his committee will give Alberto Gonzales one week to re-clarify his statements.  Last week both documents and the FBI Director contradicted the testimony of Gonzales a few days prior.  Leahy is giving Gonzales one last chance and then the gloves are off:

"He has a week to correct it if he wants," Sen. Patrick Leahy,D-Vermont, said. "If he doesn't correct it, then I think that there areso many errors in there that the pressure will be very, very heavy,whether it's a special prosecutor, special counsel efforts within the –within the Congress."

This next part is where it gets tricky.  Obviously the Judiciary Committee prefers to have a special counsel.  But that may not happen.  Congress can request a special counsel.  Ultimately though, the decision is made by Solicitor General Paul Clement.  The problem is that Clement is a Bush official, and may be instructed by Dick Cheney not to appoint a special counsel for fear of it opening the executive branch up to further investigations regarding the legality of the warrantless eavesdropping program.

Even though the congressional request can be denied, the Democrats still have political leverage.  Judiciary Committee Chairman can call for impeachment of Gonzales.  So in other words, the Democrats' message to the Administration should be this: allow Clement to appoint a special counsel, or else face an impeachment trial for their Attorney General.

Why Does Murtha Fear a 25% President?

In the post-2004 political era, nothing ticks off progressive Democrats more than when politicians allow boldness to be trumped by political calculation.  Voters respect courage, not slogans that went through five focus groups before ever being uttered on camera. 

However, even though there certainly is too much political calculation today, having at least some respect for strategy sure beats not having a brain at all.  Unfortunately, some Democrats appear to lack both boldness and political calculation.  For whatever reason, they are scared of a President whose approval rating is at 25%.  The Democratic House majority is drafting a much weaker Iraq bill that would not require all troops to leave Iraq until Bush says so.  Even John Murtha supports this plan:

Early in the week, rumors  were spreading that Rep. John P. Murtha (Pa.), one of the first pro-war Democrats to turn against the conflict,was apparently prepared to drop the spring deadline for troop pulloutsthat House and Senate Democrats had been demanding for months.Specifics of his plan were hard to come by, and even Democratic leaderswere in the dark.

Since the surge began, the political and military situations have grown more unstable.  So if anything, Democrats like Murtha should be asking for more demands than they did a few months ago, not less.

Rove Subpoenaed -- adding to very productive week in Congress

The Senate Judiciary Committee today took their biggest step in uncovering the mystery behind the fired US Attorneys.  They subpoenaed White House Adviser Karl Rove and his deputy, Scott Jennings.  Rove and Jennings will be forced to show up at a hearing on August 2nd.  It is expected that the Bush Administration will fight this subpoena.

Here is a quick refresher of Congress' busy week, spearheaded by Senator Pat Leahy (D-VT) and House Rep. John Conyers (D-MI):

• MONDAY: House Judiciary Committee handed down contempt charges against former White House Counsel Harriet Miers and current White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolton.
• TUESDAY: Senate Judiciary Committee confronted Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, as he evaded questions from both Republican and Democrat committee members.
• WEDNESDAY: Alberto Gonzales' testimony the day before was contradicted by federal documents.  Lawmakers raised the concern that Gonzales could face perjury charges.
• THURSDAY: Senate Judiciary Committee subpoenaed Karl Rove and Scott Jennings.

UPDATE (4:00 PM ET): Here is a copy of the subpoena handed down by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

House Democrats again cede moral high ground to Bush

As we get closer to September, one might think that Democrats would start acting a lot tougher in preparation for their September confrontation with President Bush.  Not so.  They continue to be intimidated by a President with a 25% approval rating.  Their latest Iraq bill, although it could gain strong Republican support, would write into law that President Bush determines when the last troops leave Iraq:

House Democrats have drafted new Iraq legislation they hope will appealto Republicans fed up with the war: Start withdrawing troops in twomonths but leave it up to President Bush to decide when to complete thepullout.

The vote will come next week, as members take up a $460 billion billcovering military spending for 2008. Another vote could come again inSeptember, after Iraq commander Gen. David Petraeus delivers along-anticipated assessment on the war and Congress considers a $142billion measure needed to finance the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Imagine if the White House called the Democrats' bluff and went along with the bill.  The Democrats would be responsible for enabling the President to keep troops in Iraq through the end of his term.

Freshman Senators Take Action to Investigate Defense Contracting Abuse

Nine freshmen Senators are launching an independent commission that will investigate wartime contracting abuses.  Congressional sources tell The Blue State that this bipartisan commission will be announced tomorrow during a press conference at 3 PM ET.  What they will do is submit an amendment to a pending defense authorization bill that sets up the independent, bipartisan commission to uncover contracting fraud and offer solutions to prevent future abuse.  The amendment would also expand the authority of the Inspector General, whose job it is to investigate such abuses.

The Senators that came up with this proposal were Jim Webb of Virginia, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Jon Tester of Montana, Ben Cardin of Maryland, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.

Bob Corker (R-TN), the only freshman Republican Senator, chose not to take part in this effort.

I know it can be frustrating to see the Democrats not do more tochallenge the Bush Administration on Iraq -- almost as if the 2006election didn't mean anything.  Actually, the election was importantbecause we brought in a class of freshman Senators whose campaigncontributors included people like you and me.  They are less indebtedto the special interest than they are to those who got them into power -- us!  Whenever that happens, you see efforts like this to push back against the establishment.

Republican Report Card for ’08 Senate Elections

34 seats are opening up in the US Senate next year, and I felt it might be a good opportunity for everyone to take a good long look at some of the incumbents that will be running for re-election next year. Below, I have assembled a brief report of all Republican Senators that will be defending their seats next fall.

Due to the vast number of references to quotes and comments, each Senator's name is linked to their Wikipedia profile. All references as well as links to their official websites can be found there.

• Lamar Alexander TN - In 1991, while serving as George H.W. Bush’s Education Secretary, accredited TRACS (The Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools. It's because of this guy that Liberty University has accreditation.

• Saxby Chambliss GA – 2002 campaign was based on themes of national defense and security, by using television ads that paired images of his opponent, Max Cleland with Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, and for questioning the commitment to homeland security of his opponent. Cleland is a triple amputee and decorated Vietnam veteran. There's nothing like seeing a guy who never served in the military say a triple amputee from Vietnam that he doesn't care about the safety of his country.

• Norm Coleman MN - In 2002, the Bush Administration persuaded Coleman to run against Paul Wellstone for Senate rather than try for the governor's chair. In his first year in office he voted with President Bush's position on bills 98 percent of the time.On January 22, 2007 Coleman, along with fellow Republican Senators John Warner and Susan Collins, joined the bipartisan opposition to President Bush's planned troop increase in Iraq. This is the guy Al Franken is taking on. Tell the public this guy voted along with Bush 98% of the time his first year, and I think we see where his loyalties lie.

• Susan Collins ME -On October 21, 2003, Collins was one of the three Republican Senators to oppose the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act and voted with the Senate Democrats. In January, 2007, Senator Collins cosponsored a bipartisan, non-binding resolution with John Warner, Norm Coleman, Gordon Smith, and Ben Nelson that showed the Senate's disapproval of the President's plan to send 21,500 more troops to Iraq. I got nothing here. Collins seems to vote her conscience rather than her party. She routinely breaks ranks with the GOP, and opposed the surge.

• John Cornyn TX – Claimed that it was the fault of “raw political or ideological decisions” that multiple violent crimes and death threats were made against US judges. Yeah. Hey you judges out there. If a criminal you sent to jail threatens your life, just remember, it's your fault for being such an "activist."

• Elizabeth Dole NC - According to www.congress.org, in 2007 Dole was the 95th most powerful Senator out of 100 (45th among Senate Republicans). Not much else to say there. Just a fun fact; Tim Johnson SD, (the Senator that had a brain hemorrhage in 2006 and is still in recovery,) is ranked 51st in the same poll.

• Pete Domenici NM - Called and pressured then-United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico David Iglesias to speed up indictments in a federal corruption investigation, immediately prior to an election, that involved at least one former Democratic state senator. When Iglesias said an indictment wouldn't be handed down until at least December, Domenici said "I'm very sorry to hear that" — and the line went dead. Iglesias was fired one week later by the Bush Administration. With Gonzales staying firmly in place at the DOJ, this scandal isn't going to disappear before the '08 elections and Pete might be getting his own pink slip in the mail.
  

• Mike Enzi WY - Enzi was ranked by National Journal as the sixth-most conservative United States Senator in their March 2007 conservative/liberal rankings. He was one of fourteen Senators to vote against the Iraq Funding bill in May 2007 despite his strong support of the war because he opposes the clauses of the bill which increase domestic spending. What does it mean when you vote for the right cause for all the wrong reasons?

• Lindsey Graham SC - Graham has been an adamant supporter of "comprehensive immigration reform" and of S. 2611, the McCain-Kennedy Bill of 2006 as well as the equally hotly debated S. 1348 of 2007, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007. Graham has also been in the news because of his comments stemming from his latest trip to Iraq. If this doesn't show this guy's out of touch, I don't know what does.
  

• Jim Inhofe OK - In a July 28, 2003 Senate speech, Inhofe claimed to offer "compelling evidence that catastrophic global warming is a hoax. In his speech, Inhofe also claimed that, "satellite data, confirmed by NOAA balloon measurements, confirms that no meaningful warming has occurred over the last century." However the satellite temperature record corroborates the well-documented warming trend noted in surface temperature measurements. Additionally, the satellite record begins in 1979 and the balloon record effectively in 1958, so it is unclear what Inhofe means by "last century". OK, so he doesn't really know what a century is. In all fairness, maybe he doesn't know what global warming is either.

• Mitch McConnell KY - McConnell remains one of the strongest supporters of the American invasion of Iraq, which he considers a central part of the "War on Terrorism." He supported government action to help cigarette makers, Las Vegas casinos, the pharmaceutical industry, credit card lenders, coal mine owners, and others who gave large amounts of money. Woo ha! War, smokes, gambling, and drugs! I think we may have found where Elvis has been hiding all this time. Seriously though, get out.
  

• Pat Roberts KS - Voted to suspend habeas corpus provisions for anyone deemed by the Executive Branch an "unlawful combatant," barring them from challenging their detentions in court.The nonpartisan League of Conservation Voters has given Roberts a score of zero on environmental issues for 2006. In that year, the senator voted to increase offshore oil drilling, to include provisions for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the House Budget Amendment, to deny funding for low-income energy assistance and for environmental stewardship, and effectively to exempt Army Corps of Engineers project analyses from independent review. But there's no need  to worry; as long as you're not deemed an "enemy combatant", and don't require the environment. The only people that should be voting for Roberts are the astronauts in the space station.

• Jeff Sessions AL - Had once labeled the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) "un-American," "Communist-inspired." Stated about the Ku Klux Klan, “I used to think they're OK,” until he learned that some Klan members were “pot smokers.” Sessions was one of only nine opponents of Senator John McCain's anti-torture amendment. Sessions supports Vice President Dick Cheney's proposal to exempt the CIA from any ban on torture. Find a handful of pictures of Sessions and Cheney together and post them on every street corner from now until November!

• Gordon Smith OR - In December 2006, spoke out against the Iraq war for the first time, after having voted in support of it four years prior. Smith said that to continue the current policy in Iraq "may even be criminal". Several weeks after stating his opposition to the occupation of Iraq, however, Smith declined to sign onto a bipartisan resolution to oppose the President's plan to escalate troop levels in Iraq by 21,500. In March 2007, Smith was one of only two Republicans to vote for a resolution aimed at withdrawing most American combat troops from Iraq in 2008. To his credit, he was one of the earlier Republicans to come out against the war. Now he needs to get out and start co-sponsoring some legislation to end it. Talk is cheap Gordon.

• Ted Stevens AK - In December 2003, the Los Angeles Times reported that the Stevens had taken advantage of lax Senate rules to use his political influence to earn a large amount of his personal wealth. In late May 2007, the Anchorage Daily News reported that The FBI and a federal grand jury were investigating an "extensive" remodeling project at Stevens' home in Girdwood. I've been talking Ted Stevens ad nauseam lately. Read the other article on him and you be the judge.

• John E. Sununu NH - Voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment and has voted to require child safety locks with the transfer of handguns.He was one of a small group of Republicans to vote in favor of banning loans to China for any nuclear projects, and in September of 2005 he voted to disapprove a new rule set in place by the Administrator of the EPA delisting coal and other energy sources from the Clean Air Act. He was among the group of conservative Republicans to vote against the prescription drug bill passed in 2003. He also has become well known as one of the five Republican Senators who joined Democrats in a filibuster of the USA PATRIOT Act renewal conference report. This caused the Republican leadership to extend the original legislation until a compromise bill was forged.In October 2006, Sununu voted in support of the Military Commissions Act of 2006, suspending the right of habeas corpus for non-citizen detainees. On March 14, 2007, Sununu became the first Republican senator to call for the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales after a controversy over U.S. Attorney firings. Sununu cited his anger with the mismanagement by Gonzales and the lack of trustworthiness by GOP Senators towards Gonzales. He's just moderate enough to stick around in New Hampshire, and even though the Dems have his seat in their sights for the '08 election, he's been breaking ranks with the Bush Administration often enough to be able to distance himself from them in his campaign.

• John Barrasso WY - Barrasso was chosen on June 22, 2007, by Democratic Governor Freudenthal to replace the late Senator Craig L. Thomas. Too soon to tell with this guy. Let's see what he does over the next few months before passing judgment.

So there's the breakdown of our Republican Senators who are up for re-election in '08. I certainly hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed compiling it. In addition to those mentioned above, the following Senators have announced they will be retiring or choosing not run for re-election next year: Wayne Allard CO, Thad Cochran MS, Larry Craig ID, Chuck Hagel NE, and John Warner VA.

Gonzales did not tell Congress the truth, yet again

In addition to his role in the attorney firing scandal, planning the Administration's detainee policy, and pushing the warrantless eavesdropping program, Alberto Gonzales is in trouble yet again.  This time, the political trouble involves statements Gonzales made to Congress about the Patriot Act.  During an April 17, 2005 testimony in front of a Senate panel, the Attorney General claimed there had not been one case in which civil liberties were violated since the first Patriot Act was signed:

The track record established over the past three years has demonstratedthe effectiveness of the safeguards of civil liberties put in placewhen the Act was passed. There has not been one verified case of civilliberties abuse.

But as John Solomon uncovered this morning, just one week before that 2005 testimony, Gonzales was told by the FBI that the Patriot Act actually was violated.  Also, Gonzales had repeatedly been told of these violations over the previous few months:

Six days earlier, the FBI sent Gonzales a copy of a report that saidits agents had obtained personal information that they were notentitled to have. It was one of at least half a dozen reports of legalor procedural violations that Gonzales received in the three monthsbefore he made his statement to the Senate intelligence committee,according to internal FBI documents released under the Freedom ofInformation Act.

Either Gonzales knowingly mislead Congress, or he did not read the multiple memos that the FBI had sent him.

The Justice Department quickly released a statement downplaying everything:

"The statements from the attorney general are consistent with statements from other officials at the FBI and the department."

Patrick Fitzgerald for Attorney General, anyone?