We noted in an earlier blog item that Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., said he had 140 votes supporting his bid for House majority whip, and we wondered if Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard — who also wants the No. 3 leadership job — knew something Cantor didn’t know. Here is what Tiahrt said today: “I have personally spoken to more than two-thirds of the 232 members in the conference, and well over half of them are firmly undecided. When you take that number, in addition to the firm commitments for Mike Rogers, R-Mich., Zack Wamp, R-Tenn. (other candidates vying for the job) and I, Mr. Cantor’s numbers simply do not add up.” Tiahrt’s candidacy also got a boost this week when he was endorsed by Paul Weyrich, chairman of the conservative Free Congress Foundation.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
An earlier blog item lampooned Judge Samuel Alito for boring senators into supporting him. But Peggy Noonan was amazed by Alito’s ability to sit and listen to senators bloviate without going crazy.
“How does he do it?” she opined in The Wall Street Journal. “This wonderful look of enforced blandness. It’s a low affect tour de force. And it cannot be easy. When Mr. Biden says things like, ‘Try to follow me, Judge Alito,’ as he goes on one of his long, sterile journeys, I wonder if Judge Alito has to control himself with an act of will. I wonder if he has an inner Regis Philbin, and wants to throw out his arms and say, ‘Follow you? If I follow you, we’ll both wind up lost!’ When Mr. Biden says, ‘Now this is a somewhat subtle point,’ I wonder if Judge Alito wants to say, ‘Joe, if it were a subtle point you wouldn’t be making it!’”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
There has been some confusion as to whether any Democrats in Congress took money from lobbyist Jack Abramoff. John Dickerson of Slate explains:
“Abramoff wrote his personal checks to Republicans. GOP stalwarts, anxious to make the scandal a bipartisan one, have pointed out that Democrats may not have received money from Abramoff, but they received money from his clients. It’s true, but those clients don’t appear to have done anything wrong. All they did was hire Abramoff in the hopes that he would be a successful lobbyist: a person who convinces lawmakers to give his clients favorable treatment. By trying to pull in Democrats who merely received political money, GOP partisans indict the whole system of political giving, which in calmer times is not a campaign finance position normally associated with the Republican Party.”
Greed and corruption on Capitol Hill are in no way limited to the GOP, but Dickerson is right: The Abramoff problem is going to be largely a Republican one.
Posted by Melissa Cooley
It’s no wonder that Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and so many state lawmakers support ending taxes on business equipment: The cost would be borne mostly by local governments. And if cities and counties have to raise property taxes to cover their lost revenue –which now totals $200 million a year — well, that’s their problem. This off-loading of responsibility is why a staff attorney with the Tax Foundation in Washington, D.C., wasn’t impressed with the proposed cut. Chris Atkins told The Eagle editorial board this week that rather than force tax cuts on local governments, the state should focus on reducing its own business taxes, such as the corporate franchise tax.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
The following satirical headlines come from the Web Site borowitzreport.com:
BRAD AND ANGELINA’S BABY NAMED SEXIEST FETUS ALIVE; Early Ultrasound Reveals Uber-hot Tot
ALITO SAYS HE HAS NO AGENDA BOOK; Senate Democrats Skeptical of Judge’s Latest Claim
PAT ROBERTSON: SATAN CAUSED CHENEY’S SHORTNESS OF BREATH; Devil Laid Veep Low, Evangelist Says
INDECIPHERABLE CHATTER TURNS OUT TO BE BUSH; Setback for Domestic Spying Program
RETURNED ABRAMOFF DONATIONS ERASE NATIONAL DEBT; Lawmakers Scramble to Shed Trillions in Tainted Cash
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Thank you, Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., for spearheading a government crackdown on human trafficking. The reauthorization act, which President Bush signed this week, grants additional federal funding to combat the smuggling of humans for forced labor or sex, particularly children. As Bush said at the signing ceremony (in photo), the new provisions “will help expand our efforts to combat this brutal crime that steals innocence and destroys lives.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
