Robert Vasquez, county commissioner,
crusades against “an imminent invasion,”
of illegal immigrants from the south, and tries
to have Canyon county declared a disaster area.
That splits the party in Republican Idaho, and
seems at odds with his thoughts of running
for governor or Congress next year. Undaunted
he says, “If I were governor, I would close the
borders of Idaho and […]

Dennis Hastert opposes pork barrel
spending, as any conservative would,
but he does consider the needs of his
birthplace, the largest city in his district.
Aurora University wanted to support
the No Child Left Behind Act so
the Speaker set aside $9.8 million
for their “Institute for Collaboration
in Education and Health Services.�
An evangelical Christian college there
needed a library so $7.5 […]

Fresh from victory over Frist
in the filibuster fight, McCain
steps in to end the Bolton battle.
Democrats shocked the senate, by
defeating a cloture vote, because of
a State Department document snub.
The Majority Leader fussed, McCain
rushed to negotiate a deal. It means
little now, but may tip the primary.

John Thune unseated Senator
Tom Daschle last fall because
as a Republican he would
have the President’s ear, and
could save South Dakota’s
Ellsworth Air Force Base.
That hasn’t worked so he is
sending signals to Bush that
unless he gets help he is
liable to vote against
administration priorities
like Bolton and CAFTA.
Bush hand-picked John to run
last year so he may trade promises
for votes, then […]

Hundreds of pages of recently released
FBI reports confirm accusations of
Guantánamo guards mistreating the Koran,
but the Pentagon insists none precisely
matches what Newsweek reported.
Besides, they can’t find a clogged toilet.

Airline passengers go through
time-consuming searches because
they don’t have clout. Imports
arrive without inspection because
Wal-Mart does. It would cost money
to wait a few days for a container
of cheap underwear from China.
We could easily examine everything
coming into this country, but that
would require hiring and managing
a few thousand people. Republicans
would rather employ companies who
contribute to campaigns, so we ask
exporters […]

Republicans can’t win a war
so they attack purveyors of news,
much easier to fight the messenger
than to challenge the muse.
First they deposed Dan Rather,
then Newsweek was chastised.
They quoted a source about stuff
a forthcoming report surmised.
Now Alabama Congressman
Bachus opined without reason,
Bill Maher saying the army picked
all the low-lying fruit was treason.
If only these once eager hawks,
instead of […]

The race to secure our borders
finally began last year when the
Bush administration awarded a
$10 billion contract for US-VISIT
(United States Visitor and Immigrant
Status Indicator Technology). Finding
an appropriate acronym took time.
The Washington Post says this is
an “indefinite delivery-indefinite
quantity contract” because no one
knows how, if or when the proposed
“virtual border� might be deployed.
It’s built on existing […]

There is peace in the Senate!
How nice.
The next best thing to lice.
We give bad judges life terms.
Oh well,
the justice system can go to hell.
Of course, politicians must keep
their word.
That’s absurd.

Congress, insurers and regulators
all criticize The Bush administrations’
first revision of the Medicare handbook.
The New York Times calls it
“inaccurate, misleading and unclear.�
The draft ignores the coverage gap,
understates the late sign-up penalty,
and mistakenly suggests private plans
offer more benefits than Medicare.
It’s a complicated law, but instead of
reading what Congress passed, maybe
the writers relied on Bush’s […]

Alan Greenspan avoided calling
the housing market a national bubble,
he sees lots of local ones: “froth.�
That’s exciting economic news.
Instead of a loud “Pop!� this
speculation should end with “fizz.�

Dark suits, red ties and charts
dominate C-Span 2’s parade
as Senators star in their charade.
Unlike the party game, they talk,
but what they say is rarely true,
can’t be considered remotely new.
They don’t tell us when they’ll tire,
or this diversion might lose its charm,
until then, they can do no harm.

Demonstrating the planning skills that
created turmoil in the Mid-East, Rumsfeld
prepares to bring chaos to communities
across the country to save 49 billion dollars.
Reductions accrue over 20 years,
ignore offsetting costs. Moving people
to new communities requires schools,
hospitals, roads, even railroad tracks.
Closing bases destroys property values
and personal wealth, increases welfare.
When the nation absorbs these expenses
savings will vanish, like […]

I didn’t read the infamous Newsweek article.
Stories about prison guards mistreating
the Koran have been around for two years.
Retractions are too common to be news.
Then Scott McClellan asked the magazine
to repair the damage by writing about how our
military shows respect for the Muslim religion.
Burying mistakes in half-truths isn’t news either.

Condoleezza Rice demonstrated
diplomatic skill resolving
the deadlock over who would head
the Organization of American States.
Our Mexican candidate tied the one
backed by Venezuela and Cuba 17 to 17.
Condoleezza creatively caved,
and the Chilean socialist won unanimously.
Showing equal dexterity with language
the Secretary of State declared “victory�
for the United States and left. Perhaps she
could employ the same finesse […]

Few projections are good for a year,
Government’s stand up like billboards
in a hurricane, but Bush keeps beating
a 30 year future crisis in Social Security.
His credibility also suffers from Iraq,
Korea and Iran, and isn’t helped by Bolton
or Tony Blair. It’s time to consider the
legacy – lobby for baseball commissioner.

The disgrace of Abugarib leaves us
with a red face, but no one will admit
we had a problem, beyond a team
of rogues acting on their own, like
other groups in a string of prisons.
Fortunately no military officers were
charged with serious offenses. The only
coordination seems to have come from
published White House memos, and
Rumsfeld’s televised press conferences.

John McCain and Ted Kennedy introduce
another thinly disguised amnesty bill on
the grounds we don’t enforce laws against
employers. We don’t, but we could with:
Mothers Against Illegal Immigration.
Remember what MADD did with drunk
driving? Those laws weren’t enforced either,
until mothers proved somebody cared.
Right now a coalition of sleazy business and
government is doing for illegal immigration
what sleazy lawyers and […]

While Bush and Cheney rankle
at anyone suggesting conservation
or mandating higher mileage cars,
they appear to have a secret plan
for reducing oil consumption.
Fifty dollars a barrel hasn’t hurt
the economy as much as expected
because we have less industry than
we used to. Hamburger grills don’t
use as much power as steel mills.
Bush doesn’t say so, but his energy
program depends on […]

Tom DeLay’s testimonial was largely
ceremonial. The New York Times says
he went on the offensive, mocked
Democrats, accused them of “bitter
extremism.� That was offensive.
One speaker asked current and former
House members to stand – not many.
As for White House staff – not any.
The MC said “this doesn’t remind me
of any funeral I’ve been to recently.�
A […]