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 [...]

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.â€? An evangelical [...]

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 [...]

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 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 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 [...]

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 [...]

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. [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]