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ARCHIVES NEWS Government News History Archives Government Archives  2003
Government Archive
2002
Government Archive
2001
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Bernard
Kerik - Rudolph
Giuliani - 
New
York
- 
Police
- 
Government
- 
Politics
- "Kerik
made millions from agency contractor: Homeland Security
nominee sat on board of stun-gun maker." ... "Bernard Kerik, [Republican]
President Bush's choice to run the Homeland Security Department, made $6.2
million by exercising stock options he received from a company that sold
stun guns to the department — and seeks more business with it." ... "Taser
International was one of many companies that received consulting advice
from Kerik after he left his job as New York City police commissioner in
2001, when he was earning $150,500 a year. Kerik remains on Taser's board
of directors, although the company and the White House said he planned
to sever the relationship." ... "Partnering with former New York Mayor
[Republican] Rudolph Giuliani and also operating independently, Kerik has
had business arrangements with manufacturers of prescription drugs, computer
software and bulletproof materials, as well as companies selling nuclear
power, telephone service, insurance and security advice for Americans working
abroad." ... "Kerik and other former New York City officials joined the
ex-mayor in Giuliani Partners, a consulting firm. In 2003, Kerik became
chief executive officer of an affiliate consulting company, Giuliani-Kerik."
-AP via -MSNBC
- 
- 
- Tom
DeLay
- "GOP
Pushes Rule Change to Protect DeLay's Post." ...
"House Republicans proposed changing their rules last night to allow members
indicted by state grand juries to remain in a leadership post, a move that
would benefit Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) in case he is charged
by a Texas grand jury that has indicted three of his political associates,
according to GOP leaders." ... "House Republicans adopted the indictment
rule in 1993, when they were trying to end four decades of Democratic control
of the House, in part by highlighting Democrats' ethical lapses. They said
at the time that they held themselves to higher standards than prominent
Democrats such as then-Ways and Means Chairman Dan Rostenkowski (Ill.),
who eventually pleaded guilty to mail fraud and was sentenced to prison."
-By Charles Babington -WashingtonPost
Richard
Shelby - Criminal
- 
Terrorism
- 
Intelligence
- Politics
- Federal
- Classified
- Law
- 
Media
- 
Ala
- 
- 
- 
- "War
Costs Exceed Budget, Watchdog Panel Says." ... "Military
operations in Iraq and Afghanistan are running $12.3 billion over budget
this year, and Pentagon officials are trying to make up for the shortfall
by transferring money from other accounts and delaying refurbishment of
worn-out equipment in Iraq, the General Accountability Office said Wednesday."
... "The office, a nonpartisan Congressional agency, estimated that the
Army was running about $9.4 billion short of what had been budgeted. By
putting off other kinds of spending until next year, the military is likely
to run up higher costs in future, said the agency, which was formerly the
General Accounting Office." -By Edmund L. Andrews
-NYTimes
-
- [PDF]
- "The
9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist
Attacks Upon the United States. Official government edition."
(7 MB, 585 pages) ... "The Commission’s Final Report provides a full and
complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11th, 2001,
terrorist attacks, including preparedness for and the immediate response
to the attacks. It also includes recommendations designed to guard against
future attacks." ... "An Executive
Summary (344 KB, 35 pages) of the Final Report is also available."
-GPOAccess.gov/911
-
-
- "Short-Changed
Soldiers: Report: U.S. Army Reservists Encounter
Pay Problems." ... "An overwhelming number of U.S. Army reservists are
having problems getting paid, and many are paid late." ... "A report issued
today by the General Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress,
discovered major problems with the way the Army compensates its reservists."
... "Such problems are causing a considerable hardship for Melinda Delain,
a single mother who had just purchased a new home when her reserve unit
was deployed to Afghanistan." ... "Like everyone else in her medical unit,
she did not receive her full paycheck for three months." ... "In its report,
GAO investigators found that 95 percent of Army reservists had pay problems."
(1, 2)
-ABCNEWS.com
- 
-
-
- Osama
bin Laden
- "9/11
Panel's Report to Offer New Evidence of Iran-Qaeda Ties."
... "The final report of the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks
will offer new evidence of cooperative ties between Iran and Al Qaeda,
including information drawn from intelligence reports suggesting that Iran
provided several of the hijackers with safe passage in the year before
the attacks, government officials said yesterday." ... "The officials emphasized
that the commission had no evidence to suggest that Iranian officials knew
of the Sept. 11 plot. But they said the evidence raised new questions about
why the Bush administration focused on the possibility of Iraqi ties to
Osama bin Laden's terror network after Sept. 11, 2001, when there may have
been far more extensive evidence of an Iranian connection." -By
Philip Shenon -NYTimes
-
-
-
- "9/11
Commission Finds Ties Between al-Qaeda and Iran:
Senior U.S. officials have told TIME that the 9/11 Commission's report
will cite evidence suggesting that the 9/11 hijackers had previously passed
through Iran." ... "A senior U.S. official told TIME that the Commission
has uncovered evidence suggesting that between eight and ten of the 14
"muscle" hijackers—that is, those involved in gaining control of the four
9/11 aircraft and subduing the crew and passengers—passed through Iran
in the period from October 2000 to February 2001. Sources also tell TIME
that Commission investigators found that Iran had a history of allowing
al-Qaeda members to enter and exit Iran across the Afghan border. This
practice dated back to October 2000, with Iranian officials issuing specific
instructions to their border guards—in some cases not to put stamps in
the passports of al-Qaeda personnel—and otherwise not harass them and to
facilitate their travel across the frontier. The report does not, however,
offer evidence that Iran was aware of the plans for the 9/11 attacks."
-By Adam Zagorin and Joe Klein
-TIME
- 
- Enron
- [PDF]
"United
States of America V. Richard A. Causey, Jeffrey K. Skilling, and Kenneth
Lay, Defendents." [65 pages] ... "Superseding
Indictment." -From the "United States District Court
Southern District of Texas Houston Division." via
-FindLaw /LegalNews/Documents
Richard
Pombo
- Government
- Animal
- 
Land
- Law
- Politics
- 
California
- "Profile:
Rep. Richard Pombo." ... "Congressman [Richard Pombo,
California Republican] finds fault with federal environmental rules." ...
"He chairs the House Resources Committee, which drafts many of the nation's
most important environmental laws and oversees 700 million acres of public
land. The budgets of the Forest Service, the National Park Service and
other land management agencies must be vetted by his panel. In Washington,
he's as powerful a player on environmental issues as the Interior Secretary
or the Environmental Protection Agency administrator." ... "Last week,
his committee began the first of several hearings on proposed changes to
the Endangered Species Act. For the last 12 years, Pombo has been on a
mission to rewrite the law, which he argues saves few species and tramples
on the rights of farmers, ranchers and other landowners." ... "Pombo's
selection as Resources Committee chairman last year frightened the nation's
largest environmental groups, which have long clashed with the congressman.
Now those groups are gearing up to challenge Pombo and block his effort
to rewrite the Endangered Species Act." ... ""He doesn't believe in the
Endangered Species Act," said Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra
Club. "He doesn't believe we should protect our wildlife heritage."" -By
Zachary Coile -SFGate.com
-
- 2004
ELECTION - "Unleashing
the Cheney factor: Joint 9/11 appearance with Bush
highlights debate about V.P.'s role." ... "When President Bush and Vice
President Cheney sit down together on Thursday for their long-anticipated
meeting with the 9/11 commission, it will cap a week that has, like no
other in Mr. Bush's presidency, been dominated by the White House's No.
2 man." ... "It was Mr. Cheney who used such red-meat language against
Democratic presidential contender John Kerry in a speech Monday that the
president of the host college publicly objected to "the content and tone"
of the vice president's remarks and offered Senator Kerry a similar speaking
engagement." ... "It is Cheney who is at the center of a long-anticipated
Supreme Court case, argued Tuesday, over his energy task force - and the
breadth of the zone of privacy in which the executive branch of government
may operate. Cheney has long advocated restoration of the White House's
powers to pre-Watergate levels." -By Linda Feldmann
-CSMonitor
-
- "House
OKs Speedy Elections if Attacked." ... "Under the
legislation, the House speaker could declare "exceptional circumstances"
when 100 or more seats in the 435-seat body are left vacant by a catastrophic
event, triggering special elections in affected districts that must be
held within 45 days." ... "While the final vote was decisive, many Democrats
warned that speeding up elections was not enough and, at a time of terrible
crisis, could expose Congress to weeks of lacking the manpower or the authority
to act. Many sought a constitutional amendment that would allow temporary
appointments of lawmakers before elections could be held." ... "Some warned
of the executive branch, possibly headed by a Cabinet secretary if the
president is killed, assuming dictatorial powers."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
- Smallpox
- "U.S.
considers new smallpox vaccine: Scientists optimistic
about MVA." ... "Buoyed by promising results in animal experiments, government
officials are contemplating buying massive quantities of a new type of
smallpox vaccine to supplement the national stockpile already assembled
in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks." ... "Scientists believe
that unlike any of the vaccines now available, the new vaccine may be effective
in protecting against the deadly infectious disease without the risk of
serious -- and occasionally lethal -- side effects." ... "As doubts grow
about the existing vaccines, scientists are increasingly optimistic about
the prospects for the experimental vaccine, called Modified Vaccinia Ankara,
or MVA." -By Griff Witte with contributions by Justin
Gillis -WashingtonPost
via -MSNBC
-
- "9/11
Panel Report Finds FBI Counterterror Efforts Lacking:
Freeh, Reno Argue Against Setting Up a Domestic Intelligence Agency." ...
"The commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks provided
details today of a number of shortcomings in the FBI's counterterrorism
efforts, saying the agency was not properly structured to root out terrorists
in the United States and that the Justice Department was not sufficiently
focused on the issue during the first months of the Bush administration."
... "In a 12-page staff report issued before today's hearings, the commission
said that, among other failings, the FBI lacked the ability to carry out
"strategic analysis" of the terrorist threat, the kind of work required
to pull disparate bits of intelligence together and connect the dots to
pinpoint potential attacks." ... "In fact, before Sept. 11, "the FBI had
never completed an assessment of the overall terrorist threat to the U.S.
homeland," said the report, read to the commission by executive director
Philip D. Zelikow." (1, 2)
-By William Branigin contributed to by Dan Eggen -WashingtonPost
- "Ashcroft
now under scrutiny: Report allegedly calls him 'largely
uninterested' in terrorism issues." ... "Draft reports by the independent
commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks portray Attorney General
John Ashcroft as largely uninterested in counterterrorism issues before
Sept. 11 despite intelligence warnings that summer that al-Qaida was planning
a large, perhaps catastrophic terrorist attack, according to panel officials
and others with access to the reports." ... "They said the draft reports,
which are expected to be completed and made public during two days of hearings
by the commission this week, show that FBI officials were alarmed throughout
2001 by what they perceived as Ashcroft's lack of interest in terrorism
issues and his decision in August 2001 to turn down the bureau's request
for a large expansion of its counterterrorism programs." -By
Philip Shenon -SeattlePI.NWsource
- "9-11
panel wants CIA analyst to testify." ... "The commission
investigating the Sept. 11 attacks, rebuffed once previously, asked again
yesterday to interview the CIA analyst who wrote the Aug. 6, 2001, intelligence
briefing given to President Bush on al-Qaida's threat to the United States,
according to administration sources." ... "The commission wants to interview
the author of the article in the now-famous President's Daily Brief to
determine her purpose in assembling the document and how much information
she sought in doing so." -By Walter Pincus
-WashingtonPost via -SeattleTimes.NWsource
-
- "Top focus before
9/11 wasn't terrorism: Rice speech cited missile
defense." ... "On Sept. 11, 2001, national security adviser Condoleezza
Rice was scheduled to outline a Bush administration policy that would address
"the threats and problems of today and the day after, not the world of
yesterday" — but the focus was largely on missile defense, not terrorism
from Islamic radicals." ... "The speech provides telling insight into the
administration's thinking on the very day that the United States suffered
the most devastating attack since the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor. The
address was designed to promote missile defense as the cornerstone of a
new national security strategy, and contained no mention of al Qaeda, Osama
bin Laden or Islamic extremist groups, according to former U.S. officials
who have seen the text." -By Robin Wright
-WashingtonPost via -MSNBC
-
-
- 
- "Sept.
11 Panel Scrutinizing Past Testimony." ... "The staff
of the independent commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks is conducting
a detailed review of all discrepancies found in public and private statements
by Condoleezza Rice and Richard A. Clarke in drawing up questions for Ms.
Rice when she testifies before the panel, probably next week, commission
officials said Wednesday." ... "The White House, they said, is hoping to
limit any political damage to the president by having Ms. Rice testify
quickly in the hope of ending the furor over the accusations made by Mr.
Clarke, Mr. Bush's former counterterrorism director." ... "Mr. Clarke said
in testimony before the commission last week and in his new best-selling
memoir that the Bush administration — and Ms. Rice, in particular — largely
ignored threats by Al Qaeda before the Sept. 11 attacks." (1, 2)
-By Philip Shenon and Doublas Jehl -NYTimes
via -Google-News
- 
- "Pushing
the limits of 'public use'." ... "Rene Corie installs
drapes in Florida mansions. Her husband, David, builds the mansions' gates."
... "Eight years ago, the working-class couple finally found some waterfront
real estate they could afford: a two-bedroom house for $70,000 in Riviera
Beach, a poor town near the wealthy enclaves of Palm Beach and Jupiter."
... "But Riviera Beach now wants to bulldoze the Cories' home and 2,200
others to make way for one of the nation's grandest redevelopment plans:
a collection of high-rise condos, bigger homes and upscale shops. The city
plans to use eminent domain — its power to confiscate private property
for projects that benefit the public — to take the homes of 5,100 people
if the residents do not agree to move." -By Dennis
Cauchon -USATODAY
Rove
- 
Abramoff
- 
Ralston
- 
DeLay
- 
Norquist
- 
Reed
- Scanlon
- Money
- Religion
- Government- Law
- Politics
- Texas
- 2004
Election - 
History
- "K
Street Stumble." ... "As [Republican] presidential
adviser Karl Rove set up shop in the West Wing in 2001, he was looking
for an assistant to serve as the trusted gatekeeper of his new fiefdom.
Superlobbyist and Republican fundraiser Jack Abramoff was happy to lend
a hand. Abramoff knew just the right person for the job: his own assistant,
Susan Ralston. She interviewed with Rove and got the position." ... "For
a staunch conservative and smooth GOP operative like Abramoff, losing a
valuable aide was well worth the opportunity to ingratiate himself with
the president's senior political adviser." ... "An active fundraiser for
George W. Bush's 2000 election race, Abramoff has done even better in the
2004 campaign, raising more than $100,000 and becoming an elite "Pioneer"
in the president's re-election drive. For years, Abramoff has been a generous
donor and key fundraiser for powerful GOP members of Congress, notably
House Majority Leader [Republican]
Tom DeLay, R-Texas. In the 2004
election cycle, Abramoff and his wife, Pam, have contributed $83,000 to
Republicans, landing themselves at No. 93 on the nationwide list of individuals
who have donated to either political party, according to the nonpartisan
Center for Responsive Politics. Nine other Washington lobbyists are higher
on that list." ... "For almost a quarter-century, Abramoff has counted
among his friends and allies anti-tax activist Grover Norquist and grassroots
strategist and former Christian Coalition head Ralph Reed. An Orthodox
Jew, Abramoff has moved easily in conservative circles since the early
1980s, when he was chairman of the College Republican National Committee."
... "On March 2, Abramoff abruptly resigned from [lobbying law firm] Greenberg
Traurig, and now he's embroiled in what's shaping up as a legal and political
fight to salvage his reputation." ... "When asked about Abramoff's troubles,
DeLay distanced himself, telling reporters, "If anybody is trading on my
name to get clients or to make money, that is wrong and they should stop
it immediately."" ... "One reason for the touchiness is that the controversy
has also ensnared Michael Scanlon, a former aide to DeLay who worked with
Abramoff at Greenberg Traurig before setting up his own grassroots firm,
Capital Campaign Strategies." -By Peter H. Stone
-NationalJournal
-
-
- Osama
bin Laden
- "Panel
probing terrorism faults 2 administrations: Says
efforts feel short; officials defend actions." ... "The US government had
substantial intelligence about key Al Qaeda figures indicating the possibility
of a catastrophic terrorist attack beginning in the mid-1990s, but failed
to act forcefully enough to thwart the Islamic terrorist network, the bipartisan
commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks said in an interim report
yesterday." ... "Diplomatic initiatives urging other countries to bring
Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to justice were unsuccessful, yet the Clinton
administration could not reach a consensus on a sustained military effort
to kill the terrorist leader or disrupt the organization's home base in
Afghanistan, according to the report released yesterday, at the start of
two days of public testimony from Bush and Clinton administration leaders."
-By Bryan Bender -Boston/Globe
-
- "9/11
panel blames Bush, Clinton failures in attacks."
... "The independent commission reviewing the Sept. 11 attacks said in
a preliminary report that the decision to use diplomatic rather than military
options against al-Qaeda allowed the Sept. 11 terrorists to elude capture
years before the attacks." ... "The panel, known formally as the National
Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, presented its findings
as it began hearings with top-level Bush and Clinton administration officials.
The aim was to question officials on their efforts to stop bin Laden in
the years leading up to the attacks." -AP
via -USATODAY
- "Amid
Terror Debate, Public Hearings Open on 9/11 Attacks."
... "An issue that has dominated Washington since the weekend — the question
of what the Bush and Clinton administrations knew about the possibility
of terror attacks before 9/11, and how the Bush White House responded afterward
— is taking center stage in the capital today." ... "The public hearings
before the independent commission investigating the attacks of 2001 come
amid a furious debate caused by accusations in a book by a former counterterrorism
official, Richard A. Clarke. Mr. Clarke wrote that the Bush administration
did not heed warnings about Sept. 11 and that President
Bush pushed him the day after the attacks to look for a link to Saddam
Hussein." -By Terence Neilan -NYTimes
via -Google-News
-
-
- "Speaking
in 'approved' tongues: Should the government be allowed
more oversight of foreign language study?" ... "As in many college departments,
intellectual independence is a theme at Columbia's Department of Middle
East and Asian Languages and Cultures." ... "An office door is decorated
with a sticker that reads "Subvert the dominant paradigm," and the topics
of faculty-authored books on display range from Iranian cinema to Israeli
literature. But some academics worry this independence may be at risk as
legislation increasing oversight of international studies programs makes
its way through Congress." ... "The bill, called the International Studies
Higher Education Act (HR 3077), reauthorizes about $80 million in funding
for international and foreign language study, but with a twist - now the
government would allocate more resources to programs that emphasize national
security." -By Kimberly Chase
-CSMonitor
- 
-
- Anthrax
News
- "Tenet
Warns of Al Qaeda Threat: CIA Chief Says Group Is
Fragmented but Still Dangerous." ... "Despite U.S. success in attacking
al Qaeda's hierarchy, the network is still capable of "catastrophic attacks"
against the United States, and acquiring chemical, biological and radiological
weapons remains a "religious obligation" in Osama bin Laden's eyes, CIA
Director George J. Tenet told the Senate intelligence committee yesterday."
... "The most immediate threats include the possibility of "poison attacks"
and al Qaeda's ongoing effort to produce anthrax material, he said: "Extremists
have widely disseminated assembly instructions for an improvised chemical
weapon using common materials that could cause a large number of casualties
in a crowded, enclosed area."" (1, 2)
-By Dana Priest -WashingtonPost
-
- "Scientists
accuse Bush of twisting facts in his favor: White
House says policy decisions based on sound data." ... "The Bush administration
has deliberately distorted scientific fact to serve policy goals on the
environment, health, biomedical research and nuclear weapons at home and
abroad, a group of about 60 influential scientists said in a statement
issued Wednesday." ... "The statement was released by the Union of Concerned
Scientists, an independent organization that focuses on technical issues
and has often taken stands at odds with administration policy. The organization
also issued a 37-page report that it said detailed the accusations."
-DallasNews.com
- 2004
ELECTION - "Bush
distances himself from jobs figure in forecast."
... "President Bush distanced himself Wednesday from a forecast made by
his economic advisers predicting that the U.S. economy will add 2.6 million
jobs this year." ... "A Feb. 9 report by the White House Council of Economic
Advisors (CEA) predicted that payrolls would grow to an average of 132.7
million in 2004 from 130.1 million in 2003, an exceptionally rapid employment
gain for an economy that has shed 2.3 million jobs during Bush's tenure.
Facing the prospect that Democrats would make a campaign issue of Bush's
failure to meet his own projections, the president and top administration
officials declined to endorse the 2.6 million jobs forecast." -By
Dana Milbank -WashingtonPost
via -StarTribune.com
-
-
- "Service
Chiefs Challenge White House on the Budget." ...
"In an unusual public display of differences with the White House, the
top officers of the Army, Marine Corps and Air Force all raised questions
on Tuesday about how the Bush administration plans to pay for operations
in Iraq and Afghanistan after the current financing runs out at the end
of September." ... "Appearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee,
three of the four chiefs of the armed services expressed concerns about
a financing gap, perhaps of four months, for the two missions, whose combined
cost is about $5 billion a month." -By Eric Schmitt
-NYTimes
- 
- 
- 
- "More
newborns said to be at risk from mercury." ... "A
new government analysis nearly doubled the estimate of the number of newborn
children at risk for health problems because of unsafe mercury levels in
their blood. Environmental Protection Agency scientists said yesterday
that new research indicates that 630,000 U.S. newborns had unsafe levels
of mercury in their blood in 1999-2000." ... "The key factor in the revised
estimates is research showing differences in mercury levels in the blood
of pregnant women and their unborn children. In a Jan. 26 presentation
at EPA's National Forum on Contaminants in Fish, in San Diego, EPA biochemist
Kathryn Mahaffey said researchers in the past few years had shown that
mercury levels in a fetus' umbilical-cord blood are 70 percent higher than
those in the mother's blood." -By Guy Gugliotta
-WashingtonPost via
-SeattleTimes.NWsource
- "Ricin
Find Stops Most Senate Business Capitol: Physician
Says No Evidence That Anyone Was Exposed to Ricin Enough 'To Make Them
Sick'." ... "A white powder found in Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's
office tested Tuesday as an "active" form of the deadly poison ricin, forcing
cancellation of most Senate business in the second such scare from a lethal
toxin to hit the capital." ... "Between 40 and 50 Capitol employees were
quarantined briefly and decontaminated, said Senate aides who spoke on
condition of anonymity." ... "But officials have found no evidence that
anyone was significantly exposed to the poison enough "to make them sick,"
said Dr. John Eisold, the Capitol physician. However, he urged employees
to be alert for symptoms over the next 48 to 72 hours."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
-
- "Bush
to pick panel for WMD inquiry, official says: Independent
probe of intelligence has bipartisan support." ... "The intelligence to
be reviewed was used to justify the U.S.-led war in Iraq, the first under
Bush's national security strategy calling for pre-emptive attacks against
terrorist groups and nations that possess or are developing weapons of
mass destruction." ... "David Kay, the former U.S. chief weapons inspector
in Iraq, told a Senate panel last week that his group did not find such
weapons and that he didn't believe stockpiles of banned weapons would turn
up either." -CNN
-
-
- -
"Bush
to Establish Panel to Examine U.S. Intelligence."
... "President Bush will establish a bipartisan commission in the next
few days to examine American intelligence operations, including a study
of possible misjudgments about Iraq's unconventional weapons, senior administration
officials said Sunday. They said the panel would also investigate failures
to penetrate secretive governments and stateless groups that could attempt
new attacks on the United States." ... "The pressure to establish such
a panel became irresistible after David A. Kay, the former chief weapons
inspector, told the Senate Armed Services Committee last week that "it
turns out we were all wrong, probably," about the perceived Iraqi threat,
which was the administration's basic justification for the war." ... "The
commission will not report back until after the November elections. Some
former officials who have been approached about taking part say they believe
it may take 18 months or more to reach its conclusions." (1, 2)
-By David E. Sanger -NYTimes
- "Cost
estimates rise to $540 billion for Medicare plan."
... "The new Medicare drug benefit will cost about 35 percent more than
Congress anticipated, helping to kick the federal budget deficit up to
a record $500 billion next year, according to officials familiar with the
fiscal 2005 budget that President Bush is to release Monday." ... "The
prescription drug plan, which will not be fully in effect until 2006, will
cost about $540 billion over 10 years, instead of the $396 billion projected
in the law that Congress approved late last year, said a government official
and private-sector economists who have been briefed on the budget." -By
Susan Milligan -Boston/Globe
-
-
-
- "2
congressional panels echo Kay on Iraqi weaponry."
... "The House and Senate intelligence committees have unearthed a series
of failures in the prewar intelligence on Iraq similar to those identified
by former weapons inspector David Kay, leading them to believe that CIA
analysts and their superiors did not seriously consider the possibility
that Saddam Hussein no longer possessed weapons of mass destruction, according
to congressional officials." ... "The committees, working separately for
the past seven months, have determined that the CIA relied too heavily
on circumstantial, outdated intelligence and became overly dependent on
satellite and spy-plane imagery and communications intercepts." -By
Dana Priest & Walter Pincus -WashingtonPost
via -SFGate.com
-
- "About
2 Million to Use Up Jobless Benefits." ... "Nearly
2 million people are expected to exhaust their state unemployment benefits
in the first half of the year without access to more government aid or
a regular paycheck, according to a study released Thursday." ... "Congress
has refused to approve another extension of federal unemployment benefits
for people who exhaust their state aid." -By Leigh
Strope -AP
via -AJC
-
-
-
- "Kay
to Testify About Iraqi WMD Search: Kay to Testify
About Search for Iraq's Weapons As Some in Bush Administration Shift Positions."
... "Senators want to speak with the former top U.S. weapons inspector
who said he couldn't find evidence that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons
of mass destruction, a primary justification by President Bush for the
war in Iraq." ... "As special adviser to CIA Director George Tenet, Kay
was chosen last year as the Iraq Survey Group leader in part because he
was convinced weapons would be found. "My suspicions are that we'll find
in the chemical and biological areas, in fact, I think there may be some
surprises coming rather quickly in that area," he said on CNN in June."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
- 
- "State
of the Union Address." -By President
George W. Bush -Whitehouse.gov
-
-
- "Cuba
detainees seek right to appeal." ... "The Bush administration's
plan to use military tribunals to try foreign terrorism suspects should
allow appeals to civilian courts, five military lawyers assigned to suspects
held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, said Wednesday in papers filed with the Supreme
Court." ... ""The Constitution cannot countenance an open-ended presidential
power, with no civilian review whatsoever, to try anyone the president
deems is subject to a military tribunal," the five officers argued." -By
Richard Willing -USATODAY
- 
-
- "U.S.
Envoy in Manila to Head Iraq Democracy Effort." ...
"Francis Ricciardone, the U.S. ambassador to the Philippines and a Middle
East expert, said on Wednesday he is returning to Washington for several
months to oversee efforts to bring democracy to post-war Iraq." ... "Secretary
of State Colin Powell informed Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
of Ricciardone's absence on Wednesday. Joseph Mussomeli, the deputy chief
of mission, will run the embassy while the ambassador is away." (1, 2)
-By John O'Callaghan -Reuters
- 
-
- 
- 
- "Bush:
Canada eligible in Iraq reconstruction contracts."
... "President Bush moved to ease tensions with Canada Tuesday by reversing
course and declaring Canadian companies eligible to bid on a second round
of U.S.-financed prime reconstruction contracts in Iraq." ... "The reversal
was seen as a goodwill gesture toward Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin,
who took office last month." ... "The White House indicated that other
opponents of the war, including France and Germany, might be able to join
the next round of bidding." -By Richard Benedetto
with contributions by James Cox -USATODAY
- 
- Civil
Liberties -
"Airport
color-coding called 'illusory security': Privacy
groups outraged at anti-terror move." ... "Travelers would be classified
into one of three groups: green for good to go, yellow for investigate
further and red for stop from flying." ... "The Transportation Security
Administration, part of the Department of Homeland Security, confirmed
a Washington Post report Monday that the data-mining plan will start this
summer after a testing period within the next few months. While the government
says the plan will improve screening for potential terrorists, organizations
such as the American Civil Liberties Union denounced it as "dragnet profiling"
that would discriminate against minorities and the poor." ... "The plan,
called Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System, or CAPPS II, would
require all airline travelers to provide full names, home addresses, phone
numbers and dates of birth when they book flights." -By
Carolyn Said with contributions by Charlie Goodyear and Steve Rubenstein
-SFGate.com
-
-
- "Treasury
seeks probe into papers taken by O'Neill." ... "The
Treasury Department has asked for a probe into former Treasury secretary
Paul O'Neill's possible misuse of documents that may have been classified,
a department spokesman said Monday. But O'Neill said Tuesday, "The truth
is, I didn't take any documents at all."" ... "At least one of the documents
was shown Sunday during an interview on CBS' 60 Minutes in which
O'Neill described his disillusioning experience in the Bush administration.
O'Neill served as Treasury secretary for two years before he was forced
to resign in December 2002. His perspective is laid out in a new book,
The
Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House and the Education of
Paul O'Neill." -By Peronet Despeignes
-USATODAY
- Civil
Liberties -
"Supreme
Court rejects appeal over secret 9/11 detentions."
... "The Supreme Court Monday allowed the government to keep secret information
about hundreds of people rounded up under suspicion of terrorism in the
months following the September 11, 2001 attacks." ... "The justices without
comment refused to accept an appeal bought by the Center for National Security
Studies, a Washington, D.C., think tank representing Arab-American groups
and some civil rights activists." -By Bill Mears
-CNN
- "U.S.
Lowers National Terror Threat Level." ... "Three
weeks after warning of possible attack on the United States, the U.S. government
on Friday lowered the terror threat level, saying the danger over the holiday
season had passed but airlines were still at risk" ... "Homeland Security
Secretary Tom Ridge announced the reduction in the color-coded threat level
to "elevated" or "yellow" from "high" or "orange." But he said airlines,
other sectors and some unspecified parts of the country would be asked
to remain on a heightened state of alert to guard against possible terror
attacks." (1, 2)
-By Deborah Charles -Reuters
-
-
- "IMF
Researchers: US Budget Gaps Endanger Global Economy."
... "Economists at the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday expressed
alarm at growing U.S. budget deficits, saying continued deficits could
hurt the global economy by roiling currency markets and driving up interest
rates." ... "In a report on U.S. budget outlook, IMF researchers described
the state of government finances as "perilous" in the long run and urged
Congress and the White House to take steps to quickly rein in the deficits.
Although federal tax cuts and spending increases since 2001 bolstered the
global economy in the short run, the report said "large U.S. fiscal deficits
also pose significant risks for the rest of the world."" -By
Joseph Rebello -WSJ.com
-DJ via -Quicken.com
-
-
-
- "U.S.
Opens Bidding for New Iraq Work." ... "The United
States opened up bidding on Wednesday for $5 billion in new contracts to
rebuild Iraq, the first in a string of lucrative deals funded by $18.6
billion appropriated by the U.S. Congress but barred to those nations who
opposed the Iraq war." ... "After more than a month's delay, the Pentagon-run
Program Management Office kicked off bidding by issuing solicitations overnight
for 17 major construction contracts and project management deals to oversee
the work." (1, 2)
-By Sue Pleming -Reuters
- "Labor
Dept. offers ways not to pay overtime: While touting
the benefits of new overtime rules for poor workers, the Labor Department
offers pointers on how to avoid paying the extra wages." ... "The Labor
Department is giving employers tips on how to avoid paying overtime to
some of the 1.3 million low-income workers who would become eligible under
new rules expected to be finalized early this year." ... "Among the options
for employers: cut workers' hourly wages and add the overtime to equal
the original salary, or raise salaries to the new $22,100 annual threshold,
making them ineligible." -By Leigh Strope
-AP via-Miami/Herald
-
-
-
-
- "U.S.
today starts digital inventory of foreign visitors."
... "The system — United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator
Technology, or US-VISIT — will be formally inaugurated today at 113 airports
and 14 seaports." ... "Critics note the program has a giant loophole because
it doesn't apply to citizens of 27 countries where a U.S. visa is not needed
for entry — mostly Western European nations, plus Canada, Australia and
Japan. (A complete list and more detailed information on US-VISIT are available
on the Internet at www.dhs.gov/us-visit.)"
-LAtimesand
New York Daily News via -SeattleTimes.NWsource
- ELECTION
2004 - "FEC
to divide $15.4 million among six presidential candidates."
... "The government will give six presidential candidates $15.4 million
combined in federal matching funds on Friday, less than half of the amount
it divided among presidential candidates during the same period in 2000."
... "The Federal Election Commission certified the first checks on Wednesday
for those participating in the presidential public financing system in
2004. The FEC's first checks in 2000 totaled $34 million for eight candidates.
In 1996, the amount was $37.4 million for 10 hopefuls."
-AP via -DallasNews.com
