Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Having dispatched some holds, the Senate easily approved a sweeping ethics and lobbying reform bill this afternoon, after an 83 to 14 vote. With the House already having passed the measure, the bill now goes to Bush, who has not yet said whether he’ll sign the bill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) called the legislation the “most significant change in lobbying ethics in the history of the country.”
* Rick Perlstein: “This year two Democratic Minnesotan legislatures passed a $4.18 billion transportation package. Minnesota’s Republican governor vetoed it because he had taken a no-new-taxes pledge, Grover Norquist-style. That’s just what conservative politicians do. The original bill would have put over $8 billion toward highways, city, and county roads, and transit over the next decade. The bill he let passed spent much less.”
* Good news last night in the House: “Over angry Republican objections, the House on Wednesday passed a sweeping expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program, financed with increases in tobacco taxes and cuts in subsidies to private Medicare insurance plans for older Americans.” The final vote was 225 to 204.
* Following up on my Scott Thomas Beauchamp item from earlier, The New Republic has wrapped up its investigation into the veracity of the soldier’s guest columns. Once again, the right was wrong. (I can’t wait to see how many apologies turn up.)
* Roll Call: “Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) held out the possibility Thursday afternoon that he would block quick passage of any changes to warrantless wiretapping laws, despite enormous pressure from both the Democratic and Republican leadership to approve a bill by Friday at the latest so Congress can leave town for the month-long August recess. Saying Congressional Democrats and Republicans were moving ‘awfully quickly’ on a White House proposal to make it easier to eavesdrop on suspected overseas terrorists, Feingold said he is in ‘no hurry’ to leave town for the August recess.”
* NYT: “Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today that he was discouraged by the departure of the major Sunni Arab bloc from Iraq’s coalition government, and noted that the Bush administration may have misjudged the difficulty of achieving reconciliation among Iraq’s sectarian factions. In one of his bluntest assessments of the progress of the administration’s Iraq strategy, Mr. Gates said: ‘I think the developments on political side are somewhat discouraging at the national level. And clearly the withdrawal of the Sunnis from the government is discouraging. My hope is that it can all be patched back together.'” Hope is not a plan.
* Earlier this week, a number of bloggers (including me) took Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.) to task for saying Alberto Gonzales could not legally be impeached. To her enormous credit, Tauscher has not only issued a clarification, she has also signed on as a co-sponsor of the impeachment resolution. Good for her.
* Wild international terrorism story out of Colombia: “On April 24, 2003, a board member of Chiquita International Brands disclosed to a top official at the Justice Department that the king of the banana trade was evidently breaking the nation’s anti-terrorism laws. Roderick M. Hills, who had sought the meeting with former law firm colleague Michael Chertoff, explained that Chiquita was paying ‘protection money’ to a Colombian paramilitary group on the U.S. government’s list of terrorist organizations.” Hills said unless Chiquita paid the terrorists, it would have to pull out of Colombia altogether. (thanks to tAiO for the tip)
* NYT: “The federal Department of Education, after months of criticism for lax oversight of the student loan program, still has no system to detect and uncover misconduct by lenders and protect student borrowers, a new government report said yesterday.”
* House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) announced today that former White House Counselor Dan Bartlett, former Press Secretary Scott McClellan, and former speechwriter Michael Gerson will testify privately in the Pat Tillman inquiry — without a transcript. As TP explained, “If investigators determine that the aides have relevant information, they will be asked to return for transcribed interviews.”
* You won’t believe how much time MSNBC devoted to Hillary Clinton’s cleavage on Monday.
* And finally, tensions can sometimes run high during congressional debates, but not usually this high. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.), during a debate, argued that Republicans can’t be trusted. Rep. Leery Terry (R-Neb.) took issue with the comment, told Jackson to “shut up,” and confronted Jackson, face to face, on the floor. Jackson reportedly shared a few PG13 words with his GOP colleague, before asking Terry if he’d care to step outside the chamber. Terry “respectfully declined the request” — Jackson is an accomplished martial arts enthusiast with a black belt. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-N.J.) eventually intervened before things got out of hand, and Jackson and Terry have reportedly reconciled.
Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.