Tuesday’s Mini-Report

December 5, 2006

Today’s edition of quick hits.

* Paid sick days — an idea whose time has come? (Our friends on the right are not only experiencing apoplexy, they’re trotting out a new “red” scare.)

* Incoming Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) believes the president should be “terrified” of his subpoena power. Unlike “some in the administration,” Leahy said, he’s “actually read the Constitution.”

* Outgoing Senate Armed Forces Committee Chairman John Warner (R-Va.) said that there is a “moral obligation” for the Bush White House to work with congressional Democrats on crafting a strategy on Iraq. I don’t disagree, and I appreciate Warner saying it, but if we carry the logic forward a bit, doesn’t this suggest Bush has been failing to meet his moral obligations for nearly four years?

* A very unfortunate setback for mandating a paper trail for electronic voting machines.

* As if we needed another reason to oppose William Myers’ judicial nomination, he apparently has Jack Abramoff ties.

* A very hard-hitting piece in Salon today: “9/11 gave America amnesia about the real Rudy Giuliani. He’s an authoritarian narcissist — and we don’t need another one of those in the White House.”

* Remember the Mark Foley scandal? Vanity Fair has a new piece, which manages to make Dennis Hastert look even worse.

* Almost every time a company drills for oil or gas on federal property, it’s supposed to pay a royalty or tax to the government, but CBS News found that the Interior Department’s diligence in collecting those royalties is little more than a bad joke.

* Just what New Orleans needed, another delay in levee construction.

* I’m all for space exploration, but NASA’s new plan for a moon base seems a little far fetched.

* Kos seems to believe Barack Obama has a very good shot in 2008.

* Punishing troops with mental health problems is unconscionable.

* The Alps are experiencing the warmest time in 1,300 years.

* House Republicans were going to hold a vote today on new oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, but they were going to lose. They pulled the bill.

* According to a report by United Health Foundation, the five healthiest states, in order, are Minnesota, Vermont, New Hampshire, Hawaii, and Connecticut. The least healthy are Louisiana, followed by Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas. That’s right the five healthiest are “blue” states, least healthy “red” states.

* And in the House, Speaker-in-waiting Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had the option of kicking outgoing Speaker Dennis Hastert into some regular ol’ office space next year, but instead, in what Roll Call describes as “a random act of bipartisan kindness,” she’s giving him the plush and coveted Capitol office suite now held by retiring Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas (R-Calif.). According to Roll Call’s source, Pelosi essentially decided on “rewarding the person who had the most to do with making her Speaker.”

If none of these particular items are of interest, consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.

From the article about voting machines:

“…Some opponents of the proposal said that they supported paper records but that the requirement could overwhelm state election boards…”

Yeah, wouldn’t want to “overwhelm state election boards”, just to ensure the votes are actually counted. Give the state election boards some more money, and demand that they fix the goddamn problem.

Dems need to make this issue THEIRS, it’s a total no brainer. If we can talk about putting a $100 Billion moon base together, can’t we spend a bit of time/money/energy to finally count our votes?

Jezus cripes.

  • I am surprised that 41’s blubbering didn’t make the list. Yes, George HW Bush has so much to cry about. His son Jeb lost an election in 1994 due to some dodgy electioning by his opponent. Most American’s should have such troubles.

  • I totally agree with Racerx. I remember John F. Kennedy saying, “We choose to go to the moon and the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”

    We managed to get to the moon with that attitude, so we should be able to do what it takes to make sure people get something as basic as an honest vote.

    Going to the moon was rocket science. This isn’t.

    Jezus cripes, indeed.

  • According to a report by United Health Foundation, the five healthiest states, in order, are Minnesota, Vermont, New Hampshire, Hawaii, and Connecticut. The least healthy are Louisiana, followed by Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas. That’s right the five healthiest are “blue” states, least healthy “red” states.

    Interesting, but red-as-red-gets Utah is #6, so obviously there isn’t a correlation between how much they voted for Bush in the last election and their states’ collective health. More likely it has to do with policies on the state government level, if not idiosyncracies specific to the state. Minnesota, the article says, attributes its health to low rates of uninsured, children in poverty, and infant mortality. Anyone have any idea what might attribute to Utah’s strong health?

  • In comment 4, Rian Mueller asked:

    “Anyone have any idea what might attribute to Utah’s strong health?”

    The LDS church prohibits mormons from drinking and smoking.

  • ***Anyone have any idea what might attribute to Utah’s strong health?***
    ——————Rian Mueller

    Um…the charter-bus trips to ‘Vegas are a whole lot shorter?

    And as for the voting machines, a “voting-machine-less” paper trail would be a whole lot cheaper than a “paper-trail-less” voting machine. It would demonstrate both electoral accountability and fiscal responsibility. TAKE THAT, YOU EVIL DIEBOLD, YOU !!!

  • “Vanity Fair has a new piece, which manages to make Dennis Hastert look even worse.”
    worse than what?

  • * According to a report by United Health Foundation, the five healthiest states, in order, are Minnesota, Vermont, New Hampshire, Hawaii, and Connecticut. The least healthy are Louisiana, followed by Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas. That’s right the five healthiest are “blue” states, least healthy “red” states.

    Maybe its just me, but it sure looks like there’s a surprisingly high correlation there with wealth. wealthy states –> healthier states; poorer states –> sicker citizens. Maybe its just a correlation, though…

  • The incoming chair of the House Select Committee on Intelligence Silvestre Reyes has endorsed sending between 20 and 30 thousand more troops to Iraq in an effort to dismantle the militias. Big Tent Democrat over at TalkLeft says this is evidence that Pelosi should have gone with Harmon. ) However,. according to the Newsweek article Pelosi knew when she tapped Reyes that this was his thinking.

    Reyes is the second war opponent to come out in favor of sending more troops. According to the NYTimes General Anthony Zinni (ret.) has also suggested this course of action.

    Both of these men don’t think that it is in America’s best interest to leave Iraq as a failed state. Here is how Zinni’s position is described in the NYTimes.

    No military expert was more forthright in opposing the Iraq war than Anthony C. Zinni.

    Anthony C. Zinni, a retired general who opposed invading Iraq, now suggests more troops to finish a bad job.

    General Zinni, a retired marine who once served as the top American military officer in the Middle East, contended that the threat posed by Saddam Hussein’s Iraq was vastly overstated and that invading Iraq would be a burdensome distraction from the struggle against Al Qaeda.

    These days General Zinni is delivering another provocative message: that leaving Iraq quickly would strengthen Iranian influence throughout the Middle East, create a sanctuary for terrorist groups, encourage even more sectarian strife in Iraq and risk turmoil in an oil-rich region.

    “This is not Vietnam or Somalia or those places where you can walk away,” General Zinni said in a recent interview. (He served in both countries.) “If we just pull out, we will find ourselves back in short order.”

    Instead, he says, the United States should leave open the door for a temporary increase in American troops, an argument he included in a broader plan prepared for the World Security Institute, a research organization, and made public on Monday. “It may be necessary to surge them for a short term,” he said.

    Zinni acknowledges that finding the troops and stabilizing Iraq will not be easy, but he see no other alternatives.

    Both Zinni and Reyes note that their positions are similar to McCain’s which makes me wonder if there is now a coordinated effort a foot here. This doesn’t bother me, even if there were, because I think what we need now more than anything is an honest debate about how to proceed. And I don’t doubt that both Zinni and Reyes want us out of Iraq.

    Anyone else have any thoughts on this?

  • * Paid sick days — an idea whose time has come? (Our friends on the right are not only experiencing apoplexy, they’re trotting out a new “red” scare.)

    I never could understand why the right-wing states here are called “red” states. Between their constant “red scares” and turning “blue in the face” from screaming, surely, surely, they ought to be called “blue states”?

    Regarding paid sick days — long overdue. It’s true that, as our apoplecticc friends are pointing out, there’s potential for abuse — I’ve sen it myself, back in Poland. But it could be fixed (or, at least, curtailed; some doctors can be bribed ) quite easily, by showing a doctor’s prescription/certificate as proof of actual sickness.

    The “solution” offered by one of the people in the WashPo articles (12 days which can be taken *either* as vacation *or* as sick days) is so much baloney. Being sick (or tending a sick child) is hardly a vacation.

    Personally, I’d rather see 14 sick days at 50-60% pay than 7 days at full pay; 7 days can fly mighty fast, if you have to spread them around (yourself and a child or two). Though, to be sure, my own son (and, from talking to mothers, other children as well) tended to get sick over the weekend, starting late Friday evening or early Saturday morning (when doctors were less available) and was raring to go by Monday.

    * According to a report by United Health Foundation, the five healthiest states, in order, are Minnesota, Vermont, New Hampshire, Hawaii, and Connecticut. The least healthy are Louisiana, followed by Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas. That’s right the five healthiest are “blue” states, least healthy “red” states.

    I’m with Edo (@8) on this one: it’s not the colour of your beliefs, it’s the colour of the money that makes you ill or otherwise. It’s the *poverty* that accounts for lack of health. And it’s lack of health that makes you too worn out to think rationally (and vote “blue”)

  • That’s right the five healthiest are “blue” states, least healthy “red” states.

    That reminds me… a caller to Rush Limbaugh yesterday was pitching a fit about how Republicans got tagged with “red” and Democrats are now “blue.” Rush opined (or was that “porcined”?) that it’s a liberal media plot to break the connection between Dems and Commies, and to tar the GOP with the red brush.

    Would that it were so. Kevin Drum examined the question a couple of years ago. Turns out the media *did* have a conspiracy… to alternate the color of the incumbent president for the coverage of each election. R’s were red in 2000 because Dems had the incumbency… as they did in 1996, when Dems were red. Dems were also red in 1992, when the incumbent GOP was blue. The GOP was also incumbent in 1988, so they were red, and Dems were blue.

    The pattern actually held for 2004: the incumbent party flipped from red to blue. But by then, the colors had already been firmly linked with parties, not incumbency.

    So who’s to blame for that?? Republicans. They’re the ones who distributed those ridiculous maps after the 2000 election showing acres upon acres of unpopulated red counties that voted for Bush.

    If the colors had flipped in 2004, not only would it have broken the pattern (as it surely will in 2008, when the GOP is due to be blue), but Limbaugh would’ve blamed the liberal media with trying to ride Bush’s coattails by trying to pass off the Heartland as Democrat Country.

  • Both Zinni and Reyes note that their positions are similar to McCain’s which makes me wonder if there is now a coordinated effort a foot here. This doesn’t bother me, even if there were, because I think what we need now more than anything is an honest debate about how to proceed. — rege, @11

    Don’t know that “honest debate” and “McCain” belong in the same sentence — I think McCain had his honesty gene surgically removed a while back — but I’m dismayed at Reyes’ position (maybe she ought to have gone with Holt ). The only thing that might cheer me up on this one is McCain’s reaction, when he finds out he’s no longer the Lone Ranger proposing that course. And the reaction of those on the right who’d been supportive of it and who now will find themselves supporting the position of a Dem and of a “terrorist supporting” (he’s been against the war from the start, hasn’t he?) general…

  • libra, I didn’t mean to imply that McCain was to be trusted. Rather the fact that both men made the same comment about McCain suggested that there may have been some coordination between Zinni and Reyes. Regardless of what you think of McCain-I share your mistrust of the man- I think both Zinni and Reyes can be trusted not to have a hidden agenda. I simply don’t think we should approach this problem with a preconceived solution in mind. We’ve been there and done that, actually that why we have the problem in the first place.

  • Here is the conclusion of the Zinni Report.

    As stated previously, we are not wanting for ideas
    on how to stabilize Iraq. It will do us no good, however,
    just to produce a menu of ideas with no cohesive and
    comprehensive means to implement them. This requires
    planning, organization, clear direction, and true
    competence in the ranks. That is the principal message
    conveyed here. The ideas and proposals offered here
    may not be the best, or even viable. They are offered
    to spur thinking and show how they might fit into a
    critically needed structure necessary for any ideas to
    be translated into credible action.     Even the structure
    proposed may not be the best, but again, the point is to
    recognize the need for structure in implementing any
    ideas. What we have seen to date is confusion,
    incompetence and contradiction. We cannot at this
    point resort to cosmetic, scattershot proposals that
    have nothing behind them to try to correct the course.
    We have a last chance to correct things. The American
    people do not want to see failure. And they will not
    continue to support something that can’t clearly show
    progress and demonstrate success.

    Two thing Zinni has only truly endorsed a coherent and comprehensive plan, but considers his own plan only food for thought. Second the last two sentences I think captures the motivation behind his thinking. He can’t bear to see the United States fail.

  • According to Roll Call’s source, Pelosi essentially decided on “rewarding the person who had the most to do with making her Speaker.”

    Now that is classic. 🙂

  • Maureen Dowd in Goodness Gracious! The Truth!: “First Junior took over the house with grandiose plans to remodel it and make it the envy of the neighborhood. But then he played with matches and set the house on fire. So now he’s frantically trying to stop the flames from torching the whole block.”

    Hm. That “playing with matches” analogy sounds a little too familiar for comfort.

  • Re: Rudy: “He’s an authoritarian narcissist — and we don’t need another one of those in the White House.”

    …that cleaned up NYC to such an extent that his policies helped make the world’s greatest city a beautiful place to visit, work, live and play which in turn helped reinvigorate the local economy. Hence Rudy’s enormous popularity even before 9-11. Most of his critics were from NYC’s old school dem machine (especially his predecessor David Dinkins, who by the way, was an utter failure) that saw their power quickly sucked dry after Rudy’s countless successes.

    Now does that make him a great Presidential candidate? That is yet to be determined.

  • * I’m all for space exploration, but NASA’s new plan for a moon base seems a little far fetched.

    I do not believe that the idea is as far-fetched or as worthless as this website makes it out to be. Who benefits from this? Everyone. Setting goals such as this creates Manhattan Project-like effort from our leading scientists and gives us opportunities to work and build relationships with other Nations. Ultimately relations are improved, science is advanced and we reap the rewards of technological advances in our lives.

  • “Ultimately relations are improved, science is advanced and we reap the rewards of technological advances in our lives.”

    All three goals are laudable in and of themselves, but could be pursued in any number of ways. I don’t see how the moon base is the best way to achieve them, and I’ve been an space nut since Project Mercury.

    As for the voting paper trails, counting the votes is the heart of representative democracy. If we don’t do that right, whatever else we do sort of doesn’t matter.

  • The drilling royalty information sounds like a modern-day Teapot Dome scandal. I hope there is a Congressional investigation.

  • “Examples include smoking, motor vehicle deaths, high school graduation rates, children in poverty, access to care and incidence of preventable disease.” – CNN Article

    These are items they used to determine the health of a city ?? High school graduation rate, no wonder the south sucked. Plus access to care could be directly correlated to health. More healthy, less heath care so less access. And what in the hell do motor vehicle death rates have to do with health ??

  • Hawkins at the rightwingblog (or whatever the place CB linked is called) makes his own argument in favor of paid sick days.: “I’d bet you 95% of the sick days weren’t actually used by people who were sick and I can tell you from personal experience that there were a lot of days I stayed out of work because I was dog tired from not getting enough sleep 3 or 4 nights in a row or because I woke up with a headache or the sniffles. Could I fairly say that I didn’t feel great? Sure. Did the fact that I had a paid sick day influence my decision not to show? Oh, you bet.”

    He *should have* stayed home when he was sick. Hey, no one wants your cold, OK? People with small kids need to be able to take off time when they are sick because they tend to get sick more often than older folks.

    Of course people abuse sick leave. Of course people steal office supplies, but does that mean offices shouldn’t stock them?

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