Illinois Democrats pass fiscal 2006 budget ~ borrow and spend
Mood:  silly
Topic: Lib Loser Stories

Illinois Democrats pass fiscal 2006 budget

CHICAGO - Democratic lawmakers in the Illinois General Assembly pushed through a $43.6 billion fiscal 2006 operating budget late Tuesday, beating a midnight deadline that would have required a super-majority vote on budget bills, state officials said Wednesday.

But the move by the Democrat-controlled legislature angered Republicans who have voiced concerns over some of the measures used to eliminate a $1.1 billion structural deficit and provide more money for schools, health care and other programs.

"It's more borrowing and spending ... money we don't have," said David Dring, spokesman for House Republican Leader Tom Cross.

Dring pointed to the Democrats' plan to defer billions of dollars in payments to state pension funds over several years. But Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration has said the approximately $1.2 billion for the fiscal 2006 budget was savings from a package of pension reforms passed by lawmakers.

The legality of the pension plan has already been questioned by the state's Republican treasurer Judy Baar Topinka. The new budget also taps about $166 million in surpluses from special state funds, a move repeated from the last budget that has also raised constitutional concerns.

The budget also relies on a rosier revenue estimate that would add an additional $200 million to state coffers, and about $250 million in cuts and revenue enhancements and other measures.

Plans to increase cigarette taxes, expand casino gambling and explore selling off the state's student loan portfolio fizzled. The top riverboat casino tax would fall to 50 percent from 70 percent, but the state would be held harmless for two years in terms of the amount of revenue it would receive, said Becky Carroll, a budget office spokeswoman.

Blagojevich, a Democrat, applauded the new budget, saying it will increase primary and secondary school funding by $330 million and generate more than $600 million in federal funds for hospitals through an assessment plan.

Even with the hike in school funding, the Chicago Public Schools said it would have to continue to lay off workers to plug a $175 million fiscal 2006 budget hole. Large school districts in Illinois had called for a $600 million funding boost.

Lawmakers also passed a $10.8 billion capital budget that did not include new bond authorization, Carroll said, adding that bond sales from previous authorizations were set at $1.1 billion in the fiscal year that begins July 1.

Washington Post ~ Reuters ** Illinois Democrats pass fiscal 2006 budget

Compromise Could Backfire on Democrats
Mood:  chatty
Topic: Yahoo Chat Stuff

No need for GOP outrage
By Tod Lindberg

The Republican Party is in political trouble as a result of the compromise on judicial nominees, but the situation is hardly beyond recovery: Democrats, too, are in some peril.

As matters stand, in accordance with the deal struck by seven Democratic senators and seven GOP senators, two of President Bush's appellate-court nominees will continue to be filibustered, will accordingly never reach the Senate floor and will therefore in all likelihood be withdrawn by the White House.

Many conservative Republicans think this is an outrage. And there is a distinct possibility that, if conditions persist, by November 2006 outrage will have turned to dismay and demoralization, with the result that GOP base turnout will be depressed: a classic scenario for the opposition party to pick up seats in Congress.

Whence the outrage? It is, simply, the conviction among party activists that "moderate" Republicans in the Senate sold out principle on judicial nominees. The principle is that all judicial nominees deserve an up-or-down vote on the Senate floor, especially if such a vote would yield the majority required for confirmation. The idea that the hurdle judicial nominees have to clear is 60 votes — the number Senate rules require to end a filibuster — is a bald-faced minority hijacking of the Senate's "advice and consent" responsibility, in the view of the party's activist wing. And seven Republicans have now gone along with this hijacking by refusing to agree to pass by majority vote a rule change that would stop the abuse of the filibuster.

Under the compromise, Democrats will have bagged two of the nominees they targeted. But three will make it through. And here, one ought to take pause. If this had been, from the beginning, a fight over a Democratic effort to block two of the president's nominees by any and all of the ample means of chicanery available to members of the Senate, including the filibuster, and if it had been successful, Republicans would have been steamed. But they would not have worked themselves into anything like their current lather.

There would have been no talk of a "nuclear option" or a "constitutional option" to change the Senate rules. The general rhetorical point that nominees deserve an up-or-down vote would be declared in full knowledge that the history of the process shows Republicans and Democrats alike acting to keep the other side's nominees from getting to the Senate floor. The notion that there is something somehow "unconstitutional" about the Senate's rules would never have arisen or, if it did, it would have been dismissed as no more than a rhetorical flourish. And Republicans would probably be pleased by the confirmation of nominees of such quality as the three who are going through.

Now, if you want to really aggravate your own people, what you should do is elevate an issue to a position of maximum prominence, localize the argument around your maximal demands and the maximal means of achieving them, build the expectation that anything less than total victory is utter defeat, keep the issue at a rolling boil for about two solid months in which nothing else much is going on politically — then lose control of the process in such a fashion that an outcome that would have been entirely acceptable in any past context looks to your side like you have been routed.

I thought Democrats would have a hard time accepting any of the filibustered nominees. To a degree, that's true. But they seem to be exhibiting a certain amount of tactical flexibility. And that makes sense, because Republicans are, in the immortal phrase of Weekly World News columnist Ed Anger, "pig-biting mad." What to do? Well, this has all really been about the Supreme Court, hasn't it?

To recover, the White House needs exactly the right nominee for chief justice should William Rehnquist step down. That would be Justice Antonin Scalia. (Justice Clarence Thomas would solve the problem with the right, but would create an opportunity for Democrats to try to block the appointment in a way that Justice Scalia doesn't.) It will then be up to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist to persuade the seven GOP dealmakers that a Democratic filibuster of Justice Scalia would be unacceptable under the terms of their deal. After all, Justice Scalia's elevation would do nothing to the balance on the court, and the idea that the constitutionally mandated position of chief justice of the United States would sit vacant because of a Democratic filibuster of a nominee who is already on the court and commands majority support in the Senate is outrageous. It will be up to the GOP seven to make that position clear to their seven Democratic counterparts.

Who, then, takes the Scalia seat? From the vantage of optimal GOP political impact, one of the three who get through according to the terms of this deal. They will just have been confirmed in accordance with it; it would be difficult for the Democratic seven to switch sides and now argue "extraordinary" unacceptability.

That's the point at which Democrats might begin to regret (and Republicans grudgingly accept) last week's deal.

Washington Times ~ Tod Lindberg ** No need for GOP outrage

Social Security plan backed in new poll
Mood:  party time!
Topic: News

Social Security plan backed in new poll

Most likely voters continue to support President Bush's proposal to let younger workers invest some of their Social Security payroll taxes through personal accounts, a new survey finds.

The poll by independent pollster John Zogby for the Cato Institute, which is being released today, found that when voters understood the benefits of personal investment accounts, including a better financial rate of return than the current system, the Bush plan was supported by 52 percent of Americans and opposed by 40 percent.

"The thing that is compelling in this poll is that this is the response you get when you use a positive approach on Social Security reform," Mr. Zogby said. "If you use the 'Chicken Little, sky-is-falling' approach, then voters understand that something has to be done, but don't see the connection between personal accounts and fundamental reform of Social Security."

"There are a large number of voters, especially those under 50, who don't think they are getting the best possible deal from Social Security," he said.

As in past surveys on the president's personal-accounts proposal, strongest support comes from younger voters under age 30, who embrace the idea by a margin of 66 percent to 23 percent.

Support declines somewhat among voters between 30 and 50, with 58 percent in favor versus 37 percent who oppose it.

Voters over 65 oppose personal accounts 52 percent to 40 percent and those over 70 oppose them by 55 percent to 38 percent.

The survey also contained a warning for the Democrats about how their opposition to any reform of the Social Security system is playing with the electorate.

"By an overwhelming 70-22 percent margin, voters believe that opponents of President Bush's proposals for Social Security reform have an obligation to put out their own plan for reforming the program," including 55 percent of Democratic voters, Mr. Zogby said in a report of his findings.

Among supporters, the most popular reason for supporting private accounts was, "It's my money; I should control it," Mr. Zogby said. "This was true for every group except African-Americans, who chose inheritability as their biggest reason for supporting accounts."

The poll's results suggested that Mr. Bush's proposal would be much more popular if he focused "on the points in this poll," Mr. Zogby said in an interview.

"Nobody can understand or relate to the system's insolvency in 2043. But it wins a majority when the issue is raised as a matter of choice and as a positive opportunity," he said. "If it's pitted as just Social Security reform because it is becoming insolvent, that's not enough."

Among the poll's other findings:

♠ Support was strongest (57 percent to 36 percent) in the "red states" that Mr. Bush carried in his 2004 re-election. Support split more evenly (48 percent to 44 percent) in the Democratic "blue states" that Sen. John Kerry won.

♠ Voters by 62 percent to 30 percent remained deeply skeptical about Social Security's promise to pay future benefits. Skepticism was highest among younger voters, with more than 70 percent saying they doubted that the system would be able to pay their benefits when they reached retirement age.

The poll of 1,006 likely voters was conducted May 23-25 and has a margin of error of 3.2 percentage points.

Washington Times ~ Donald Lambro ** Social Security plan backed in new poll

Bush's Fault: Consumer Confidence Rebounds
Mood:  cheeky
Topic: News

Chart shows consumer confidence for the past 12 months. >>>>>

Consumer Confidence Unexpectedly Rebounds

NEW YORK - Consumer confidence unexpectedly rebounded in May after declining in April, as worries about the economy and jobs eased, a private research group said Tuesday. But another closely watched report that tracks Midwestern manufacturing activity dropped in May, spooking Wall Street.

The Conference Board said that its Consumer Confidence Index rose to 102.2 from a revised 97.5 in April. The reading was much better than the 96 that analysts had expected, which would have been a decline from the original April reading of 97.7.

The consumer confidence index is now at the highest level since it reached 103 in March.

"Consumer confidence improved in May, gaining back nearly all of the ground it lost in April," said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board's Consumer Research Center, in a statement.

Economists closely track consumer confidence because consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of all U.S. economic activity.

Still, stocks fell Tuesday as the disappointing reading of economic activity in the Midwest appeared to outweigh rebounding consumer confidence.

The Purchasing Management Association of Chicago announced that its index of business activity in that area dropped to 54.1 in May from 65.6 in April and 69.2 in March. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in manufacturing, while a figure below 50 means contraction.

The Chicago indicator is considered a precursor of the national assessment to be released by the Institute of Supply Management on Wednesday.

Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wachovia Corp. in Charlotte, N.C., said that the upbeat report on consumer confidence didn't "mark any sea change," and he was more concerned about the Midwestern manufacturing report.

He noted that while the decline brought in line what he has been seeing with the other regional economic surveys, the drop, nevertheless, was still "pretty startling."

"It's not a good idea to get excited about any one number, but this is an eye-opening report," he said.

Vitner said that he expects the sharp decline will show up in the national report issued by the Institute of Supply Management in June, since the indicator lags by about a month. In any case, if the figure falls below 50, he expects that would cause the Federal Reserve to hold off raising the federal funds rate.

As for consumer confidence, Vitner added, "Consumers are still taking a fairly cautious view on the economy's near-term economic prospects, but they are feeling a little better now that gasoline prices can come down."

Vitner noted that higher gasoline prices give consumers "a general sense of unease" because they tend to be associated with "tough economic times."

The big worry still is a volatile job market, which is improving but still lagging, he said.

Employers stepped up hiring in April, adding a better-than-expected 274,000 jobs, as the nation's jobless rate held steady at 5.2 percent. The Labor Department is expected to release job figures for May this Friday. Analysts are expecting an increase of 180,000 jobs and an unemployment rate of 5.2 percent.

One component of the consumer confidence report, the Expectations Index that measures consumers' outlook over the next six months, improved to 92.5 from 86.7. The Present Situation Index, which is more than 26 points higher than a year ago, increased to 116.7 from 113.8.

The Conference Board's gauges are derived from responses received through May 23 to a survey mailed to 5,000 households in a consumer research panel. The figures released Tuesday include responses from at least 2,500 households.

Consumers' assessment of current conditions was more upbeat in May than in April. Those saying that business conditions are "bad" edged down to 16.8 percent from 17.6 percent. Those claiming conditions are "good" was virtually unchanged at 26.5 percent.

The employment picture was mixed. Consumers saying jobs are "hard to get" increased to 24.2 percent from 22.9 percent, but those claiming jobs are "plentiful" rose to 22.6 percent from 20.4 percent.

Consumers' expectations for the next six months, which had been losing ground since January, reversed course in May. Those anticipating business conditions to improve increased to 18.6 percent from 17.7 percent, while consumers anticipating business conditions to worsen slid to 9.5 percent from 9.9 percent.

The outlook for the labor market was also more positive in May. Those expecting more jobs to be available in the coming months rose to 14.9 percent from 14.0 percent, while those anticipating fewer jobs fell to 15.9 percent from 18.4 percent. The proportion of consumers expecting incomes to improve in the months ahead rose to 17.2 percent from 16.8 percent.

In midday trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 48.32, or 0.46 percent, to 10,494.23.

Broader stock indicators also declined. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 5.51, or 0.46 percent, at 1,193.27 and the Nasdaq composite index was off 8.82, or 0.42 percent, at 2,066.91.

Yahoo News ~ Associated Press - Anne D'Innocenzio ** Consumer Confidence Unexpectedly Rebounds

''Business Terrorists'' using Americans with Disabilities Act to line pockets
Mood:  don't ask
Topic: Yahoo Chat Stuff

The ADA has inspired an industry of opportunists who offer a choice of ‘consulting services’ to avoid lawsuits or the lawsuits themselves. This smacks of protection money, like those demanded by gangsters so your store windows stay unbroken.

Businesses Come Together To Fight Disabled Lawsuit Abuse

The Americans with Disabilities Act has opened countless doors to those with disabilities. But the ADA has also opened doors to abuse.

Ron Wilson and Byron Chapman (l-r, pictured here) claim to be disability rights activists. But critics say the pair seem more interested in helping themselves.

Wilson and Chapman together have filed more than 100 ADA lawsuits in Sacramento federal court in just the past four years. In some cases, the lawsuits come without warning.

"Matter of fact they never even talked to us prior to filing suit," says Bud Fanning, owner of Bud's Pub & Grill in downtown Dixon. Fanning was sued in federal court by Byron Chapman because the step from the sidewalk into the restaurant was two-and-a-half inches too high. "I paid $10,000 to settle plus I still owe $20,0000 to my lawyer," Fanning told News10.

For some business owners, the veiled threat of a lawsuit arrives in a handwritten letter.

"I got the letter," explains Denise Del Piccolo, owner of Vicini's Pizzeria in Vacaville. Vicini's opened in a brand-new, handicapped accessible building just three years ago. But last month, Del Piccolo received a letter from Ron Wilson describing his visit to the restaurant as an "emotional experience." The letter suggested Del Piccolo "acquire a person who is knowledgeable" in disabled access issues.

"He does offer that service to people," Vacaville businessman Tom Phillippi told News10. Phillippi contacted Wilson after seeing one of the letters. "The number he quoted to me was $75 an hour, he'll do the consulting," Phillippi said. "You pay him $75 an hour as a consultant and you won't necessarily face him in court."

Murillo's Mexican Restaurant in Vacaville also received one of the letters from Ron Wilson after the owner had already spent $100,000 to make the restaurant more accessible. Francis Murillo can barely contain her anger when talking about it. "Our doors are electrical doors. We have to have so many tables to meet the handicapped requirement. The [restroom] stall is wide enough you can waltz in there," Murillo points out. "Now he's saying that we have not complied, that we need to do more."

A Sacramento-based disabled rights activist told News10 lawsuit abuse hurts broader efforts to gain access. "We all live in our communities and we need to resolve problems together and certainly not profit by any of them," said Ramona Garcia of Resources for Independent Living. "That is not right." Garcia said during her entire life as an advocate for the disabled, she's only filed one lawsuit, and that was after repeated attempts to resolve the issue amicably.

So many Solano County businesses have been impacted by ADA lawsuits, and the threat of them, that the Vacaville Chamber of Commerce has organized a task force to try to make it stop. Businessman Tom Phillippi is the committee chairman who told News10 he plans to raise a half-million dollars to fight lawsuit abuse.

"It's a multi-pronged strategy," says Phillippi, a civil engineer. Part of the problem, he explains, is the lack of coordination between the federal Americans with Disabilities Act requirements and state and local building codes. The Solano County business commmunity will try to persuade the state to standardize access requirements to eliminate the gray area that can lead to abuse.

The chamber of commerce ADA task force will also target Ron Wilson and Byron Chapman individually by trying to get a court order declaring the pair "vexatious litigants." The designation would severely limit their ability to file future lawsuits.

Neither Wilson nor Chapman responded to a request for comment from News10.

Vicini's Pizzeria is among the businesses gladly contributing to the legal fund after getting one of the Wilson letters. "He's a business terrorist," says Denise Del Piccolo. "I want to get this man because he's hurting people and I just don't want him to do this to anyone else."

KXTV News 10 ~ Sacramento / Stockton / Modesto ** Businesses Come Together To Fight Disabled Lawsuit Abuse

California Dems want to outlaw thick textbooks
Mood:  silly
Topic: Lib Loser Stories

A law just passed the California State Assembly passed a bill that states that text books must be no larger than 200 pages in length.

Assembly sticks nose into textbooks

Maybe Democrats in the state Assembly should just go ahead and write textbooks for California's students. They're so confident they know what constitutes a good one.

For instance, who knew that making a textbook longer than 200 pages was such a bad idea that there needs to be a law against it?

Well, 42 Assembly Democrats knew. On Thursday they approved AB 756, a bill by Jackie Goldberg, D-Los Angeles, that says: Neither the State Board of Education nor a local school district "may adopt instructional materials that exceed 200 pages in length."

Textbooks, the bill's supporters argued, should sum up the basics and then refer students to the Internet and to libraries for the rest. Plus, shorter is lighter and cheaper.

Maybe. Their assumption doesn't seem that obvious to us. It seems like something that ought to be decided -- just brainstorming here -- by actually reading each proposed textbook, as opposed to laying down an arbitrary limit.

The bill doesn't jibe with other instructions (some from the Legislature) that textbook publishers have been getting to avoid textbooks that are just dry columns of words. They must be full of pictures and charts. And in each subject, they have to cover the state's comprehensive curriculum requirements. This makes them longer.

The bill now goes to the Senate.

A few weeks ago, the Democratic leader in the Senate, Don Perata of Oakland, held a news conference to say that his colleagues were committed to more funding for education and less interference in day-to-day decisions.

For more money, they need the cooperation of Republicans. Democrats will be slightly more likely to get it if they show some resolve on the second half of the promise by killing some Legislature-knows-best bills. May we suggest a place to start?

Mercury News ~ Knight Ridder ** Assembly sticks nose into textbooks

Veterans memorial park vandalized
Mood:  irritated
Topic: Yahoo Chat Stuff

Vandals defaced a memorial at the Irving Veterans Memorial Park sometime before Sunday morning. The spray-painted words read: 'The price of freedom.' >>>>>

Veterans memorial park vandalized

Irving: Official says cost of replacing plaques could top $1,000

IRVING – Andy Greenwood planned to honor veterans by visiting the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery on Sunday.

He never made it. As he passed the Irving Veterans Memorial Park, he noticed something that made him stop: graffiti.

At some point before Sunday morning, someone spray-painted the words "the price of freedom" on a wall with veterans' names.

The vandalism, discovered the day before Memorial Day, perplexed Mr. Greenwood.

"I agree with what they spray-painted on the wall, but I just don't understand why they'd go about something that way," the Irving resident said.

A sidewalk in front of the marker was also vandalized with spray-painted words.

Bob Moffatt was at an Irving coffee shop raising money for new additions to the park when he heard the news. As the chairman of the park committee that raises money and takes care of the memorial, he was disappointed to see the vandalism – especially on a holiday weekend set aside to honor veterans.

"It's always disheartening to see someone have such little respect for something that's supposed to mean something," Mr. Moffatt said.

The park opened Memorial Day weekend last year. It honors all veterans, but those whose names are on the walls were Irving residents who died while in the military.

The names are displayed on brass plaques on a 9-foot-tall stone wall. The park's first phase, next to Irving Central Library, includes flags, a plaza and a brick walkway. It cost about $225,000. Organizers established the park committee seven years ago to raise money and search state and federal records to find names.

It's the first of at least four phases of the $2.1 million project. Park organizers hope to raise money to add a fountain, bronze statues, a time capsule and a world map that shows key battles.

Now the focus is on repairs.

Mr. Moffatt said he believes he'll be able to get the spray paint off the marble portion of the memorial. But he's afraid the plaques will have to be replaced, which could cost more than $1,000, he said.

"We've been doing this for seven years, and we've been doing it with small change," Mr. Moffatt said.

He said the park has routinely been targeted by thieves who steal letters from the park's name off the back of the memorial wall. But the spray-painted messages were frustrating to find, he said.

"I couldn't believe it," Mr. Moffatt said. "This is more than graffiti. Someone had no more love for our country or the men who died for us than that."

Finding the defaced memorial changed Mr. Greenwood's weekend plans.

"I never did get to the D-FW cemetery because it put a damper on my whole day," he said.

(Origional story requires registration)
Dallas Morning News ~ Brandon Formby ** Veterans memorial park vandalized

Chirac faces prosecution on a range of corruption charges when he leaves office
Mood:  cheeky
Topic: Lib Loser Stories

French Prosecutors say the nation’s recent corruption cases go right to President Jacques Chirac. They are biding time until he leaves office and is no longer immune from prosecution.

French Prosecutors Eye Chirac

Prosecutors in France are waiting for President Jacques Chirac to leave office so they can investigate corruption charges against the controversial French leader.

"Several prosecutors we talked to would love to have him," Fox News Channel's Greg Palkot reported on Monday. "But as long as he's in the president's chair, he's immune to any prosecution."

Once Chirac leaves office, however, "he could be prosecuted on a range of corruption charges," Palkot said.

Prominent Chirac allies have been on trial in France since March, accused of rigging public works contracts to arrange millions of dollars in kickbacks to Chirac's political party.

The trial, which is expected to run until the end of July, implicates four former ministers and spotlights one of several scandals that have come to light from Chirac's tenure as Paris mayor from 1977-1995.

The investigation was opened in 1997. Chirac has just 22 months before his second term ends.

Efforts are currently under way to arrange "something special for Chirac to preserve his immunity," Palkot said. "So far, those efforts have failed."

NewsMax.com ~ Carl Limbacher ** French Prosecutors Eye Chirac

Swearing Steaming Screaming: Clintax White House as Hot House; New WashPost Book
Mood:  chatty
Topic: Lib Loser Stories

NEW CLINTON BOOK: THE LIES, THE FIGHTS, THE INSULTS

Summer starts with a bang as veteran WASHINGTON POST reporter John Harris traces the emotional highs and lows of the Clinton presidency.

THE SURVIVOR: BILL CLINTON IN THE WHITE HOUSE drops this week from RANDOM [the book ranked #9,527 on AMAZON's sales parade Monday afternoon], but the DRUDGE REPORT can now sneak:

♠ Bill Clinton was so upset that his weight-loss regimen in 2000 was not working that he made his aides release a bogus number after his annual Navy physical to make him five pounds lighter. (pg. 394)

♠ Hillary taunted her husband's aides as being wimps by not fighting hard enough on Whitewater - "JFK had real men in his White House!" (pg. 108)

♠ Tipper Gore was so disgusted in 2000 with Bill and Hillary that she stayed cloistered in a holding room instead of going to a New York reception with major Democratic fund-raisers where the Clintons would be. "No, I'm not doing it," she snapped to an aide. "I'm not going out there with that man."

♠ The first conversation between Clinton and Gore after the Lewinsky story broke. Clinton is shouting at Gore, "This is a fucking coup d'etat!" Gore just stared back blankly. pg 313.

♠ Former White House counter-terrorism chief Richard Clarke on the record hitting Clinton for not having the guts to fire FBI director Louis Freeh, who Clarke called a major obstacle on anti-terrorism policy. "He should have just fired Freeh and taken the shit it would have caused." (pg. 408)

The POST plans two jumbos on Tuesday, newsroom sources tell DRUDGE.

One story from Harris will outline Hillary Clinton's presidential preparations.

MORE

Swearing Steaming Screaming -- White House as Hot House

From pages 356-7 of THE SURVIVOR: BILL CLINTON IN THE WHITE HOUSE by John F. Harris, national correspondent for the WASHINGTON POST:

Context is Sally Quinn's article from 11/98 explaining why the Washington Establishment was appalled by Clinton's behavior during Lewinksy.

Some time afterward the president was going over papers with his staff on the upcoming Presidential Medal of Freedom awards. Spontaneously, he launched into a little riff for his assembled aides. His nominee for the prestigious award this year would be none other than the famous [Watergate editor] Ben Bradlee, husband of Sally Quinn.

The aides looked on in puzzled amusement.

"Anyone who sleeps with that bitch deserves a medal!" he explained.

Drudge Report Exclusive ** NEW CLINTON BOOK: THE LIES, THE FIGHTS, THE INSULTS

Lawmakers Belatedly Disclose Trips
Mood:  chatty
Topic: Funny Stuff

Lawmakers Belatedly Disclose Trips

WASHINGTON - Scrutiny of Majority Leader Tom DeLay's travel has led to the belated disclosure of at least 198 previously unreported special interest trips by House members and their aides, including eight years of travel by the second-ranking Democrat, an Associated Press review has found.

At least 43 House members and dozens of aides had failed to meet the one-month deadline in ethics rules for disclosing trips financed by organizations outside the U.S. government.

The AP review of thousands of pages of records covered pre-2005 travel that was disclosed since early March. That's when news stories began scrutinizing DeLay's travel, prompting lawmakers to comb through their files to make sure they had disclosed their travel.

While most of the previously undisclosed trips occurred in 2004, some date back to the late 1990s. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer recently disclosed 12 trips, the oldest dating back to 1997.

Stacey Bernards, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Democrat, said the office searched the files after the travel issue was raised initially by "Republicans doing opposition research to deflect from their own ethical issues."

Hoyer's undisclosed trips were nearly doubled by Rep. Ellen Tauscher (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., with 21. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (news, bio, voting record), D-Ill., reported 20 past trips and Rep. Elijah Cummings (news, bio, voting record), D-Md. reported 13.

Republican and Democratic House members were nearly equal rules violators in failing to disclose their personal trips within 30 days after the trip's completion. There were 23 GOP members, 19 Democrats and 1 independent, all of them months or years late in their reporting to the House public records office.

Staff members for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., disclosed 11 prior trips, while staff members for DeLay, R-Texas, had 4. Rep. John Linder (news, bio, voting record) of Georgia, a former chairman of the House Republican campaign organization, belatedly filed 9 trips, as did Rep. Maxine Waters (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif.

The volume of unreported trips surprised the former chairman of the House ethics committee, Rep. Joel Hefley (news, bio, voting record), R-Colo.

"I didn't realize the extent of the problem," Hefley said. "There is no particular sanction (for tardiness) if you come back and file. They get lax. They don't think about it.

"People will be more aware now. The ethics committee will be more aware that it's a problem."

A spokesman for Gutierrez said the seven-term lawmaker did not know of his obligation to file the required travel disclosure reports.

"In late April, the congressman approached our staff to ask why in the news he was reading all this information about trips," spokesman Scott Frotman said.

Cummings spokeswoman Trudy Perkins said the original reports were sent to the House's public records office on time throughout 2004, using an internal mail system. They never made it to the public files.

"It was our understanding they were on file. It was odd, certainly," Perkins said.

Hayley Rumback, press secretary for Tauscher, said, "A recent review of our travel records showed that while all travel was properly disclosed on annual financial disclosure statements, some additional travel disclosure forms were not filed. We have corrected this oversight."

The travel in question is not for official government trips known as CODELS, shorthand for Congressional Delegations.

The special interest trips are usually financed by corporations, trade groups, think tanks, universities and others. They often pay for first-class commercial seats or provide corporate jets for lawmakers.

Many trips combine speeches, seminars and fact-finding tours with golf, sightseeing, shopping and accommodations at first-class hotels — often in foreign countries.

"This sudden rush to file reports on previously undisclosed trips is certainly filling many pages of congressional passports," said Kent Cooper, head of the PoliticalMoneyLine Internet site that tracks political donations and travel.

Some lawmakers and staff members wrote apologetic letters to the House ethics committee.

Rep. John Boehner (news, bio, voting record), R-Ohio, said he discovered "my staff had failed to submit a travel disclosure" for a trip to Scotland in August 2004, an error made "during a staff transition."

Elizabeth Greer, an aide to Rep. F. Allen Boyd (news, bio, voting record) Jr., D-Fla., took responsibility for not filing her documents after a trip to Kenya in December 2004. She said she completed the form soon after the trip, but "found it still buried on my desk recently. It simply slipped off my radar screen and found its way to the bottom of a pile."

One late filer, Republican Rep. Melissa Hart (news, bio, voting record) of Pennsylvania, is a current member of the ethics committee who could make judgments on DeLay's travel.

DeLay has asked the committee to review his travel, following allegations that a lobbyist paid for some of his trips despite a ban on such payments.

"Someone had done a story and incorrectly listed my travel," Hart said in an interview, explaining what led her to check her records. She found an unreported trip she made to Hungary and Germany last November.

Popular destinations listed in the tardy disclosures included Amelia Island, Fla.; New York City; San Juan; San Francisco; San Diego; Miami and Las Vegas. Foreign sites included Cuba, Taiwan and Israel.

Among the most expensive trips:

♠ Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah and his wife, Amy, traveled to Australia last November, listing a combined airfare of $24,804 paid by the American Australian Association. The nonprofit group says it is devoted to strengthening relations between the United States and two allies, Australia and New Zealand. Matheson said meals and lodging were picked up by the Australian government, but no amounts were specified.

♠ Rep. Bob Beauprez, R-Colo., and his wife, Claudia, traveled to Israel and Spain last November and December, listing the cost at $21,226. The travel, for participation in a Jerusalem conference, was financed by the Michael Cherney Foundation. The organization has various charity projects in Israel, including help for victims of suicide bombings.

♠ Rep. John Linder, R-Ga., and his wife, Lynne, traveled to Israel and Jordan in January, 2004 at a cost of $19,650. Linder said the trip, sponsored by The Jerusalem Fund, was designed to promote international understanding.

Waters, the California Democrat, insisted her late reports were unrelated to DeLay's troubles, and blamed those who paid her way.

"Sometimes they run late because the people who are responsible for inviting you have to get you all the receipts and they are so slow," Waters said.

On the Net: Travel reporting documents

Yahoo News ~ Associated Press - Larry Margasak / Elizabeth Wolfe ** Lawmakers Belatedly Disclose Trips