This report is later than usual, but there has been some excitement here today. I have been offered a new position in public television. It is a great opportunity and will provide a lot of excitement. As I begin the move, reports on Check This Out! will be a little spotty. There may be no reports from July 29 - Aug 5. I will advise as the move gets closer.
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Who will be the next Supreme Court Justice? Speculation is running wild and liberal groups and senators are bashing the nominee. What nominee you ask? Good question. There is none, yet. But Senators like Ted Kennedy and Charles Schumer say they will vote against "any" nominee of President Bush.
Schumer says that unless the nominee will give specific answers to how he/she may rule on abortion and other "hot button" issues, he will claim the nominee has something to hide. Asking court nominees to be specific with answers to cases not yet before them is unprecedented and Senate Republicans plan to explain the obstructionism of Democrats.
Will there be a filibuster? It is likely that the seven "moderate" Democrats will say that any nominee the president chooses falls under an "extraordinary circumstance." The circumstance being President Bush appointed them. If there is a hint of a possible filibuster, it is time for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist to use his power and leadership to change the rules and ban filibusters on judicial nominees. The votes are there if Frist has the ability to use them. If Frist allows a filibuster, there will be no new Supreme Court nominee during the Bush presidency.
Tag: Supreme Court
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Although Time magazine agreed to turn over the notes of reporter Matthew Cooper to a federal court, the prosecutor is demanded that Cooper testify before a grand jury.
Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald also opposed the request from Cooper and NY Times reporter Judith Miller for home detention instead of jail for criminal contempt of court.
In court filings, Fitzpatrick wrote that home confinement would make it easier for the reporters to defy the court order. Special treatment for the reporters may "negate the coercive effect contemplated by federal law."
"Journalists are not entitled to promise complete confidentiality — no one in America is," Fitzgerald wrote.
On Wednesday US District Judge Thomas Hogan will hear arguments from Fitzgerald and lawyers for the reporters to determine whether the reporters be compelled to testify. Both have said previously that they would not testify nor reveal their sources. Judge Hogan could sentence them to jail after the hearing.
Prosecutor Demands Time Reporter Testimony - Yahoo! News
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House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) complains loud and long about ethical breaches by Tom Delay (R-TX) and other House Republicans. Most of her complaints are about "supicious" trips that may have been paid for by lobbyists. Payment for Congressional trips by registered lobbyists is against House ethics rules.
When members of Cogress take trips soposored by an ourtside group, they are required to report them within 30 days.
Friday, Pelosi filed forms on three trips she took that were paid for by someone else. The most expensive trip was not reported on Pelosi' financial disclosure form and there was no record of a previous filing within the 30 day limit. One of the trips disclosed on Friday was over 7 years ago.
With these filings, Republicans are saying that there are just as many questions about trips taken by the Democrats.
Pelosi Turns In Delinquent Reports for 3 Sponsor-Funded Trips
Tags: Nancy Pelosi, Congress, House Ethics
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The proliferation of 527 Groups who spent millions and millions of dollars on attack ads during the last presidential campaign has caused a Congressional committee to propose a bill to curb some spending.
The House Administration Committee voted 5-3 to send a bill to the House floor that would place tax-exempt partisan groups under the same fundraising and spending limits as political action committees.
The bill may specifically target organizzations like MoveOn.org, the Media Fund, and Swift Boat Veterans for Truth that targeted specific presidential candidates.
Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH), chairman of the committee, said the campaign law of 2002 that limited unregulated money "distorted our political process by taking power away from our political parties and redistributing it to less accountable, ideologically driven outside groups."
The Senate is considering a similar bill.
House Panel Seeks to Curb Some Fundraising - Yahoo! News
Tags: 527's, Campaign Finance
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There is speculation that Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) or her campaign staff have warned media outlets not to publicize a new book about the senator. Ed Klein's book The Turth About Hillary has been available for a few weeks and is climbing the sales charts without the media hype that normally accompanies a political "tell all" book.
Does Klein need the media? Apparently not. But who is buying the book? It can't be just the "vast right wing conspiracy" that the senator talks about. Maybe voters and potential voters are looking for the truth about Hillary. They will not get much through her campaign.
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More later
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