Just POlitics

Pelosi’s ethics problem

House Democrats now have to defend House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi who helped secure $3 million last year for a nonprofit transportation-research organization, WestStart-CALSTART. The president of the organization gave money to her political action committee as the group was paying for a European trip for one of her policy advisers.

Transportation adviser Lara Levison's nine-day, $4,475 trip to Spain and Germany last April to learn about hydrogen-fuel cells for buses was primarily paid for by WestStart-CALSTART.

In addition, WestStart-CALSTART Chief Executive Officer John R. Boesel also gave $1,000 to one of Mrs. Pelosi's political action committees in 2003 and $1,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Election data

John Fund writes at www.OpinionJournal.com. about Polidata --  a database firm run by Clark Bensen that just finished publishing precinct-level data on the last Presidential Election.

"Only five Republican House members currently sit in districts where Mr. Bush won less than 47 percent of the presidential vote last year: two in Connecticut, two in Iowa and one in Delaware. But 31 House Democrats represent districts where John Kerry won less than 47 percent. That means Republicans have many more opportunities to pick up seats in favorable political terrain as Democratic members leave the House. No one expects Democrats to hold the seat of Ike Skelton of Missouri when he leaves office; President Bush won 64 percent of his district's votes. Ditto for the district of Gene Taylor of Mississippi, where Mr. Bush won 68 percent."

Social Security trust

President Bush visited the Bureau of Public Debt to highlight the looming fiscal insolvency facing Social Security.

"A lot of people in America think there's a trust," Bush said.

"But that's not the way it works," he said. "There is no trust fund -- just IOUs."

Because of increased payroll taxes and the baby boomers, Social Security has been taking in more taxes than it has been paying out. It is projected that around 2017 that will not be the case. At that time Social Security will require $100’s of billions to become due each year on the IOU’s that are kept in the form of savings bonds. These payments will continue until about 2041 when the surplus funds will be exhausted and benefits will have to be cut by up to 30 percent.

There are those who worry that Congress does not have the fiscal discipline to cut other government services or raise taxes to pay back the IOU’s. Part of the problem is that the entitlement programs of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are taking over the federal budget as a percentage. In 1988, the three entitlements were 42 percent of the budget. In 2004, the entitlements grew to 54 percent of the federal budget. It is projected that in 2010 a whopping 58 percent of the budget will be consumed by these social security programs.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California have yet to face up to the looming crisis in Social Security. They jointly wrote Bush a letter that said: "We urge you to commit to paying back every Social Security dollar that has been used for other purposes."

The Democrat leaders further went on to state: "These statements could raise needless doubts among American and foreign investors about the United States' willingness to meet its fiscal obligations. This has potentially broad ranging and damaging implications for our economy."

Democrats defending judiciary

Following Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s comments about Congressional oversight of an arrogant judiciary that thumbs it nose at the President and Congress, Democrats seem to be defending a judiciary that supports gay marriages, banning prayer in schools and other liberal humanistic religious outcomes.

"If they don't get what they want, they attack who-ever's around," said Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada. "Now they're after the courts, and I think it goes back to this arrogancy of power."

"The presumption that somehow we are going to threaten judges or demand certain outcomes from judges is antithetical to a free people under law," said House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland.

Post vs. DeLay

The Washington Post continues its attempts to overthrow House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. The Post now is reporting on what may be another infraction by DeLay in 1997. However, the story seems to indicate that the group may have acted in a deceptive manner.

This does not stop the Post from suggesting that DeLay should have discovered this fact. Here is the lead in the Post story:

A six-day trip to Moscow in 1997 by then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) was underwritten by business interests lobbying in support of the Russian government, according to four people with firsthand knowledge of the trip arrangements.

DeLay reported that the trip was sponsored by a Washington-based nonprofit organization. But interviews with those involved in planning DeLay's trip say the expenses were covered by a mysterious company registered in the Bahamas that also paid for an intensive $440,000 lobbying campaign.

On another front the NY Times reported on money flowing to Delay’s wife and daughter:

The wife and daughter of Tom DeLay, the House majority leader, have been paid more than $500,000 since 2001 by Mr. DeLay's political action and campaign committees, according to a detailed review of disclosure statements filed with the Federal Election Commission and separate fund-raising records in Mr. DeLay's home state, Texas.

MoveOn.org’s power

Once again MoveOn.org demonstrated its capacity to generate political activity over the Internet. In less than three days last week, the MoveOn.org's political action committee raised from its members nearly $833,000 for Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) Byrd – whose sordid past includes membership in the KKK.

Moveon’s ability to raise money is considerable. Liberal investor George Soros contributed $10 million to the organization during the 2004 election. MoveOn raised about $50 million in the 2004 cycle.

Democrat news fabrication?

Democrats may be caught up in a news fabrication, according to the Washington Times. Democrats have criticized Republicans for circulating a memo regarding how the Schiavo plight could be politically advantageous. However, no one other but Sen. Tom Harkin -- who is known as a political bimbo – has suggested that they actually saw the memo. The Times writes:

Sen. Robert F. Bennett, Utah Republican, said the issue "stinks" of a news fabrication similar to the one that engulfed CBS anchorman Dan Rather during the 2004 presidential campaign, after he reported that President Bush did not fulfill his duties while in the National Guard, citing documents that CBS later admitted could not be authenticated.

"I've never seen it, and nobody ever gave it to me," Mr. Bennett said of the purported Schiavo memo, adding: "As far as I'm concerned, it is an invention of the press."

Iraq President

Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani has been chosen by the Iraqi parliament as the country's new interim president. The Kudish are a long-repressed minority in Iraq. Most analysts took the appointment of Talabani as a good sign that Iraq would move forward in creating its new constitution and democrat elections.

Cox vs. Hillary?

Lawyer Ed Cox, who is married to Tricia Nixon and is former President Richard Nixon's son-in-law, seems to be serious about taking on Hillary Rodham Clinton for the 2006 N. Y. U.S. Senate race.

Middle East diplomacy

Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah is expected to meet with President Bush at his Crawford, Texas, ranch later this month, a senior administration official said on Wednesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is scheduled to join Bush next week at the ranch for talks aimed at stepping up the Mideast peace process.

Envoy to Iraq

Despite officials in Afghanistan asking the Bush administration to keep Ambassdor Zalmay Khaliza in Afghanistan, Khaliza was nominated to become the new ambassador to Iraq.