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MORNING REPORT Holding
the Democrats accountable today, tomorrow...forever. Our
Mission: To hold the Democrat presidential
candidates accountable for their comments
and allegations against President George W.
Bush, to make citizens aware of false
statements or claims by the Democrat
candidates, and most especially, to defend
the Bush Administration and set the record
straight when the Democrats make false
or misleading statements about the
Bush-Republican record.
Friday,
May 16, 2003
GENERAL
NEWS: Among
the offerings in this morning’s
update: ...
If
at first you don’t succeed, try again – Kerry,
after canceling out yesterday to go back to DC
for the Senate tax-cut vote, expected to
return to Des Moines today to finally outline
his health care plan ...
In
Oregon, Dean receives a “raucous
welcome” and engages in “left-of-center
attacks on President Bush”
...
Lieberman:
Let’s all debate monthly
...
Kerry
won’t comment on membership in
Skull and Bones secret
society, but it’s probably a
non-issue since GWB has been a member too
...
Los
Angeles Times: Gephardt “king”
of Capitol Hill when it comes to endorsements
...
And
Lieberman responds by reissuing – that’s
right, reissuing -- names of state elected
officials endorsing his candidacy
...
On
yesterday’s Mickelson radio talk show, Iowa
House Speaker Rants countered critics of
controversial Iowa Values Fund proposal
...
Newsweek
columnist Fineman weighs in on high-stakes
weekend ahead in Iowa – the AFSCME Dem
cattle show in DSM
...
Hartford
report: Lieberman “probably will not
get the AFL-CIO endorsement,” but labor
leaders won’t officially say that
...
Patriotic
weekend ahead in Siouxland – the
tri-state area around Sioux City –
including visit by replica of Vietnam Veterans
Memorial to LeMars until Sunday. See
Iowaisms
...
Gephardt
misses vote on pro-workers bill
...
Park
already closed, floodwall gates may be shut as
Dubuque prepares for “a second spring
crest” on the Mississippi
...
Two
wannabes miss first key vote as Senate
considers tax-cut package
...
Quiz: Name the Fox News Channel commentator
who’s sixth on list of Connecticut tax
delinquents?
All
these stories below and more. Morning
report:
...
Gephardt
– one of the alleged “pro-worker”
candidates in the Dem derby – missed the
vote on House legislation that would allow
workers to receive financial advice from the
same companies that manage their 401(k)
accounts. The bill, approved 271-157, is
supported by the White House and includes the
principles outlined in GWB’s pension
proposal. Democrats, opposing the legislation,
contended the investment advice would be
tainted by financial conflicts of interest –
saying the advisers could recommend funds that
pay them fees. In the House vote, Kucinich voted
against it while Gephardt missed
another vote. The Iowa Five – GOPs King,
Latham, Leach, Nussle and (apparently
before he left on his Cuba adventure) even
Dem Boswell – supported the legislation.
...
The
weekend ahead: On MSNBC.com, Newsweek
columnist Howard Fineman writes – “This
weekend, in Des Moines, the nine
Democrats vying for their party’s 2004
nomination will meet for the first time
before a labor-union crowd. At a town hall
sponsored by the American Federation of State,
County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME),
they’ll field questions from the
rank-and-file. AFSCME officials say that
health care is their leading bargaining issue,
and questions about it are sure to be
prominent. What’s at stake for the
Democrats is primacy in Iowa, where the
party’s first caucus will be held Jan. 19.
The Iowa caucuses start the winnowing process.
Rep. Dick Gephardt, a
union-friendly candidate who won the caucuses
in 1988, is playing to the same crowd again.
He was the first out of the box with a
sweeping health-care proposal. Howard Dean,
a physician, followed suit; Sen. John Kerry
is coming next. In one way or another, all
of the Democrats are (or will be) in favor of
a plan that seeks to reach the El Dorado of
‘universal coverage.’ The AFSCME
members, 19,000 of whom live in Iowa, will be
listening carefully. And they have a track
record of making a difference. In 1991,
AFSCME became the first union to endorse Bill
Clinton – then a relatively obscure governor
of Arkansas – for president.”
...
Two
Dem presidential candidates – Edwards and
Kerry – were AWOL from the Senate as Republicans
beat back the first major amendment aimed at
undercutting the president’s tax-cut package.
The amendment – which basically would have
stopped the dividend tax cut from going into
effect as long as the federal budget
isn’t balanced – was defeated on a
53-44 vote Wednesday night. Wannabes Graham
and Lieberman – obviously –
supported the amendment, as only one GOP
senator (Chaffee) voted for it while three Dem
Sens (Miller, Baucus and Breaux) joined
Republicans in opposing it and one other
member (Sarbanes) was absent.
...
David
Lightman of the Hartford Courant’s DC Bureau
wrote this week that “Lieberman probably
will not get the AFL-CIO’s endorsement in
the Democratic presidential primaries, but
labor officials won’t officially say that.”
Lightman reported that AFL-CIO president John
J. Sweeney told reporters Tuesday: “Trade is
a big issue. It is a crucial issue for the
manufacturing unions …The candidate
endorsed is going to have to have a strong
position on trade.” Lightman added: “Lieberman
has long been a free trader, someone arguing
against the more restrictive policies often
favored by unions. The Connecticut
Democrat does have a decent overall voting
record on labor issues – last year, for
example, he voted the AFL-CIO’s way on 12
of 13 key votes. His lifetime ‘right’
voting record is 82 percent.”
This
morning’s headlines: ...
Top
front-page headline, Des Moines Register: “Medicare
aid added to tax bill…Iowa: $377
million for doctors, hospitals …Grassley:
Senator faces fight to keep it” ...
Quad-City
Times online, main headline: “Wholesale
prices fall; deflation worries rise”
...
Top
story, Sioux City Journal online: “Senate
votes to suspend taxes on stock dividends”
...
Daily
Iowan (University of Iowa), world/national
headline: “U.S. raids attempt to restore
order in Iraq”
...
Omaha
World-Herald, main online headline: “Senate
OKs $350 billion tax cut plan” Nebraska
Sen. Ben Nelson is one of three Democrats who
votes for the measure that temporarily would
eliminate taxes on stock dividends – the
main ingredient in President Bush’s recipe
for economic recovery.
...
Chicago
Tribune, top online headlines: “WHO:
Leaky Pipes Spurred Hong Kong SARS”
& “Hectic day for terror drill”
Coverage of mock terrorist attack on Chicago.
...
KDTH
Radio (Dubuque) reported that a park
has been closed – and some floodwall gates
may be shut – as the Mississippi River
continued to rise toward a second spring crest
and could go above the official flood stage
early next week. The report said that
earlier this week a 15-foot crest was expected
tomorrow, but the latest forecasts indicate
the river will exceed the Dubuque 17-foot
flood stage on Monday – and could continue
to rise into next week.
Miller River View Park already has been
closed. The KDTH report also noted that the
first Mississippi crest – at 15 feet -- in Dubuque
occurred on 4/28.
Iowa
Briefs/Updates: ...
Several
media outlets, primarily from northeast IA,
reported that a Bernard man has been
electrocuted while installing a flagpole at
his home. Authorities said Steve Bradley,
41, was pronounced dead at an area hospital
after the flagpole touched some electrical
wires. Bernard is located about 15
miles SW of Dubuque ...
Radio
Iowa reports that a woman who worked in the
Des Moines police department has been
charged in connection with more than $20,000
in missing money. Radio Iowa’s Stella
Shaffer said Carol – get this
– Lawman was a records clerk and police
information typist who worked for the
department since1994. Lawman’s been charged
with first-degree theft by the Polk County
attorney’s office.
... On
the Korean Front: The Chicago Tribune
reported yesterday that GWB and South Korean
President Roh Moo Hyum agreed to
“consolidate” U.S. troops patrolling the
demilitarized zone that divides the Korean
Peninsula – “a first step toward
possibly reducing the number of American
soldiers stationed in South Korea.” The
Tribune’s Washington Bureau reporter Bob
Kemper reported: “Some of the nearly 100
U.S. military installations on the peninsula,
including the Yongsan garrison in Seoul, would
be closed ‘at an early date,’ and U.S.
forces would be relocated to ‘key hubs,’
Bush and Roh said in a joint statement after
their first meeting since Roh’s election in
December. The Pentagon is reviewing its
military commitments in South Korea, Germany
and elsewhere in the world with an eye toward
reducing or redeploying those troops.”
... After
hosting critics of the Iowa Values Fund
proposal earlier in the week, talk show host
Mickelson (WHO, Des Moines/ WMT,
Cedar Rapids) had a proponent
– IA House Speaker Rants – on his program
yesterday to address benefits of the
controversial economic development package.
Basically, Rants said he believes the fate of
the legislation – which will be
considered during a legislative special
session later this month – will
determine whether Iowans are able to keep
their children and grandchildren in the state or
will be visiting them in Minneapolis and
elsewhere. Rants said that if the state
doesn’t move forward on economic growth “our
No. 1 industry, at least in rural Iowa, will
be nursing home creation.” He
also emphasized the overall package contains
more than just the Values Fund initiative –
including regulatory and tax reforms – that
are as important as the economic development
funding. Rants also countered a Mickelson
concern about whether the legislation would
violate constitutional prohibitions against
the state absorbing debts for corporate and
other private entities. The GOP speaker
said that, according to court opinions, the
state can “create” debt, but “can’t
take on a secondary debt …can’t take on
the debt of others.” He cited Iowa Supreme
Court rulings that provide for endeavors such
as the Values Fund – because, technically,
the state is incurring the debt for
economic development purposes and the
money is, in turn, then being allocated in
grants and loans to the businesses. ... This
morning’s editorials, Des Moines Register:
Local – “The vision for conservation? …Polk
County residents should know what the board
has in mind, and why they forced out
[conservation] director Ben Van Gundy” &
“Not
worth two bits …Iowa
should switch its preferred quarter design
from ‘Beautiful Land’ to ‘Foundation in
Education.’” Editorial about upcoming
decision on design, theme for Iowa’s state
quarter that will be issued in 2004. ...
Multiple
reports indicate former Iowa State
basketball coach Tim Floyd is one of three
finalists to coach the NBA’s New Orleans
Hornets. Floyd – who compiled a 49-190
record in the NBA with the Chicago Bulls –
is joined by two other former NBA coaches
(Mike Fratello and Brian Hill) on the
Hornets’ list of finalists. ...
The
Quad-City Times yesterday reported that the
welcome mat is out at the University of Iowa
for former Nebraska – and Davenport North
– running back Marques Simmons. The
Times report said Simmons, who had three
1,000-yard seasons in high school at North and
left the Cornhuskers football program this
spring, has expressed interest in Iowa and
Iowa State. The Times story by Don Doxsie
added that Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said the
Hawks were “definitely interested. We
thought Marques was an outstanding player, but
more importantly an outstanding person when we
were recruiting him [before he went to
Nebraska].” ...
DSM
5 a.m. 52 fog/mist. Temperatures range this
morning from 42 in Clinton and Estherville
to 52 in Des Moines. Today’s
high 72, mostly sunny. Tonight’s low 52,
clear. Saturday’s high 75, sunny. From
WHO-TV’s Ed Wilson: “Great weather
coming up this weekend …finally a dry
and warm spell to help us get outside an enjoy
the weather.”
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UNRELIABLE
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"I don’t think it’s fair to say
Democrats in Congress are anti-defense.”
–
Iowa Dem Attorney General (and Lieberman
supporter) Tom Miller,
in Washington
yesterday during news conference wrapping up
two-day Democratic Leadership Council (DLC)
strategy session.
...
Under
the headline “Dean blasts the president
on foreign policy, tax cuts,” the
Portland Oregonian’s Jeff Mapes reported
that Dean “received a raucous welcome
Wednesday in Portland from about 400
supporters who cheered his unabashedly
left-of-center attacks on President Bush.
As he has since before the war in Iraq, the
former Vermont governor hammered Bush for a
foreign policy he likened to the conduct of a
schoolyard bully. And Dean, 54, won loud
applause for opposing the Bush tax cut and for
demanding universal health-care coverage. If
history is any guide, the Democratic
presidential race will be decided long before
the Oregon primary is held 12 months from now.
But Dean has clearly cultivated a following
here that appears unmatched by any of his
eight Democratic rivals …The only other
Democrat who has made a serious foray into
Oregon is North Carolina Sen. John Edwards,
who has raised more than $60,000 from
Oregonians, much of that from fellow trial
lawyers …Clearly buoyed by the size of
the crowd, Dean wasted no time in
jabbing Bush – and Democratic rivals who
are willing to cut a deal with the president
on his tax-cut package.”
...
In
what is rapidly becoming the most
anticlimactic event of the 2004 Dem
presidential campaign so far, Kerry is
expected to surface somewhere in Iowa –
Hampton? Ottumwa?
Des Moines? – sometime soon (maybe
today?) to finally outline his version of
health care insurance. The main problem
and challenge for Kerry, however, is
that most Iowa Dems probably have read or
heard about the Kerry health package. Kerry
was scheduled to deliver his Health Care
Grand Plan in DSM yesterday – but he
backed off to return to DC for votes on the
tax-cut legislation. The Quad-Cities Times
reported that Kerry had planned to use
yesterday’s health care announcement (and
apparently his expected DSM news conference
today) to outline an $80 billion health
care initiative “intended to rein in
skyrocketing costs while providing
insurance coverage to 95 percent of Americans.”
...
National
political reporters scurried around, in
wake of Gephardt announcing congressional
endorsements, to see how the Dem wannabes
are doing in the endorsement derby. From
yesterday’s Los Angeles Times – under
headline, “Gephardt Leads Pack in
Endorsements by Colleagues” – staff
writer Nick Anderson wrote: “In the jostling
among Democratic presidential contenders for
endorsements from elected officials, Rep.
Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri laid
claim Wednesday to being king
of the hill – Capitol Hill, that is.”
The Times report said Gephardt “scooped
up the formal backing” of House leaders
Pelosi and Hoyer – and 28 other House
members – which places him “well ahead
of his rivals in the hunt for congressional
support.” The endorsements, Anderson
noted, are important because congressional
Dems are among the 800
“super-delegates” eligible to vote on the
eventual nominee at the party’s national
convention. The count, according to the
Times coverage: Lieberman has a dozen, Dean
has four, Kerry has “at least
four” and Moseley Braun has
two Illinois congressional backers. (Note: For
the Quad-City Times, the Gephardt announcement
was a local story. The Times’ Ed Tibbetts
reported that Dem Rep. Lane Evans – who
represents the Illinois side of the
Quad-Cities – was among those endorsing
Gephardt’s candidacy. The Times noted
that Evans, the ranking member on the House
Veterans Affairs Committee, has been a
“beneficiary” of Gephardt’s
campaign help over the years.)
...
And
Lieberman counters Gephardt endorsements.
The Washington Times’ Donald Lambro
reported: “In response to Mr.
Gephardt’s announcement, Sen. Joe
Lieberman’s campaign yesterday reissued a
partial list of endorsements he has received,
which includes those of a dozen House and
Senate members and more than 70 state elected
officials from around the country. ‘We are
proud of the support we have from our
colleagues in the House, but that can only
be a part of what will be a successful
campaign,’ said Lieberman’s campaign
spokesman, Jano Cabrera.
...
Headline
from the Boston Herald: “Kerry made his
Bones in secret club – like Bush”
Report by Andrew Miga said that Kerry
“expounds on many issues in his presidential
campaign, but he’s completely silent on one
topic: his membership in Skull and Bones,
Yale’s infamous secret society. ‘John Kerry
has absolutely nothing to say on that subject.
Sorry,’ said Kerry spokeswoman Kelley
Benander. Kerry is a respected senator
and a decorated Vietnam War combat veteran, but
36 years after he was initiated into what has
been called the ‘ultimate old boy
network,’ he’s wary of breaking the
ultra-exclusive club’s strict secrecy code.
There’s also another high-profile member of
the club: President Bush. Bonesmen already are
buzzing over the prospect of the first
Bones vs. Bones presidential race should Kerry
win his party’s nomination and face Bush in
2004. ‘Bones don’t care who wins,’
said author Alexandra Robbins, whose book
‘Secrets of the Tomb’ pierced the secrecy
shrouding the 171-year-old society. ‘If
Kerry wins, it’s still a Bones presidency.”
...
Several
media outlets reported on Lieberman’s
latest campaign brainstorm – challenging the
Dem presidential opponents to debate monthly.
He calls for the wannabes to agree to
participate in one nationally broadcast debate
a month starting in July. In a letter to the
eight managers for the other campaigns, Lieberman
manager Craig Smith wrote: “If we all agree
that the Democratic primary should be one of
ideas, let’s all agree to appear regularly
before the voters on television in
media-sponsored, neutral debates that have the
potential of reaching the widest possible
audience.” Associated Press reported
that Smith “suggested the monthly debates be
sponsored by the media and agreed upon by the
campaigns. The letter comes as recent polls
show many Americans cannot identify some of
the Democrats seeking the nomination or know
little about the candidates.”
... The
following item probably has little – like
absolutely nothing -- to do with Iowa politics
or the Dem presidential campaign, but since
Iowa politicos can watch Dick Morris on their
TV screens Iowa Pres Watch couldn’t pass it
up. From Greg Pierce’s “Inside Politics”
column in yesterday’s Washington Times --
under the subhead, “Overdue tax bill”
– the report said: “Dick Morris, the
former pollster in President Clinton’s White
House who resigned over a sex scandal, is
one of the top tax delinquents in Connecticut,
according to the state’s revenue department.
Mr. Morris, who is a commentator for Fox News
Channel, owes $257,624 in income tax, making
him No. 6 among the state’s top 100
delinquent taxpayers, the department said.
Connecticut’s Department of Revenue Services
posted the list of those ‘deficient in
excess of 90 days as of April 1’ on its Web
site, Reuters news agency reports.”
...
From
the gun control front: Excerpt from
coverage by AP’s David Espo on the current
congressional dispute over extending the ban
on so-called assault weapons – “The issue
cuts across party lines. While Democrats
generally lead the campaign for such measures,
some suburban Republicans favor gun control,
while Democrats from rural area or those with
active hunting populations oppose it, and the
issue has worked to the detriment of Democrats
nationally in recent elections. The
Democrats lost control of the House in the
1994 elections in a campaign in which the
passage of the assault weapons ban played a
role in the defeat of some lawmakers. More
recently, Vice President Al Gore cast the
tie-breaking vote as the Senate in 1999 passed
legislation that included restrictions on
sales at gun shows and a requirement for
safety devices to be sold with guns. Some
party strategists later said it worked against
Gore in his losing campaign for the White
House in 2000. Minority Democrats in
recent years have placed an emphasis on
capturing rural districts in the south and
west, areas where candidates are not eager to
be associated with efforts to pass gun control
legislation.” 
... Patriotism
flourishes in northwest Iowa Siouxland area
this weekend. The Sioux City Journal
reports on two events. One Journal story says
that some of “the first soldiers to begin
the liberation of Belgium and Holland during
World War II” will reunite in Sioux
City this weekend for the 23rd reunion of
the 113th Calvary Group – an Iowa National
Guard unit that landed at Normandy on
6/30/44 and fought, during 309 days of combat,
in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany.
The unit took more than 21,500 POWs. Also,
according to the Journal, “The Wall
That Heals” exhibit –
a half-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial in DC – will be in LeMars in
front of the Plymouth County Fairgrounds
grandstand until midnight Sunday. The
county’s Vietnam Era Veterans Last Man’s
Club raised $6,000 to bring the Vietnam wall
replica to northwest Iowa.
to read past Iowa Morning Reports