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Frist: first immigration enforcement
Sen. Bill Frist told the
Washington Times that the Senate will tackle immigration enforcement
before taking up immigration reforms:
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said yesterday that the Senate will tackle
border security and interior immigration enforcement before turning to the
broader question of immigration reforms and a guest-worker program.
"It is a separate issue, but it's one that people understand," the Tennessee
Republican said of border security. "It's an immediate issue, it needs to be
addressed more aggressively, we need to do that."
Speaking with The Washington Times by telephone after a helicopter tour
yesterday of 300 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas, Mr. Frist said he
does not know whether an immigration bill can pass this year because of a
heavy workload, but the Senate will pass a bill before adjourning next year.
He said the next immigration bill should address border security and could
cover interior enforcement as well.
Huckabee: trip number 5
The
Des Moines Register covers Governor Mike Huckabee’s fifth trip to Iowa:
President Bush's lagging approval and serious problems for some
congressional GOP leaders give governors greater appeal nationally, Huckabee
said during a trip to the Des Moines area.
"I do think that all those things going on give people more of a concern and
have them looking beyond Washington," he told The Des Moines Register.
Huckabee's visits to Iowa — all since July — have made him his party's most
frequent caucus-state visitor and have boosted his mentions as a potential
2008 candidate.
Bayh-partisan
The Des Moines Register’s coverage of Sen. Evan Bayh’s visit in Iowa
stressed his call for national unity:
"The truth of the matter is that the American people have much more in
common than what divides us," Bayh said. "There is a yearning for . . .
people to remind us that at the end of the day, we really are not red states
and blue states but 50 red-white-and-blue states with a common heritage and
common destiny," Bayh said.
Bayh was not without his shots at Republicans, calling on the firing of Karl
Rove if he had anything to do with the leaking of Valerie Plame name.
Bayh was hosted at a breakfast by two of Iowa’s top Democrats -- both former
state Democrat chairs -- Ed and Bonnie Campbell. The Democrat powerful came
to take Bayh’s presidential measure.
Harkin’s political slime
Sen. Tom Harkin has always been able to get away with some of the worst
hypocrisy and political slime of any national political figure. However, the
Omaha World Herald is calling Iowa’s Sen. Harkin to task for his latest
duplicitous action.
Harkin is up to his usual name-calling and this time his target is his
defense of Harriet Miers. Harkin has called the action of conservatives
despicable for their questioning whether Miers is the best choice.
As the
Omaha World Herald puts it, Harkin should know what despicable is:
But if those are "despicable," what does that make these judgments by Harkin
on past judicial nominees?
• Priscilla Owen (Court of Appeals): "This is not a person to put on
the bench for a lifetime appointment. This person is wacko! She's wacko!" (Harkin
to talk-show host Randi Rhodes, as reported by Robert Novak, June 4, 2005)
• Miguel Estrada (Court of Appeals): "I know people who have
associated with him . . . think he is some kind of right-wing kook. Is he a
right-wing kook? I don't know. Some people say he is." (Harkin, as reported
by Nat Hentoff, Jewish World Review, March 11, 2003)
• Clarence Thomas (Supreme Court): "Clarence Thomas is a zero."
(Associated Press story in The World-Herald, July 2, 1991)
The last comment, by the way, was offered almost immediately after
Thomas was nominated.
After Harkin & Co. were through, Thomas was barely confirmed. It took a
showdown over filibusters to confirm Owen. Estrada gave up.
Such, apparently, is the body of experience that makes Tom Harkin so able to
recognize "despicable" when he sees it.
This from a Democrat who continues to be bankrupt on how to fight the War on
Terrorism and was part of the Democrats who voted to cut defense and
intelligence appropriations.
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