Just POlitics

Bolton delay

John Bolton’s U.N. confirmation was put on hold in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"I've heard enough today that I don't feel comfortable voting for Mr. Bolton," Sen. George V. Voinovich, Ohio Republican, said. With that comment, the Committee delayed the final vote on Bolton.

The group Move America Forward, which opposes the United Nations but backs Bolton, plans to put the heat on Voinovich. The plans include running radio ads criticizing Voinovich for his "obstructionist conduct." The group has also called on its members to contact Sen. Voinovih’s office and express their outrage.

What makes Voinovich’s action of delay more unpalatable for many is the fact that he failed to attend many of the hearings where Democrats charges were raised.

The White House continues to stand by their nominee, "John Bolton is exactly the person we need at the United Nations. We're confident he will be confirmed," press secretary Scott McClellan said. "There are some Senate Democrats on the committee who continue to raise unfounded allegations. John Bolton testified for more than eight hours, he responded to a large number of written questions following his testimony. We believe he has addressed the issues."

Democrat think

The Hill reports on Democrat poohbahs meeting to engineer institutions that will give weight to their liberal philosophy. Billionaire George Soros was among those trying to make things happen:

George Soros told a carefully vetted gathering of 70 like-minded millionaires and billionaires last weekend that they must be patient if they want to realize long-term political and ideological yields from an expected massive investment in "startup" progressive think tanks.

The Scottsdale, Ariz., meeting, called to start the process of building an ideas production line for liberal politicians, began what organizers hope will be a long dialogue with the "partners," many from the high-tech industry. Participants have begun to refer to themselves as the Phoenix Group.

Rob Stein, a veteran of President Bill Clinton’s Commerce Department and of New York investment banking, convened the meeting of venture capitalists, left-leaning moneymen and a select few D.C. strategists on how to seed pro-Democratic think tanks, media outlets and leadership schools to compete with such entrenched conservative institutions as the Heritage Foundation, the American Enterprise Institute and the Leadership Institute.

The liberal view

For anyone interested in what a liberal think tank might advocate, John Hinderaker at the Weekly Standard offers some insight from a recent Yale Law School conference:

It is time for progressives to set a constitutional agenda for the 21st Century. In 1987-88, the Reagan Justice Department produced a white paper known as "The Constitution in 2000" which, by taking a long view rather than focusing on the immediate issues of the day, was immensely successful in influencing the Constitution under which we now live. If progressives are to rehabilitate that Constitution, they must now, more than ever, articulate constitutional ideals capable of inspiring the next generation.

Here’s what the key points of the conference agenda boil down to:

The touchstone is Franklin Roosevelt's "Second Bill of Rights," which would recognize a right to "a useful and remunerative job"; sufficient earnings to provide "adequate" food, clothing, and recreation; a "decent" home; a "good education"; and "adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health."

The essence of the progressive constitutional project is to recognize "positive" rights, not just "negative" rights, so that citizens are not only guaranteed freedom from specified forms of government interference, but also are guaranteed the receipt of specified economic benefits. The bottom line is that Congress would no longer have the discretion to decline to enact liberal policies. The triumph of the left would be constitutionally mandated. The following excerpts from the discussion, as recorded by our correspondent, illustrate its tone and content:

Rove’s perspective

Karl Rove’s lecture at a liberal arts college on the subject of media is covered by the Washington Post and is a good read:

His indictment of the media -- delivered as part of Washington College's Harwood Lecture Series, named for the late Washington Post editor and writer Richard Harwood -- had four parts: that there's been an explosion in the number of media outlets; that these outlets have an insatiable demand for content; that these changes create enormous competitive pressure; and that journalists have increasingly adopted an antagonistic attitude toward public officials. Beyond that, Rove argued that the press pays too much attention to polls and "horse-race" politics, and covers governing as if it were a campaign.

"If more people in government knew about the press and more people in the press knew about governing, the world would be a better place to live," Rove said. "Journalists would perform their craft better if they were more understanding of the realities and complexities of running for and serving in public life."

Immigration amnesty failure

The Washington Times reports on the Senate actions to defeat an illegal immigration amnesty amendment:

The Senate yesterday turned back a proposed amnesty for up to 1 million illegal immigrant agricultural workers and their families, though it gained support of more than half the chamber.

In the first major vote on immigration policy in almost a decade, the Senate fell seven votes shy of the 60 required to proceed with the amendment, which would have offered the illegal immigrants a three-step path to citizenship. A vote on a guest-worker program with no path to citizenship also failed, by an overwhelming margin.

Jeffords will retire

Vermont Sen. Jim Jeffords, an independent who caused one of the most dramatic upheavals in Senate history when he quit the GOP four years ago, intends to retire at the end of his term next year.

Squeezed by filibuster

The NY Times reports on Senators who are being squeezed to vote for ending the filibuster. They include: Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, Gordon H. Smith of Oregon Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, and John Warner of Virginia. All are feeling the squeeze.