Just POlitics

Justice Sunday

"I don't think it's radical to ask senators to vote," Sen. Bill Frist said. "Now if Senator Reid continues to obstruct the process, we will consider what opponents call the 'nuclear option.' Only in the United States Senate could it be considered a devastating option to allow a vote. Most places call that democracy."

However, it was Frist’s distancing himself from Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s comments that judges should be made to answer for their decisions that caused Frist to learn that conservatives do not agree.

"What Bill Frist said shows where his heart really is," Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., said. "He is not part of our conservative movement."

This past Sunday, the nation found that the Religious Right in America believes that they are at war with the nation’s judiciary. Bill Frist went ahead with his taped message on the Family Research Council sponsored Justice Sunday. The Council on its website states that 61 million people in 44 states with its call to arms for Christians to take a stand against judiciaries encroachment on religion in the public square.

It seems that the left do not believe that the elimination of prayer in school, the elimination of the use of God in the Pledge of Allegiance and the insistence of abortion on demand would upset the Religious Right.

''We are a democracy, not a theocracy. Faith should have no role in this debate over judges." Responded Jim Manley, a spokesman for Sen. Harry Reid regarding allegations that the left has supported judicial activism that has stripped Americans of their religious rights.

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican whip, expressed Sunday that he had 50 of the 55 Republican’s votes to end Democrat Filibuster of judges. Vice President Dick Cheney has already said that in his capacity as President of the Senate he would vote in favor of finding that filibustering a judicial nomination is unconstitutional.

The American Conservative Union has announced that it would score the Senate procedural vote to end the Democrats' filibuster of President Bush's judicial nominees in its annual Rating of Congress.

Social Security

"History will surely vindicate Bush for trying to solve a serious national problem before it becomes a staggering mess. What's required now, however, is that he be ready to accept defeat in a manner that saves Republicans from losses in the 2006 election and allows him to pursue the rest of his agenda effectively," writes Fred Barnes in the Weekly Standard.

"This approach has several advantages. It would spare Republicans a 2006 campaign dominated by Social Security. Most House Republicans would rather run on other issues—taxes, gay marriage, national security, judges—which are more likely to help them avoid the usual fate of a party with a president in his sixth year in office. The average numbers of seats lost by a president's party in the sixth year of his administration are, roughly, 28 in the House and 7 in the Senate," Barnes writes.

Tuesday, Sen. Charles Grassley, (IA., R) Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, will begin the first hearings on how to fix the $11 trillion shortfall in Social Security. In Iowa earlier, D-Sen. Tom Harkin told audiences that there was no problem with Social Security and that Pres. Bush’s proposal of private accounts would destroy Social Security.

The Finance Committee will hear from Robert Pozen of MFS Investment Management. He has proposed "progressive indexing" of benefits in which checks for poorer retirees remain linked to wage growth, benefit checks for wealthier retirees are linked to slower-growing prices, and those in the middle receive benefits based on a combination of the two indexes.

In addition, Peter Orszag -- a Clinton administration official who opposes privatization -- will be countered by Peter Ferrara of the Free Enterprise Fund and Michael Tanner of the Cato Institute, who will also testify on the need for private accounts as the only way to solve the numerical problem of fewer and fewer individuals paying for those who are retired.

Republicans appear to be discouraged by polls showing that only 45 percent of Americans favor President Bush’s proposal to add personal accounts to increase earnings. However, some Republicans remain optimistic because of gains made in public understanding of Social Security’s fiduciary shortfall.

"There's no question that Democrats have sort of won the first few battles on this by obstructing, but I do think that one thing that Bush has made a big advance on is that there is a financial crisis facing Social Security, and if we don't do anything, the Titanic is going to hit the iceberg," Steve Moore, founder of the Free Enterprise Fund, said in advance of the hearing.

Democrats are now proposing an additional required automatic deduction for a personal account. Their proposal would mean that in addition to the FICA tax workers would have deducted additional money to be put into the personal savings account. Of course, additional taxes would have to be raised if the gap of promised future benefits are to be met.

President Bush is traveling to Galveston to discuss the need for Social Security reform and has included Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who is under constant attack form Democrats, on Air Force One for the forum.

In defense of DeLay, White House spokesman Dan Bartlett said, "I think actions speak louder than words. The House leadership, and specifically Tom DeLay, have not changed. He is a very effective leader who's getting work done on behalf of the American people."

Many congressmen have proposed solutions to the Social Security dilemma. To view these various proposals follow the link to Social Security’s website.

It is expected that major demonstrations will occur on the mall on both sides of the Social Security issue today.

Dean’s antics

The Washington Post reports on how Democrat National Committee Chairman Howard Dean is still over the top:

Dean has suggested that they are "evil." That they are "corrupt." He called them "brain-dead" during a stop in Toronto -- and while the Terri Schiavo case was still in the news. He has tagged Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) as a "liar." Last week, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that he mimicked a "drug-snorting Rush Limbaugh" at an event there.

Couric’s Marxist following

The NY Times reports on the left’s favorite morning show host Katie Couric’s decline in ratings:

For more than a decade Katie Couric has reigned as the Everywoman of morning television. NBC considered her so critical to restoring the pre-eminence of "Today" after the disaster known as Deborah Norville that in 2001 the network gave her a $60 million contract over four-and-a-half years to keep her from defecting. Inevitably, Ms. Couric's on-air persona changed, along with her appearance and pay scale. But lately her image has grown downright scary: America's girl next door has morphed into the mercurial diva down the hall. At the first sound of her peremptory voice and clickety stiletto heels, people dart behind doors and douse the lights.

Or, at least, change the channel. At its height, "Today" had two million more viewers than ABC's "Good Morning America." Now NBC's most profitable program may be in danger of falling behind: for the first time in years, the gap between "Today" and "Good Morning America" recently narrowed to just 270,000 viewers.

The article insinuates that "Today" has turned Couric’s popularity into a Marxist-style cult of personality and suggests that is much of the cause for "Today’s" decline. However, Couric is not being fired... but others responsible for production and style are.

Three Republicans

Three Republicans serving on the Foreign Relations Committee are the key to Bolton’s nomination to the United Nations. Senators Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, and George V. Voinovich of Ohio have all expressed reservations about John Bolton’s nomination to the U.N.

Sunday talk shows found another Republican -- Arlene Specter, who does not serve on the Foreign Relations Committee -- expressing reservations about voting for Bolton.

However, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican whip, said that he believed that all 10 Republicans on the Foreign Relations Committee would ultimately vote for Bolton and send the nomination to the Senate floor.

"We're not nominating someone here for Miss Congeniality," McConnell said.

Democrats continued to take aim at defeating Bolton’s nomination. The Democrats hope that they can weaken President Bush and take away his effectiveness on other issues.

China’s bloody hands

China recently protested the fact that Japan was not adequately instructing their youth about Japan’s war atrocities in World War II. However, China is helping Sudan to survive and continue to commit genocide in Darfour. When it comes to bringing sanctions in the U.N. against Sudan, China goes with its economic interests according to a Washington Times story:

Energy-hungry China has invested more than $15 billion in Sudanese oil through the China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), a state-owned monolith. The cost of Khartoum's new refinery alone was about $700 million.

Freshly painted billboards in Khartoum carry pictures of smiling Chinese oil workers and the slogan: "CNPC -- Your close friend and faithful partner."

China's embassy in Khartoum and its commercial office declined to talk about oil.

China is dependent on Sudan for 7 percent of its oil imports.