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Vilsack checkup
AFSCME President Gerald McEntee should be happy with Iowa governor Tom
Vilsack (D) who recently issued and executive order that allows child care
providers to unionize so that they can negotiate higher fees with the state
of Iowa. However, single moms working jobs are sure to take a higher hit for
childcare as well.
McEntee was recently in Iowa measuring Vilsack’s qualifications and chance
of becoming president.
McEntee is rolling out a new campaign ad that is part of the Emergency
Campaign for America's Priorities (ECAP) grassroots and public relations
activity leading up to the final vote in Congress on the budget and tax cut
plan on February 1.
Scary Gore
Former Vice President Al Gore is back on the circuit giving speeches that
claim President Bush is acting illegally in his surveillance of al Qaeda
conversations with those residing in America. This despite the fact that the
Clinton administration performed warrant-less wiretaps.
In his speech, Gore did not call for impeachment of the president. However,
following his speech Gore used the "I" word with
ABC News:
Asked by ABC News after his speech whether President Bush's domestic spying
program constituted an impeachable offense, Gore said it might and pointed
to one of the three Articles of Impeachment that the House Judiciary
Committee approved against President Nixon on July 27, 1974.
"That's a legal determination for Congress to make," Gore told ABC News.
"But Article II of the impeachment charges against President Nixon was
warrantless wiretapping, which the president said was 'necessary' for
national security."
It can be an impeachable offense, Gore added.
Lawsuits
Two groups are filing lawsuits against the Bush Administration to stop the
National Security Agency from surveillance of al Qaeda conversations with
those residing in America. There are questions as to whether the individuals
will be found to have standing to bring the action, as no one has proof that
their conversations were listened to by the NSA.
The
NY Times offers coverage of the story:
Two leading civil rights groups plan to file lawsuits Tuesday against the
Bush administration over its domestic spying program to determine whether
the operation was used to monitor 10 defense lawyers, journalists, scholars,
political activists and other Americans with ties to the Middle East.
The two lawsuits, which are being filed separately by the American Civil
Liberties Union in Federal District Court in Detroit and the Center for
Constitutional Rights in Federal District Court in Manhattan, are the first
major court challenges to the eavesdropping program.
Kennedy discriminates
The
Boston Herald reports on Sen. Ted Kennedy’s swearing that he is going to
resign membership in a Harvard Club that discriminates against women. There
was no mention of the way he treats women in his personnel life however:
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy — who ripped Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito for
ties to a group that discriminates against women — says he’s going to quit a
club notorious for discriminating against women "as fast as I can."
Sen. Bob Ney duped?
Is Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) right about being duped by lobbysit Jack Abramoff?
That's the tact Ney is taking in a desperate attempt to avoid being indicted
in the Abramoff case. According to the
NY Times , Abramoff is saying he did not dupe Ney:
"But it may now be Mr. Ney's word against that of Mr. Abramoff, who has
publicly ridiculed Mr. Ney's claim of having been victimized. In an
interview in The New York Times Magazine last year, Mr. Abramoff said: "Ney
told the press, 'I was duped'? It's crazy!" Mr. Abramoff has given similar
accounts to prosecutors."
Now, the only question is how many people in Ohio want a duped Congressman.
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