Just POlitics

America’s Summit

President George W. Bush began a summit with Canada's Prime Minister Paul Martin and Mexico's President Vicente Fox at Baylor University in Waco, Texas today.

It was announced that the three would sign an initiative called the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America. It is meant to be both complimentary of existing cooperative arrangements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Binational Commission of U.S. and Mexican officials and the Smart Border effort with Canada, and also more expansive.

Part of the initiative’s objectives is aimed at both increasing productivity within the three nations and also making their markets more competitive with the European Union and China. Joint undertakings could include standardizing some regulations on businesses, making it easier for businesses to move across borders, increasing cooperation on energy exploration and moving toward a common external tariff for certain North American products sold to other economic blocs.

Social Security Wars

The Treasury Department has a new website that is titled Strengthening Social Security. The opposition that doesn’t want to fix Social Security under the auspices of New Yorkers United to Protect Social Security also has a website titled Strengthening Social Security.

One of the opposition’s pitch for support links is titled, Secretary Treasury Snow launches 60 lies, in 60 days -- a spoof on President Bush’s 60 stops, in 60 days tour.

The NY Times reports that President Bush’s plan for Social Security is open to change. However, upon reading the story it is hard to find where that is true. Bush continues to hold the same position that every option is on the table.

Vice President Cheney stated that: "The approach that we have seen that has been adopted publicly by both Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader, and Harry Reid . . . has been initially ‘no’ to everything,” he said. "I think we are beginning to chip away at that."

Sen. John McCain has been on the hustle decrying the Democrats’ incalcitrants on the Social Security issue and demanding that AARP quit being part of the problem to solving the Social Security problem.

"I want to say to our friends in AARP, and they are my friends in AARP, `Come to the table with us,'" McCain said. "We not only have an obligation to seniors, but we have an obligation to future generations of Americans as well."

Republican National Chairman Ken Mehlman has sent out an e-mail saying that the President’s tour to bring attention to Social Security is beginning to make Americans aware of the future problems that Social Security faces.

Social Security Report

Today the health of the Social Security Report is due. Democrats and those who want to ignore the problem are questioning the report before it comes out. They are accusing it of being a political propaganda report.

The bait and switch is also on with the statement that Medicare and Medicaid is the bigger issue. The annual cost of Medicare is $325 billion, while the cost of Social Security is $517 billion. However, the trustees projected last year that Medicare's costs would overtake Social Security by 2024 and would be nearly double Social Security by 2078.

What is not explained by those who take this tack is the question of if they cannot solve the more simple problem of Social Security, how do they expect to solve the greater problem of Medicare and Medicaid?

Trigger on nuclear option falters

The Washington Times reports on Sen. Bill Frist’s faltering ability to apply the nuclear option to block judicial confirmation filibusters. Nuclear option is the code word for a parliamentary ruling that filibusters are not constitutional because they block the need for the Senate to provide advice and consent on judicial appointments:

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist does not have firm support among his caucus to employ the so-called "nuclear option" for dislodging the Democratic filibusters against President Bush's judicial nominees.

Of the 55 Republicans in the chamber, at least six are undecided or adamantly opposed to the plan of using the rare parliamentary procedure to end the filibusters with a simple majority vote, rather than the 60 votes normally required.

Cheney interview

The Washington Post reports on an interview with Vice President Cheney in which he defends President Bush’s recent appointments including John Bolton to the U.N.:

"There is clearly a lot that needs to be done at the United Nations," he said pointing to the oil-for-food scandal and recent charges of sexual assault by a U.N. official. "There is ample evidence here at home a great many Americans are not happy with the performance of the United Nations," Cheney said.

"We are the host country, we're the biggest contributor to its budget, and success long-term, I think, depends on the continued support of the U.S. and the American people," he continued. Cheney said the fact that Bolton has been a critic of the United Nations will give him "a great deal more credibility" tackling the challenges there.

Matalin publishing

The AP is reporting that Mary Matalin, the Republican pundit and strategist (and wife of James Carville), will run a new conservative publishing banner at Simon & Schuster:

"It's the absolute nexus of what I love to do," Matalin told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "I think we're on the threshold of a whole new way of looking at politics and policy and there's something vital about getting those ideas down in book form."

The imprint, currently unnamed, is expected to release six to 10 books a year, beginning in 2006.

Fair Use

Agence France-Presse has filed a lawsuit against Google Inc., accusing the company of violating the Fair Use clause of copyright law. Google reproduces and displays copyrighted story leads, headlines and graphics on its news site without the international news service's permission according to AFP.

It is expected that this case will effect how websites post stories.