Wednesday, June 4,  2003

GENERAL NEWS:  

 Among the offerings in this morning’s update: 

… Edwards says good things about GWB, but says he’s been “diverted”

…Gephardt calls for scrapping plan to overhaul regs affecting Defense Department’s civilian workforce, including Rock Island Arsenal workers

… Grassley introduces bill to expand child tax credit, but Washington Post says some believe he was “using a token amount of aid to the poor to justify another large tax cut”

…Kucinich seeks unedited videotape of Lynch POW rescue

…This morning’s “Inside Politics” reports that Republicans are already “licking their chops” over publication of Hillary’s book

…Gephardt misses – IA GOP Congressman Leach opposes – flag burning amendment vote yesterday in the House

…Report: $1.5 million DNC “Hispanic Project” falters

…AP analysis: Wrong step on ethanol issue can doom a presidential candidacy, wannabes ready to buck CA and NY opposition to corn-based additive. But when Senate voted on anti-ethanol amendments yesterday all four Dem prez hopefuls were missing. (Hillary votes for amendments to restrict ethanol use.)

…Iowa House passes “compromise” economic development fund early today, but IA GOP Congressman King warns against using fed dollars to help pay for it

…Washington Monthly asks: “Do Democrats Have a Prayer?”

…Sports: Iowa ump yesterday bounced Chicago Cubs’ Sammy Sosa for using a corked bat

… Iowaism: Cross-state MotorIoway tour to retrace a 1913 Spaulding auto- Rock Island mail train race route

All these stories below and more.

CANDIDATES & CAUCUSES: 

… Headline from yesterday’s The Union Leader: “Edwards credits Bush for strong 9-11 response” Datelined Concord, the story reported that Edwards said “good things Monday about two Republican presidents, including the incumbent. On a radio call-in show, Edwards credited President Bush with responding well and showing strength after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. But, Edwards said, ‘He has not maintained it; he’s diverted from that path.’ The senator from North Carolina said his favorite president was Democrat Harry Truman for his courage and for fighting for ordinary people. Appearing on New Hampshire Public Radio’s ‘The Exchange,’ Edwards also praised Democrats Franklin D. Roosevelt and Bill Clinton. Pressed to say something good about a Republican president, Edwards said he ‘disagreed violently’ with Ronald Reagan’s policies, but respected his personal connection with voters. ‘He communicated with the American people in ways they understood,’ Edwards said. ‘I think it’s enormously important for a president to have a personal connection with the American people.’ Edwards said he was undeterred by Bush’s popularity in polls, saying the same polls show that voters have not decided that he deserves to be re-elected next year. He praised Truman and Reagan for speaking simply and directly, but said that trait is less admirable in Bush. ‘A lot of Democrats think that he isn’t thinking through the problems the nation faces,” Edwards said. ‘He approaches those problems in too simply a way.’”  

… Excerpt from Washington Monthly feature – “Do the Democrats Have a Prayer?” – by Amy Sullivan: “Whereas Republicans seem almost obligated to campaign with Jesus as their running mate during the primary season, Democratic candidates today feel they must keep a lid on religious talk in order to win. There’s John Kerry, who argues his identity as a Catholic has no bearing on his role as a politician, although he will now happily discuss his Jewish ancestry. There’s Dick Gephardt, who, though a Southern Baptist by faith, grew up in a German-American community south of St. Louis, among Catholics and Lutherans who considered public discussion of religion prideful. His sole reference to religion thus far in the campaign is a single-phrase allusion, tucked at the end of his announcement speech, to the church scholarship he used to attend college. Joseph Lieberman’s faith – which made some Democratic strategists nervous during the 2000 elections – makes him arguably more viable in a general election than most commentators understand, but even he has toned down his religious rhetoric, assuring the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in April that his support for President Bush’s faith-based initiative was balanced by his liberal views on issues such as gay rights and abortion. And finally there’s John Edwards, a Clinton-like candidate whose Baptist background and southern roots both foster open expressions of faith, but who still told a questioner in Iowa, ‘I haven’t talked about it, because I only usually talk about it when asked.’ Nearly all of them seem to be taking their cues not from Carter or Clinton, but from Al Gore, who kept mum on religion after his early campaign reference to the evangelical catch-phrase ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ earned him ridicule from the mainstream press.”   

… When the House voted last evening to pass an amendment to the Constitution that criminalized flag burning by a 300-125 vote, Gephardt – as usual – was absent and listed as one of eight members “not voting.” On the other hand, Kucinich – the only Dem wannabe who hasn’t missed a vote this session – supported the amendment along with IA Dem Congressman Boswell and three Iowa Republicans: King, Latham and Nussle. The amendment – approved by the House for the fifth time in eight years – was opposed by Iowa GOP Rep. Leach, who was one of 11 Republicans to vote against the legislation.  Associated Press reported that it is “unlikely” the Senate, which has never passed the legislation under either Republican or Democratic control, will consider the flag-burning proposal this year. Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Orrin Hatch, one of the bill’s Senate supporters, said: “It’s always an uphill battle but we’re hoping we can get it done. Maybe not this year, but at least probably next year.”

… From this morning’s Washington Times: Greg Pierce, in his “Inside Politics” column, wrote: “The release on Monday of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s memoir, ‘Living History,’ ‘is shaping up to be one of the biggest literary and political events of the year,’ USA Today reports…Some Republicans are licking their chops, the newspaper said. ‘It couldn’t come at a better time for Republicans and a worse time for Democrats,’ said Rich Bond, former chairman of the Republican National Committee. He thinks Mrs. Clinton will steal the spotlight from the nine Democrats running for president. Republican pollster John McLaughlin agrees. ‘The poor Democrats who are running for president are going to get eclipsed again,’ he said.” More: The Times’ “Inside the Beltway” column this morning – subhead “Hillary vs. Harry” – reported, “We never thought we’d see the day that Hillary Rodham Clinton would be challenging Harry Potter. And the winner is…’I’ve ordered 400 copies of Harry Potter and 10 copies of Hillary’s book,’ says Barbara Theroux, owner of Fact & Fiction bookstore in Missoula, Mont. Ms. Theroux says a memoir like Mrs. Clinton’s. ‘Living History,’ will sell better in ‘discount places’ and adds that the Missoula Public Library ‘will have several copies.’ Mrs. Clinton’s book hits stories Monday, and Harry’s latest adventures on June 21.”

… The Quad-City Times reported yesterday that Gephardt sent a letter to Defense Secretary Rumsfeld warning that proposed changes in the civilian workforce system would be “devastating” to the morale of workers involved in ensuring the national security. The Times’ Ed Tibbetts wrote that Gephardt “called for the plan to be scrapped. Unionized employees marched last week in Davenport to draw attention to the plan, which get rid of the current system of paying employees, end automatic salary increases and give supervisors more authority to hand out pay raises. The proposal also would stop the practice of bargaining with local unions in favor of a national contract and would limit certain appeal rights that federal workers now have…The plan would affect more than 700,000 federal workers, including about 5,000 on Arsenal Island… Gephardt warned in the letter the plan could transfer jobs to private contractors. ‘The pending personnel plan…is already devastating the morale of many in the Defense Department who are making extraordinary efforts to protect our national security interests,’ Gephardt wrote. He also warned the plan sets a precedent that could be copied by other agencies.”

… Online headline from this morning’s The Union Leader: “Bush energy initiative helps farmers, confounds Democratic candidates” News analysis by Associated Press’ H. Josef Hebert warns that opposing ethanol legislation may be politically unhealthy for Dem wannabes. Excerpt: “Four Democratic senators seeking to be president are certain of it. Opposing ethanol, the gasoline additive made out of corn, can doom a presidential bid almost before it starts. So as the Senate begins in earnest this week to try to craft a new energy agenda for America, it may not be surprising that presidential politics – as well as energy policy – is hard at work. The ethanol industry is wielding its political clout once again, with both Democrats and Republicans ready to support a product that means money in corn country…Sponsored by leaders of both parties – Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S. D., -- and the enthusiastic backing of the White House, the ethanol measure is almost certain to become part of the final energy package…As for Democratic Sens. Joe Lieberman, John Edwards, John Kerry and Bob Graham – they know that if their presidential bids are to avoid an ambush in corn-loving Iowa, where voters hold presidential caucuses in January, they had better get on the ethanol fuel wagon. And they have. Representatives of all four candidates say that their support for the Frist-Daschle ethanol proposal is solid, even though their Democratic colleagues from California and New York—two states with huge presidential convention delegations – argue that an ethanol mandate would mean higher gasoline prices for their states’ motorists.” Morning update: File this under the “Low Profiles in Political Courage” folder – As the Senate yesterday rejected two amendments yesterday aimed at gutting the ethanol provisions, the four senator-wannabes were absent. (Iowa Pres Watch Note: For the record, it appears Hillary won’t be pinning her 2008 presidential hopes on winning the IA caucuses in the future. She supported both anti-ethanol amendments.)  

… Report -- headline “Kucinich tells Pentagon to release Lynch tape” – from today’s The Union Leader: AP coverage -- “Kucinich called on the Defense Department on Tuesday to release the unedited footage of the rescue of Pfc. Jessica Lynch from an Iraqi hospital and to answer questions about her injuries. ‘Nothing the administration has said about Private Lynch has been verified by private news reports,’ Kucinich, D-Ohio, said Tuesday. ‘It’s time to find out the truth.’ Attention has been drawn to the April 1 rescue since a British Broadcasting Corp. report and Associated Press interviews with Iraqis who were present suggested the dramatics surrounding Lynch’s rescue were unnecessary…Kucinich, ranking Democrat on the House Government Reform subcommittee on National Security, Veterans Affairs and International Relations, asked Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in a letter to release unedited footage of the rescue” and answer several questions.

… Leftover from last week – headline on “Washington Whispers” column: “Attacks on Heinz Kerry may unlock ketchup cash” Columnist Paul Bedard wrote in U.S. News & World Report: “Uh-oh, now they’ve done it. Critics of Teresa Heinz Kerry’s unorthodox and outspoken views have the famously rich wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry reaching for her $550 million can of whup-ass. Originally reserved to counter GOP sniping at her hubby, Heinz Kerry is now open to spending some of her ketchup fortune on a counterattack. ‘The assumption,’ says a friend, ‘was always that the attacks would be on him, not her.’ But now, ‘The attacks on her have exponentially increased the likelihood of her tapping the fortune.” Heinz Kerry, previously married to ketchup heir Sen. John Heinz, who died in a plane crash, has been ridiculed by Republicans for recent statements promoting Botox treatments, prenuptial agreements, and feeding rabbits to kids.”      

IOWA/NATIONAL POLITICS: 

… Under the headline “DNC aide decries Hispanic ‘disconnect’” – the Washington Times reported yesterday that the “chairman of the Hispanic caucus of the Democratic National Committee said there is a ‘disconnect’ in the party regarding the minority vote and accused it of scrapping a $1.5 million plan to attract Hispanics. Alvaro Cifuentes, who also chastised the DNC leadership for failure to hire Hispanics, announced a three-day summit for party Hispanics in September that will be ‘completely funded on our own, separate from the DNC.’ ‘There is obviously a problem in the party with Hispanic and Latino issues,’ said Mr. Cifuentes said. ‘We’ve been trying for the past two years to address them.” The DNC did not return calls for comment. The $1.5 million ‘Hispanic Project’ was to be a vast, annual effort that included a get-out-the-vote campaign, recruitment of Hispanic candidates and establishment of satellite offices in key states. Some caucus members insist the plan is still being put together, although they declined to offer details.”  

MORNING SUMMARY:    

This morning’s headlines:

... Des Moines Register, top front-page headline: “Iowa gets warnings about fund…Using federal money for a development program might not pass muster, members of Congress say.” & “On top of the world…The first Iowan to climb to the top of Mount Everest – the highest point on Earth – describes his journey.” Charlie Wittmack, 26, is back in Des Moines after accomplishing the feat two weeks ago.

... Top online story, Quad-City Times: “Arabs approve ‘road map’” & “Hillary describes when Bill confessed”

... Sioux City Journal, online headlines: State issue – “Lawmakers debate ‘compromise’ funs” & “Israel sets 100 Palestinians free”

... Omaha World-Herald, nation/world online headline: “Arab leaders support Bush plan” & “Rudolph enters plea of not guilty in bombing”

... Chicago Tribune, top online headlines: “Sosa ejected for corked bat” (See sports section below) & “President Bush Meeting with Sharon, Abbas”

... New York Times, today’s headlines: “Hoping a Troubled Bridge Over Water Will Lead to Mideast Peace” & “Iraq Arms Report Now the Subject of a C. I. A. Review”

Major CD bust in Iowa. The Mason City Globe Gazette reported that an investigation of a suspicious compact disc purchased in Mason City has led to the seizure of 215,000 illegal compact discs in Iowa, Arizona and Florida. The Globe Gazette’s Bob Link reported that the “disc, which was determined to be ‘bootlegging,’ was purchased at a local retail store and turned over to the Mason City Police Department. The report said: “Mason City police investigator Dan Wellen started the case in January 2002 and it quickly expanded. In April 2002, an anti-drug task force near Flagstaff, Ariz., seized more than 55,000 illegally recorded compact discs. In September 2002, an additional 160,000 discs were seized in Florida.”

Iowa Briefs:

…In an e-mailed news bulletin yesterday afternoon, KCCI-TV said the West Nile virus has returned to central Iowa again. The state health department said two dead birds found in Warren County (Indianola) died from the mosquito-borne virus. Last year, West Nile killed two people in Iowa and infected 54 Iowans

…Newscasts this morning indicate Marion County (Pella, Knoxville) officials have wrapped up their investigation into the death of a Harvey woman – 23-year-old Rebecca Clark – over the weekend. The report said Clark was camping last Friday night when a branch broke off a tree due to high winds and fell on her tent. Authorities decided it was an “accidental death.”

…Radio Iowa reported this morning that a $9 million bond referendum for a new high school in the West Central Valley School District (Stuart, Dexter, Menlo & Redfield) failed yesterday. It needed 60% to pass, but received only 45% support

…IA Ag Secretary Patty Judge reported that spring planting is nearly complete across the state. In the weekly crop report, she said corn planting is 99% complete (compared to a 5-year average of 98%) and soybean planting increased from 64% completed last week to 93% this week (ahead of the five-year average of 86%). Judge reported that 6.2 days were suitable for fieldwork during the past week.

WAR & TERRORISM: 

… On the North Korean Front: VOANews (Voice of America) reported that U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz has “held talks in Tokyo on a possible Japanese defense system to counter threats from North Korea. The meeting comes as the Pentagon’s number two official wraps up a trip to brief American allies on a planned realignment of U.S. forces in the region. Japan appeared one step closer Tuesday to deploying a U.S.-made missile defense system in the wake of threats from communist North Korea…Japanese media report the country aims to deploy a system as early as 2006. Attempts by Japanese hawks in the past to discuss missile defense have been opposed on the grounds it would violate the country’s pacifist constitution. But political analysts say support has grown for deploying such a system as worries about North Korea’s nuclear ambitions increase.”

FEDERAL ISSUES:  

… Grassley attracts more DC headlines for efforts to expand child tax credit. The Washington Post’s Jonathan Weisman reported yesterday: “Under mounting political pressure, senators from both parties yesterday rushed to introduce legislation to expand the child tax credit so it will apply to nearly 12 million poor children who were left out of the $350 billion tax cut measure signed last week. The larger of the two bills proposed yesterday came from Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa). It includes a provision to expand the number of families eligible for child tax credit refunds – and to increase the size of those refunds – as part of a far broader effort to make the entire credit permanent…Grassley’s proposal would cost as much as $90 billion over 10 years, a Finance Committee aide said, and passage would almost certainly require 60 votes to overcome a filibuster threat…In contrast, Sens. Blanche L. Lincoln (D-Ark.) and Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) introduced legislation to aid the same poor families, at a 10-year cost of only $3.5 billion – to be paid for largely by cracking down on corporate tax avoidance…Democrats – and some Republicans – said yesterday that Grassley was using a token amount of aid to the poor to justify another large tax cut. The $3.5 billion cost of the child credit expansion in Grassley’s legislation would be dwarfed by the provision to make the entire child credit permanent, a provision that alone would likely exceed $80 billion. Grassley did not deny the charge. ‘Maybe I’m trying to take advantage of a political uproar to get as much permanence as I can and be as expansive as I can,’ he said in an interview.” More: Congressional Quarterly reported yesterday that House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said GOP leaders have little interest in moving legislation to ensure that millions of low-income families benefit from an increase in the child tax credit.

IOWA ISSUES:

… In today’s Quad-City Times, Kathie Obradovich reported that the Iowa House “voted early this morning to approve a ‘compromise’ plan for a $503 million economic development fund that legislative leaders said could reach the governor’s desk later today. In a solo appearance in special session, the Iowa House voted 53-42 to approve a scaled-down version of the Iowa Values fund. After the 12:15 a.m. vote, lawmakers were debating a tax and regulatory reform bill that legislative leaders expected to pass before the Senate convenes at 9 a.m. Senate Republican leaders said the bills could receive final approval in their chamber today.”…But – under the headline “King protests use of federal funds” – the Sioux City Journal reported today that GOP Congressman King “protested Iowa legislators’ plans to use federal stimulus money to pay for a new economic development fund. King, a former Iowa state senator from Kiron, said in letters [to legislative leaders and Vilsack] dated Tuesday that Congress did not intend for states to create new programs with the federal ‘bailout’ money approved by Congress. He said the federal legislation, which would provide $180 million to Iowa, was ‘for the specific purpose of paying for the costs of complying with federal mandates and paying for essential government services.’”

OPINIONS: 

Today’s editorials:

… Today’s editorials, Des Moines Register: “American justice undermined…A report by the U.S. inspector general details appalling treatment of detainees after Sept. 11 attacks…The average time of detention was 80 days. No one has been charged as a terrorist.” & “Openness wins out” Excerpt: “Gov. Tom Vilsack picked up Tuesday’s Register and was ‘outraged’ by what he read on the editorial page, according to an aide. The governor hadn’t been aware of the plan by the Iowa Department of Human Services and Public Strategies Group to shut the public out of some meetings on redesigning Iowa’s child-welfare system.” & “Tax fairness for ordinary folks?” Excerpt: “The incomes of most American workers are taxed twice – once for payroll taxes and again for the income tax.”

 IOWA SPORTS: 

… One of the biggest news stories – and the biggest sports headline – of the morning focused on Chicago Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa being tossed out a game last night for using a corked bat. Missing from most of the accounts, however, was that the home plate umpire who ejected Sosa was Tim McClelland of West Des Moines. It was just another brush with baseball fame for McClelland – who, in 1983, was involved in the much-publicized “pine tar bat” controversy when he took a home run away from Kansas City Royals star George Brett. In that incident, McClelland contended that Brett had too much pine tar on his bat. 

… Carroll basketball standout Adam Haluska, who was a starter for the Iowa State Cyclones last season, plans to finish his collegiate career wearing the black-and-old gold uniform of the Iowa Hawkeyes. KCCI-TV reported yesterday afternoon the 6-foot-5 forward said he feels “real good” about the decision to switch teams in the in-state rivalry. He said he would be placed on scholarship at Iowa, but Haluska will have three years of eligibility left after sitting out next season under NCAA transfer rules. A sign of the times at Iowa State: None of the coaches – head coach Larry Eustachy, assistants Terry Carroll and Randy Brown – involved in recruiting Haluska remain at ISU.   

IOWA WEATHER: 

…DSM 7 a.m. 54, fog/mist. Most 7 a.m. temperatures across Iowa this morning were in the lower 50s – ranging from 46 in Audubon and 48 in Creston to 56 in Dubuque and 57 in the Quad-Cities. Today’s high 68, patchy fog. Tonight’s low 50, partly cloudy. Thursday’s high 75, chance T-storm. Thursday night’s low 55, showers & T-storms.

IOWAISMS: 

… The third annual MotorIoway tour – featuring 75 vintage automobiles – will be crossing the state over the next three days. The tour will travel from Davenport to Grinnell tomorrow, move on to Stuart on Friday, and conclude in Council Bluffs on Saturday. The vintage cars – which will travel county and secondary roads – also will make stops in West Liberty, the Amana Colonies, Brooklyn, Colfax, Altoona, Adel, Adair and Oakland. This year’s ride will follow the route taken by a Spaulding automobile, which was built in Grinnell, as it raced across the state against a Rock Island mail train in 1913.

TODAY’S IOWA LINKS: 

-- Des Moines Register: www.DesMoinesRegister.com

-- NWS, Des Moines: http://weather.noaa.gov/weather/current/KDSM.html

-- Radio Iowa/Learfield Communications: www.radioiowa.com

-- WHO Radio (AM1040): www.whoradio.com

-- Quad-City Times: www.QCTimes.com

-- Sioux City Journal: www.siouxcityjournal.com

-- Washington Monthly: www.washingtonmonthly.com

-- U. S. News & World Report: www.usnews.com

-- WHO-TV, Des Moines: www.whotv.com

-- Omaha World-Herald: www.omaha.com

-- The Union Leader, New Hampshire: www.theunionleader.com

-- U. S. House (roll call): www.house.gov

-- Washington Times: www.washingtontimes.com

-- Mason City Globe Gazette: www.globegazette.com

-- KCCI-TV, Des Moines: www.TheIowaChannel.com

-- Iowa Department of Agriculture: www.agriculture.state.ia.us/cropweather.htm

-- Chicago Tribune: www.chicagotribune.com

-- New York Times: www.nytimes.com

-- Various morning and midday newscasts from around IA.

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