Bad Deeds for 4-18-07

Republican Senator Connected to Prosecutor’s Dismissal – The Senate on Tuesday confirmed that Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) is the subject of a “preliminary inquiry” over his involvement in the firing of former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias. The Senate Ethics Committee had previously refused to confirm whether or not Domenici was under scrutiny for a phone call he made to Iglesias, prior to the November election, inquiring whether Iglesias was going to indict some New Mexico Democrats.

Republicans Request Delay in Vote on Immunity Grant for Goodling – Rep. John Conyers, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said yesterday that the panel will vote next week on a plan that would grant immunity to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’s former White House liaison Monica Goodling, who has so far refused to testify about the dismissal of eight federal prosecutors. Conyers had originally planned to hold the vote today, but agreed late yesterday to a request from the panel’s Republicans to postpone it a week. A two-thirds majority on the committee would be required to grant her immunity. The panel has 22 Democrats and 17 Republicans.

Republican senators block Medicare bill – Legislation that would allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices stalls without vote.

US Republican Representative Dana Rohrabacher says, “I HOPE IT’S YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS THAT DIE” to those who question the Bush Administration’s unlawful extraordinary rendition policies – Rohrabacher railed against anyone who questioned the right of the Bush administration to do whatever it wanted, legal or illegal, to prevent terrorist acts and said that by not supporting the Bush policies was consigning their country to the terrorists. In particular he said that any Americans who questioned the extraordinary rendition were un-American.

US frees convicted bomber wanted by Cuba, Venezuela – We’re tough on terrorist, … uh, depending on who they’re terrorizing.

Why does the Bush administration have a list of everyone who has gotten a prescription for anti-depressants? – This paragraph is in an ABC News story about the Virginia Tech killer, “Some news accounts have suggested that Cho had a history of antidepressant use, but senior federal officials tell ABC News that they can find no record of such medication in the government’s files. This does not completely rule out prescription drug use, including samples from a physician, drugs obtained through illegal Internet sources, or a gap in the federal database, but the sources say theirs is a reasonably complete search.” They don’t even have a list of gun owners, but they have a list of everyone who has been prescribed anti-depressants? And, the article suggests that this isn’t just a database of patients who use anti-depressants, it’s a federal database of every prescription drug you’ve ever bought.

St. Paul Minn. is getting the “Hospitality Suites” ready for us – In preparation for the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, a funding request includes more than $80,000 for chain link fence to build outdoor holding areas for protesters. The sheriff expects to arrest between three and five thousand protesters during the convention. They seem to be splitting the difference between recent examples. In 2004, six protesters were arrested at the Democratic National Convention in Boston, while approximately 10,000 were arrested during the RNC in New York City.

And here’s a comment from a reader of the above article:

I was literally just walking down the street in Manhattan and got swept up with everyone on my side of the street for two blocks during the RNC in 2006. I was just trying to get to work. I was shoved, cuffed, sworn at, booked, printed and photographed. Now, I have a criminal record… to go along with my doctorate and the recently ruined Brooks Brothers suit.

In situations like these, the police don’t want to think or care. Oh, and BTW, I WAS a Republican.

Republican Places Secret Hold on Senate Electronic Disclosure Bill – On April 17, Russ Feingold and Dianne Feinstein brought S.223, the Senate electronic disclosure bill, to the floor for a unanimous consent vote. When they asked if there was any objection Sen. Lamar Alexander filling in for the minority leadership, announced that he had an objection, indicating that some Senator in the Republican caucus has placed a secret hold on the disclosure bill.

Regards,

Jim