The WAWG Blog

Romney would start Iraq war again, says his Press Secretary – Mitt Romney’s press secretary, Kevin Madden, tells Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s ‘Hardball’ that the 2008 GOP White House hopeful supports President Bush’s decision for pre-emptive war in Iraq. Madden then answers several of Matthews’ Iraq questions evasively, focusing instead on Romney’s tough stance on fighting “the global jihad.”

Pentagon Continues to Withhold Reports on Iraqi Readiness – Despite repeated requests from the House Armed Services Committee and the Government Accountability Office, the Pentagon has failed to hand over its Transition Readiness Assessments, which are compiled each month by U.S. advisers embedded with Iraqi units and used to assess their ability to take over key functions from the U.S. military. The Defense Department has yet to give a reason for its refusal to turn over the reports, despite at least two official requests being filed since January.

McCain Wrong on Iraq Security, Merchants Say – A day after members of an American Congressional delegation led by Senator John McCain pointed to their brief visit to Baghdad’s central market as evidence that the new security plan for the city was working, incredulous merchants – who described the delegation’s arrival, which featured rooftop sharpshooters, a company’s worth of soldiers redirecting traffic, and attack helicopters – were incredulous about the Americans’ conclusions. “What are they talking about?” Ali Jassim Faiyad, the owner of an electrical appliances shop in the market, said Monday. “This was only for the media. This will not change anything.” Talking Points Memo wonders whether McCain’s “stroll”, already widely ridiculed, is shaping up to become his “Dukakis-in-a-tank moment”. His senior moment, and forgot to mention that there was over 100 soldiers there to protect him. Something like *3* blackhawk helicopters, and people had been placed in the crowd ahead of his walk, etc. Sharpshooters on the rooftops, etc. Oh yeah — body armor.

Cheney’s Fingerprints Seen on Guantanamo Plea Deal – Think Progress makes the case for Vice President Dick Cheney’s likely role in securing a nine-month term for Australian Guantanamo Bay inmate David Hicks, a disproportionately light punishment for a man convicted of “providing material support for terrorism”. Of course, the same deal imposes a 12-month gag order, essentially buying Hicks’ silence on the proceedings until he can no longer impact the re-election chances of Australian Prime Minister John Howard, a staunch Bush/Cheney ally.

Verdict Backing Oil-Royalty Whistle-Blower Is Overturned – In a ruling that could have big implications for whistle-blowers, as well as for the oil and gas industry, a federal judge in Denver has overturned a jury’s verdict in favor of former Interior Department auditor Bobby Maxwell, who revealed that the Kerr-McGee Corporation cheated the government out of millions of dollars’ worth of royalties for oil and gas pumped in publicly owned coastal waters. The judge did not dispute that Maxwell had uncovered cheating by the company, nor the fact that Mr. Maxwell filed his lawsuit as a private citizen after senior Interior Department officials ordered him to abandon his findings. The judge did, however, rule that Maxwell was ineligible to sue Kerr-McGee as a private citizen because he had gathered most of his evidence while on the job, deciding so last week after consistently rejecting that same argument from Kerr-McGee throughout the trial.

Fox News Polls: Profiles In Loaded Questions – Check out these questions, and their responses. Fox’s artful wordings elicited the exact opposite findings of other, more reputable polls on questions involving the Attorney Purge and the Iraq War.

U.S. sends troops back to Iraq early to maintain “surge” – Two of the affected Army units, totaling about 4,500 troops, will return to combat short of their promised year at home, reflecting the strain placed on U.S. forces by commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Bush administration disregarded key information available at the time showing that the Iraq-Niger claim was highly questionable – Dozens of interviews with current and former intelligence officials and policymakers in the United States, Britain, France and Italy show that the Bush administration disregarded key information available at the time showing that the Iraq-Niger claim was highly questionable. In February 2002, the CIA received the verbatim text of one of the documents, filled with errors easily identifiable through a simple Internet search, the interviews show. Many low- and mid-level intelligence officials were already skeptical that Iraq was in pursuit of nuclear weapons. The interviews also showed that France, berated by the Bush administration for opposing the Iraq war, honored a U.S. intelligence request to investigate the uranium claim. It determined that its former colony had not sold uranium to Iraq.

Bush administration criticizes Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Syria while ignoring recent visits by Republican members of Congress – “It’s interesting because three of our colleagues, who are all Republicans, were in Syria yesterday and I didn’t hear the White House speaking out about that,” Pelosi said, referring to the Sunday meeting of Reps. Frank Wolf, Joe Pitts and Robert Aderholt with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus.

Inept Bush and Out-of-Control Cheney Drive Away Another One of Their Own – Former GOP campaign operative Vic Gold now says, “For all the Rove-built facade of his being a ‘strong’ chief executive, George W. Bush has been, by comparison to even hapless Jimmy Carter, the weakest, most out of touch president in modern times. Think Dan Quayle in cowboy boots.” Gold is even more withering in his observations of Cheney. “A vice president in control is bad enough. Worse yet is a vice president out of control.”

White House Counselor Dan Bartlett Tries To Swiftboat Matthew Dowd – Last Sunday on Face The Nation, White House Counselor Dan Bartlett spoke to Bob Schieffer about former Bush campaign strategist Matthew Dowd, who has turned against Bush. In typical Republic fashion, Bartlett goes after Dowd personally rather than speak to the substance of Dowd’s criticisms of George Bush. Bartlett refers to Dowd as a “close friend”, then proceeds to talk about his personal issues to give the impression that the situation in Iraq and obstacles he’s facing in his personal life have somehow clouded his judgment. This is the same despicable tactic we’ve seen Republicans use time and time again against former administration officials like Richard Clarke and Paul O’Neill who dared to speak out against Bush.

Somalia refugees charged for shade – Refugees who have fled Mogadishu by the tens of thousands are suffering atrocious conditions, with some living under trees and paying extortionate prices for shelter or even shade

Did you know that the right-wing magazine, The Weekly Standard, is owned by Fox News’ parent company, News Corp.? – Fair and balanced? More like birds of a feather. [William Kristol, son of Irving Kristol, is the neocon editor for The Weekly Standard.]

Lying Politicians: a video comment by Bob Schieffer followed by video of lying politicians

Regards,

Jim

Bush’s Actions Cause Strategist for Bush’s 2004 Reelection to Have a Loss of Faith in the President – Matthew Dowd was a keystone in the Administration’s effort to portray Sen. Kerry as a flip-flopper “, but now says, “Kerry was right” about Iraq. Dowd said he was once impressed by the pledge of Mr. Bush, then governor of Texas, to bring a spirit of cooperation to Washington. Dowd now says his faith in Bush was “misplaced.”

The Surge is Working So Well that the Iraq Death Toll Jumped Only 15 Percent in March – At least 2,078 people died in Iraq last month, 15 percent more than in February despite a massive security crackdown in Baghdad, the epicentre of violence.

McCain says Baghdad safer; six U.S. soldiers killed – Sen. John McCain used a short visit to Baghdad Sunday to highlight what he said is progress made under the city’s recent security crackdown. On that same day, the deaths of six American soldiers were announced. Progress?

Unduly restrictive policies and practices used by Bush administration in the communication of scientific information dealing with the effects of climate change to the media, the public, and Congress – Government Accountability Project finds that interference with media communications includes delaying, monitoring, screening, and denying interviews, as well as delay, denial, and inappropriate editing of press releases. Interference with the public and Congress includes inappropriate editing, delay, and suppression of reports and other printed and online material.

Bush administration’s rules for forest management violate basic laws concerning environmental safeguards – Bush administration’s revised rules for management of the country’s 155 national forests, which cut back on requirements for environmental reviews and safeguards for wildlife, violate the basic laws ensuring that forest ecosystems have environmental safeguards. A federal judge in California on Friday overturned the rules.

Newt Gingrich Says Bilingual Classes Teach ‘Ghetto’ Language – Former House speaker Newt Gingrich over the weekend described bilingual education as teaching “the language of living in a ghetto,” and mocked requirements that ballots be printed in multiple languages.

Despite Katrina and Rita, insurance companies rake in huge profits – A year and a half after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, profits at the nation’s major property-casualty insurance companies soared – and are expected to be strong again in 2007, according to estimates by the A.M. Best Co. rating agency. Allstate reported a record $5 billion profit for 2006. State Farm Insurance’s profit climbed 65 percent for the year. St. Paul Travelers’ earnings rose six fold in the fourth quarter; American International Group’s rose eightfold.

How The NeoCon Power Brokers Took Bush Back To School

The Minds of Romney and Giuliani Cannot Comprehend the Basic Guarantees of Our Constitution – After a meeting of Club for Growth, the Cato Institute’s President Ed Crane asked Mitt Romney if he believed the president should have the authority to arrest U.S. citizens with no review. Romney said he would want to hear the pros and cons from smart lawyers before he made up his mind. Crane said that he had asked Giuliani the same question a few weeks ago. The former mayor said that he would want to use this authority infrequently.

How pharmaceutical industry lobbyists literally wrote the Medicare Prescription Drug Bill and twisted arms to get the necessary votes to have it passed in the middle of the night
QuickTime video
Windows Media Video

US Attorney Purge Was Done to Suppress Poor and Minority Voters – According to Joseph D. Rich, who spent more than 35 years fighting for voter’s rights in the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice, “[In the past,] regardless of the administration, the political appointees had respect for the experience and judgment of longtime civil servants. Under the Bush administration, however, all that changed. Over the last six years, this Justice Department has ignored the advice of its staff and skewed aspects of law enforcement in ways that clearly were intended to influence the outcome of elections.”

Hannity’s “Great American” Ex-Gay Porn Star Accused Of Wrongfully Soliciting Funds – Right-wing activist Reserve Corporal Matt Sanchez, whom Sean Hannity declared a “great American” on Hannity & Colmes is now being investigated by the military for wrongfully soliciting more than $12,000 for a deployment to Iraq he never made.

Bill O’Reilly twists the words of US Colonel Ann Wright as she defends her service and stance – On The Factor on 3/30/07, Bill O’Reilly tried to silence retired US. Army Colonel Ann Wright by over talking, twisting her words and accusing her of blaming America for the Iran-Britain situation now going on. She refused to let O’Reilly bully her. Wright, who taught the Geneva Conventions to troops at Fort Bragg, might just know what she’s talking about, but O’Reilly didn’t like the direction of her comments so over talked with increasing agitation, accusing her of blaming America. Finally, O’Reilly cut her microphone off after she declared her 29 years of service, and she questioned O’Reilly about how many years he served. With video at the bottom of the web page.

Regards,

Jim

This is the tenth in a series about the results of the Pew Research survey, Trends in Political Values and Core Attitudes: 1987-2007.

The Pew Research subtitle for this survey was “Political Landscape More Favorable to Democrats.” Their survey showed a 39% decrease in preference for the Republican party and an 8% increase for the Democrat party. The survey also showed that Independents favorable view of Republicans has dropped 30% since 2001.

Pew Research also provided their summary of the survey. It stated on page 3 that the “Average percentage difference between the answers of Republicans and Democrats on 40 questions asked consistently through 20 years of interviewing” has increased 40% since 1987, or 1.3% per year. Since 1997, the difference has increased by 5.5% per year.

I prefer the following subtitle alternatives for the survey, “Conservatives Without Conscience Continue To Drink The Kool Aid” or “Conservatives Without Conscience ‘Consume Mass Quantities’ of ‘Truthiness’ from the Fox ‘Noise’ Channel and radio talk shows.”

The two tables below highlight the dichotomy between the Republicans and the rest of the country in 2007. The first table shows those issues where others averaged higher than the Republicans. The second table shows those issues where others scored lower than Republicans. Each table includes a statement of the issue, the support level for Republicans and others, where others includes Democrats and Independents, and a comment, which I either derived from the available survey information or copied from the survey. The number in parentheses after the issue statement is the page # in the survey report where the data shown was reported.

The results from the 32 issues highlighted below is that Republicans are, on average, 20% out of sync with the rest of the nation and, as Pew Research indicated above, the difference between Republicans and ‘others’ is growing at about 1.5% per year based on seven of the issues described below. The 20% divergence is just for the 2007 survey results and is just a snapshot of the Pew trends stated above.

This differnce is likely even greater for the conservatives without conscience. For example the survey stated, “Six-in-ten moderate and liberal Republicans favor giving undocumented immigrants the chance to gain legal working status, compared with 45% of conservative Republicans. These differences have widened since last April, when 56% of moderate and liberal Republicans and 52% of GOP conservatives favored undocumented immigrants having the option to become citizens someday.”

Why is this divergence so significant and growing? Why are the Independents joining the Democrats? Are the conservatives paranoid and will this divergence worsen their paranoia? What are they scared of? Do they see an enemy around every corner? Does this explain actions, writings and speeches from individuals like Ann Coulter? If this divergence continues, will these conservatives become even more aggressive? Will they become the “masses” that foster a single-party state in these United States?

Tom DeLay Wants to Keep Right-Wing Extremists in Charge of the Republican Party – On a Dallas radio show, DeLay remarked of the GOP, “…If we don’t [come together], then the more moderate members of the party, like Giuliani … or McCain will emerge…” DeLay also called Democrats “thugs.”

More on Use of General Services Administration to Influence 2008 Elections – The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform asked Wednesday why Lurita Doan, administrator of the General Services Administration, allowed a White House aide to brief her managers on the Republican Party’s prospects for 2008. Doan has also raised $200,000 for the Republican Party. GSA is the government’s landlord and office supplier. Six other political appointees at GSA recalled that when Jennings finished speaking, Doan herself stood up to talk. Braley said, “and according to those sources, you stated, ‘How can we use GSA to help our candidates in the next election?’ P.S. Check the graphics ; Nick Lampson is #1 on the Top 20 Democratic targets.

Ex-Aide Rejects Gonzales’s Claims on Prosecutor Firings – Kyle Sampson, former chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, yesterday testified that he consulted regularly with the attorney general over a two-year period about the plan to fire eight federal prosecutors considered insufficiently loyal to President Bush, contradicting Gonzales’s public claims that his role was limited. Sampson’s testimony – which yielded 122 instances of memory lapse – was briefly interrupted midway when Republicans objected that the hearing violated Senate rules. NY Times story

Ex-Gonzales Aide Sampson Admits Lam Was Never Confronted on Immigration– Kyle Sampson admits that Carol Lam was never told of the Justice Department’s disaffection with her performance on immigration prosecutions, the supposed reason for her firing.

Key Rove aide identified in US Attorney investigation to step down; Could face subpoena – A top aide to President George W. Bush’s key adviser Karl Rove will soon step down from her job in the White House. The aide, Sara M. Taylor, was identified in yesterday’s hearing with a former top Justice Department official as seeking the resignation of a US Attorney in Arkansas.

Former Rove assistant connected with Abramoff case – The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee today requested that former Special Assistant to the President, Susan Ralston, appear at a deposition on Apr. 5th, as part of the committee’s ongoing investigation into the connection between the White House and lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Ralston, who was a deputy to White House Adviser Karl Rove between 2001 and 2006, appeared frequently in emails collected in the case. The Committee found that Ralston had 69 contacts with Abramoff or his associates during that time

Bush’s Birth Control Appointee at HHS Abruptly Resigns After Medicaid Takes Action Against Him
Dr. Eric Keroack, the anti-contraception advocate picked last year by President Bush to run the federal office tasked with providing American women access to birth control at Health and Human Services, resigned unexpectedly yesterday after Medicaid officials took action against him in Massachusetts. The Health and Human Services Department provided no details about the nature of the Massachusetts action that led to Keroack’s resignation.

Antarctic Ice Sheet is Thinning – A Texas-sized piece of the Antarctic ice sheet is thinning, possibly due to global warming, and could cause the world’s oceans to rise significantly, polar ice experts said on Wednesday. They said “surprisingly rapid changes” were occurring in Antarctica’s Amundsen Sea Embayment, which faces the southern Pacific Ocean. The scientists blamed the melting ice on changing winds around Antarctica that they said were causing warmer waters to flow beneath ice shelves. The wind change, they said, appeared to be the result of several factors, including global warming, ozone depletion in the atmosphere and natural variability.

Democratic Headquarters Burglarized in Minnesota, New Hampshire and Ohio – Has anyone seen G. Gordon Liddy recently?

US Continues to Alienate More Countries – Saudi King condemns U.S. occupation of Iraq and cancels a mid-April White House gala.

FOX News Blames Democrats for British Captives in Iran – Last night’s Hannity & Colmes (3/29/07) was replete with claims that Democrats and the Democratic Congress were to blame for emboldening Iran into seizing the 15 British sailors and marines. But the slimiest was conservative radio talk show host Bill Cunningham’s statement, “I love Guantanamo.” “You’re a great American,” Hannity told him. Video available on the link above.

Fox News Misrepresents Sampson Testimony In Favor Of Gonzales and Bush Administration – On 3/29/07, a news break segment on Fox News neglected to mention that Kyle Sampson, the former Chief of Staff to US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, directly contradicted Gonzales in testimony before Congress today. What did get reported distorted Sampson’s testimony to make it sound as though Sampson had supported the claims of his former boss. Video available on the link above.

Fox News Says Attacking Iran Would be “Short-Lived” — it Might Even Bring Down Interest Rates! – Fox’s “money guy,” Neil Cavuto, held a roundtable discussion today (March 29, 2007) about what the “fallout for the stock market” would be if “diplomacy” with Iran “fails,” and “the military option then becomes inevitable.” According to his panelists, it wouldn’t be that big a deal. According to one panelist, “Most people know that if we had some kind of skirmish it would be short-lived. Now, there will be oil disruption and the Gulf of Hormuz controls a lot of oil traffic, so that would be temporary, but only temporary. So, you could have a spike in oil and the impact would be very short-lived, so it’s not going to have an impact.” Another responded, “”The only positive in all of this Neil, is that if we do have higher gas prices and oil prices, inflation will become a problem and the Fed will cut interest rates.”

Giuliani knew of aide’s alleged mob ties – “Rudolph W. Giuliani told a grand jury that his former chief investigator remembered having briefed him on some aspects of Bernard B. Kerik’s relationship with a company suspected of ties to organized crime before Mr. Kerik’s appointment as New York City police commissioner

Fox debate questions: When did you stop beating your wife? – The link below has actual questions from an October 2003 Debate in Detroit sponsored by Fox News and the Congressional Black Caucus. Unfavored candidates like General Wesley Clark and John Edwards were asked questions with negative connotations like why you were fired or why are your poll numbers so low or why are you wrong. More favored candidates like Joseph Lieberman were asked questions like what’s wrong with everyone else. Read the actual questions at the link below:

Here’s a good thing: Nancy Pelosi’s blog:

Regards,

Jim

Bush’s nominee for ambassador to Belgium contributed to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth – On Tuesday, John Kerry’s Vietnam crew mates had sent a letter urging committee members to oppose Sam Fox’s nomination as ambassador to Belgium. “In our judgment, those who finance smears and lies of combat veterans don’t deserve to represent America on the world stage,” said the letter signed by 11 Vietnam Swift Boat veterans who served with Kerry. Bush withdrew the nomination.

Cryptic thank-you note may link Rove to US Attorney scandal – A previously overlooked e-mail from the Department of Justice document dump may turn out to be a smoking gun, of sorts, that links White House Adviser Karl Rove to the US Attorney firing scandal. “New Mexico Republican Sen. Pete Domenici’s chief of staff sent a cryptic thank-you note to Karl Rove just as the senator was recommending replacements for David Iglesias, the fired U.S. attorney in New Mexico, according to internal White House and Justice Department documents.”

Congressman’s letter to US Attorney said to violate House ethics rules – A letter sent by a Republican Congressman to Carol Lam, former US Attorney for the Southern District of California, appears to violate the Ethics rules established by the House of Representatives

Justice Department Says Letter on Firings Inaccurate – The Justice Department said it provided inaccurate information to members of Congress in a February letter about the firings of eight U.S. attorneys. Writing today to lawmakers investigating the terminations, the agency’s acting head of legislative affairs, Richard Hertling, said that “certain statements” in the Feb. 23 letter were contradicted by documents that the department provided to Congress this month.

Income gap between rich and poor in the United States has increased significantly – New analyses of 2005 tax data shows that the top 300,000 Americans collectively enjoyed almost as much income as the bottom 150 million Americans. Per person, the top group received 440 times as much as the average person in the bottom half earned, nearly doubling the gap from 1980.

Top Interior Official May Have Leaked Documents to Oil Companies – Julie MacDonald, who oversees the Fish and Wildlife Service at the Interior Department, rode roughshod over agency scientists, and as many as 75% of the decisions made on her watch may not survive court challenges, investigators within the Interior Department have found. Furthermore, the inspector general found that MacDonald sent internal government documents by e-mail to a property-rights group that frequently challenges endangered-species decisions, and twice sent internal EPA documents to individuals whose e-mail addresses ended in “chevrontexaco.com”.

Former Interior Auditor Says He Was Told to Be Lax on Oil Fees – A former top auditor at the Interior Department accused senior officials on Wednesday of prohibiting him and other investigators from recovering hundreds of millions of dollars in underpayments from oil and gas companies that drill on federal land and in federal waters. Speaking before the House Natural Resources Committee, the former senior auditor said that the Interior’s Mineral Management Service is “the proverbial ostrich that has its head in the sand, that sees nothing, knows nothing, but says that no royalties are due.”

While Bush and McCain Say That Things are Getting Better in Iraq, Strikes on Baghdad’s Green Zone are on the Rise – Insurgents have struck inside the Green Zone, which includes the U.S. Embassy, on six of the past seven days.

McCain Calls News Reporters ‘Jerks’ – McCain was on “Fox and Friends” on Wednesday (March 28, 2007) where co-host Brian Kilmeade asked McCain, “You’ll take a question from anybody about anything at any time,” gushed Kilmeade. Out of nowhere, McCain responded, “And I also have these jerks come on the bus, too.” “You have who come on the bus?” asked Kilmeade. “These jerks from the media,” repeated McCain.

Justice Department told U. S. Federal Prosecutor to take it easy on big tobacco – U. S. Federal Prosecutor Sharon Eubanks regarding her allegations that specific employees of the DOJ compelled her to take it easy on Big Tobacco for political reasons. Ms. Eubanks, who resigned in protest after 22 years as a prosecutor, explained the issue this way: “When it became clear to all that we were going to win the case, that’s when the heavy-duty interference began and we were asked to do things like lower the remedy, interfere with the witnesses’ testimony … they wanted to make sure, I believe, that the number, any number that the court came out with, was pocket change for the companies. You’d have to ask [the Justice Department] why that was important to them.”

Republican who says nice things about Clinton is identified as Democrat by Fox News graphic – How many times has Fox identified Republicans as Democrats by putting a big (D) next to their name? I’ve lost count, but it seems to be whenever its convenient for them.

Do you know anyone who wold like to receive the Bad Deeds newsletter? Let me know their e-mail address.
Regards,

Jim

Summarized below are the major findings from section 8 of the Pew Research survey, Trends in Political Values and Core Attitudes: 1987-2007.

What are the rights of those who are believed or accused of being terrorist sympathizers? There is a major difference between what republicans believe and what the rest of the country believes. According to the survey:

Despite the modest overall shift in opinions on this issue, Republican support for warrantless searches of those who may be sympathetic to terrorists has grown substantially. Nearly half of conservative Republicans (47%) now believe such searches should be allowed, up from 34% in 2003. The change among moderate and liberal Republicans has been even more striking. More than twice as many favor warrantless searches of possible terrorist sympathizers’ houses than did so four years ago (49% vs. 23%).

By contrast, Democrats are less supportive of allowing the police to conduct warrantless searches of the houses of people who may sympathize with terrorists than they were four years ago. Among conservative and moderate Democrats, 37% believe such warrantless searches should be permitted, compared with 40% in 2003. And just 19% of liberal Democrats believe such searches are acceptable, down from 28% in 2003.

Another dichotomy between republicans and the rest of the country, is on the subject of giving up civil rights in the hope of curbing terrorism. According to the survey, “There continue to be partisan differences in views of whether average people will need to give up some liberties to curb terrorism. Most Republicans (51%) say such sacrifices will be necessary, but just 35% of Democrats and 37% of independents share this belief.“

In the current survey, however, there has been a sharp increase in partisan differences over whether the nation needs stricter environmental laws. Currently, 95% of Democrats and 85% of independents say that stricter environmental laws are needed, but just 65% of Republicans agree. The views of Democrats and independents have not changed significantly since the previous values survey in 2003. But fewer Republicans support tougher environmental laws and regulations than did so then (79% vs. 65%). And the partisan divide on this issue, which was 17 points in the last survey, has ballooned to 30 points. In 1992, the first time this question was asked, partisan differences were much narrower (seven points).

The politicization of the General Services Administration – General Services Administration (GSA) chief Lurita Doan was called on the carpet before the House Government Oversight committee today to explain what she was doing when she convened a national teleconference of GSA managers for a briefing from White House political staffers on how they could best use federal government resources to help Republican candidates in 2008 — a presentation, by the way, that included a list of the Top 20 targeted Democrats for 2008. Video

FBI agent told to keep quiet over attorney firings – An FBI agent was warned to keep quiet about the dismissal of a U.S. attorney after he told a newspaper her firing would hurt the agency’s ongoing investigations and speculated politics was involved

White House Tried to Stifle Climate Research – Bush administration officials throughout the government have engaged in White House-directed efforts to stifle, delay or dampen the release of climate change research that casts the White House or its policies in a bad light. Researchers for the non-profit watchdog Government Accountability Project reviewed thousands of e-mails, memos and other documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests and from government whistle-blowers and conducted dozens of interviews with public affairs staff, scientists, reporters and others. The group says it has identified hundreds of instances where White House-appointed officials interfered with government scientists’ efforts to convey their research findings to the public, at the behest of top administration officials.

Faulty contract costs the Veterans Administration millions – The Department of Veterans Affairs backdated a key document and violated other rules as it pushed through a $100 million computer security contract that resulted in inflated prices and duplicate payments. In the end, the contract turned into “an open checkbook” for various VA expenses, and the agency today can’t detail the whereabouts of some $35 million in equipment purchased under the contract.

Pentagon conducting research into adverse effects of anthrax vaccine while maintaining it is safe – The Pentagon resumed its controversial mandatory anthrax vaccinations program for selected troops last week despite the fact that its own doctors are quietly conducting research into adverse effects of the vaccine

Regards,

Jim

Summarized below are the major findings from section 7 of the Pew Research survey, Trends in Political Values and Core Attitudes: 1987-2007.

According to the survey, ” … the idea that, in general, corporations make excessive profits is now more widely shared – and more strongly expressed – than a few years ago. While 65% agree that corporations make too much profit, 30% completely agree with this statement. This is the highest percentage expressing complete agreement with this statement in 20 years, though the increase from 2003 is not statistically significant (29%). … There are sizable political differences in views of business, including whether or not corporations make too much profit. Seven-in-ten Democrats express this view and 68% [69%?] of independents agree, up from 60% in 2002.”

In terms of political affiliation, the survey put the corporate fairness issue this way:

“Republicans are evenly divided on this issue (50% say business corporations strike the right balance, 47% disagree), while Democrats and independents are much more critical of business in this regard. Roughly six-in-ten Democrats (62%) and independents (61%) reject the idea that corporations strike a fair balance between profits and the public interest.”

Even more people believe that major corporations are too powerful. Roughly three quarters of the public (76%) believe there is too much power concentrated in the hands of a few big companies, a number which has varied very little over the past 20 years. People with annual household incomes of $75,000 or more are somewhat less concerned about the power of big business; even so, 68% say there is too much power concentrated in the hands of a few big companies. Democrats are much more likely than Republicans to express this viewpoint (84% vs. 63%, respectively).

In terms of political affiliation, the survey put the corporate favorability this way, “As has traditionally been the case, younger people and those with more education have the most favorable opinions of business corporations. In addition, Republicans are much more likely than Democrats to hold a favorable view of business (70% vs. 53%, respectively).”

Embattled AG Alberto Gonzales now accused in teen sex scandal ‘cover-up’ in Texas – Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, both already under siege for other matters, are now being accused of failing to prosecute officers of the Texas Youth Commission after a Texas Ranger investigation documented that guards and administrators were sexually abusing the institution’s teenage boy inmates.

States that are pivotal for the 2008 elections are the same ones having US Attorneys replaced – In April 2006, Karl Rove gave a keynote address to the National Lawyers Association, a partisan legal group. “He ticked off 11 states that he said could be pivotal in 2008. Bush has appointed new U.S. attorneys in nine of them since 2005. Three of the US Attorneys Bush has nominated since the 2004 election were, remarkably enough, from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, which has been criticized for implementing policies which unfairly disadvantage poor, often minority voters whose political tendencies historically favor Democrats.

Fired prosecutor: White House counsel asked why Republicans were angry at me

Evidence that Bush may have approved US Attorneys firings – The decision to fire the prosecutors was delayed until Bush returned from traveling. Here’s an email from then White House counsel Harriet Miers: “Not sure whether this will be determined to require the boss’s attention. If it does, he just left last night, so would not be able to accomplish for some time.” This is the time period during which there is an 18 day gap in email records released by the White House.

Republicans think differently from the rest of the country
The two graphs below show that Republicans have a different view from Democrats and Independents, who tend to have the same opinions on defense spending and their personal financial situation.

Summarized below are the major findings from section 6 of the Pew Research survey, Trends in Political Values and Core Attitudes: 1987-2007.

Relative to the public’s satisfaction with their government, the survey stated, “While public satisfaction with government and elected officials has ebbed and flowed over the past two decades, the current trend is one of growing frustration and criticism. A good deal of this dissatisfaction comes from Democrats, whose views largely reflect their judgments of the current administration. By comparison, in the mid-1990s Republicans were considerably more critical of government and politicians than were Democrats.”