Author: catnip

UPDATED: Bush Poll Numbers Reach New Low

Yes, Bush’s poll numbers are now at their lowest levels ever measured by CBS News. He sits at a 37% approval rating. President George W. Bush’s overall job approval rating has reached the lowest ever measured in this...

Read More

Krauthammer on Miers: Withdraw This Nominee

Neocon columnist Charles Krauthammer has a message for the Bush administration: withdraw the nomination of Harriet Miers. When in 1962 Edward Moore Kennedy ran for his brother’s seat in the Senate, his opponent famously...

Read More

Fitzgerald Isn’t Finished With Judith Miller

According to the New York Times, prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, who is heading the investigation into the leak of Valerie Plame’s name, has asked NYT reporter Judith Miller to meet with him next Tuesday. It looks like any...

Read More

Et Tu Roy Blunt?

Courtesy of the Associated Press:

WASHINGTON (AP) – Tom DeLay deliberately raised more money than he needed to throw parties at the 2000 presidential convention, then diverted some of the excess to longtime ally Roy Blunt through a series of donations that benefited both men’s causes.

When the financial carousel stopped, DeLay’s private charity, the consulting firm that employed DeLay’s wife and the Missouri campaign of Blunt’s son all ended up with money, according to campaign documents reviewed by The Associated Press.

According to the AP, Jack Abramoff was also in the picture. Lawrence Noble, the Federal Election Commission’s chief lawyer for 13 years, says these transactions are similar to those involved in the DeLay/TRMPAC case in Texas in that those who donated money may not have ultimately known where that donation would end up.

“These people clearly like using middlemen for their transactions,” said Lawrence Noble. “It seems to be a pattern with DeLay funneling money to different groups, at least to obscure, if not cover, the original source,”

The house of criminal cards is crumbling quickly.

more…

Read More

Gonzales v Oregon: The Right to Die With Dignity

Newly confirmed US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts begins his tenure today with one of the most controversial issues of the day: the right to die with dignity as determined by individual states. During his confirmation hearings, he posited himself as a person who had the skill necessary to sway the court from closely decided decisions in order to reach a clear consensus. This will be his first test. We will also have the opportunity to discover if he is, indeed, a justice who refuses to be a right-wing activist. The stakes in this case are enormous.

Here’s some background courtesy of the Christian Science Monitor:

WASHINGTON – Oregon is the only state in the nation where an individual diagnosed as terminally ill can ask a physician to prescribe a lethal dose of drugs.

Since 1997, when the Oregon Death With Dignity Act took effect, more than 200 individuals have requested medical help to end their lives.

Supporters of the law call the process physician-assisted death. Opponents, including former Attorney General John Ashcroft, view it as state- sanctioned killing, and say it is incompatible with a physician’s role as healer.

Wednesday, after four years of litigation, the issue arrives at the US Supreme Court where the justices must decide whether Mr. Ashcroft’s efforts to undermine the Oregon law were a valid exercise of federal power.

At issue is a clash between the power of the federal government to reinterpret and enforce the nation’s drug laws versus the power of the states to regulate the practice of medicine in ways supported by elected state officials and twice approved by Oregon voters.

[PLEASE WELCOME CATNIP as a new front-pager! She’ll do a fabulous job, and we are so honored that she agreed to take this on. She’ll also cover for BooMan on Sundays since the Boo has wanted a day off for a long time. — I didn’t want to post this welcome at the top because I didn’t want to spoil Catnip’s first story being picked up by the RSS FEED ! — Susan (susanhu)]


more…

Read More