Senate Allies of Bush Work to Halt Iraq Vote

Will the Senate be able to vote down the President's proposal to send more troops? A vote will be coming up soon and everyone will be watching. Keep in mind it is a non-binding vote but could send a strong message. And by everyone watching, I mean a relatively low percentage of the American public, the ones engaged.

South Dakota legislator censured for misconduct

What do you get when you mix a handsome 36 year old state senator, an 18 year old legislative page, and a motel bed?
Appaerently a censure. Which in this case actually seems fair. Too bad the page was a male. Seriously, if it were a female the senator would probably get the same punishment (censuring does nothing in S.D.), except it is pretty likely he'll pay for this with his job down the line. If it were a woman on the other hand, he'd probably get a jump in the poles. PS. I'm sure your all wondering what his party ID is (JSOnline doesn't say); even though his website has nothing but red, he's a democrat.

Tie CEO pay to performance, Bush says in State of the Economy speech

How greedy are the richest CEO's in America?

A proposed house bill would limit executives' tax-deferred pay packages at $1 million a year. What did the business community think of that?

"Still, even Bush's words on pay were met with complete silence from the business crowd he addressed." (article linked in title, USATODAY 1/31/07)

Here's another quote for you...
"President Bush can deliver all the economic pep talks he wants, but the fact remains that his failed leadership has led to the worst job recovery on record, stagnating household incomes, a rise in poverty and record deficits," said Stacie Paxton, spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee.

The President says it's not the governments role to limit CEO's wages, I agree. Yet he fails to take responsibility for an ever growing NAFTA strength that promotes offshore banking, job-exporting, and a pay scheme that is remeniscent of the three-musketeers (in referece to dollars) "one for all (the workers), and all for one (CEO)."

Bush's solution comes down to increased transparency for stockholders. If I can find it I'll post todays JSonline article about the new democrats ignoring big businesses greedy demands. Maybe they'll win Kansas over after all.

The House passed a $463.5 billion spending bill Wednesday that covers about one-sixth of the federal budget.

Before the 286-140 vote, Republicans made modest objections to the Democratic spending decisions, but made an even bigger protest to the way the new majority muscled their way through the House. This legislation would increase spending on education, veterans, and health care research, while cutting funding to NASA, foreign aid and aid for communities affected by the latest round of military base closings. The bill will move on to the Senate, and the President has signaled that he would sign the bill.

The powerful veterans' lobby won a $3.6 billion increase from the House for medical care, while low-income college students would receive a $260 boost, to $4,310, in the maximum Pell Grant.

Rep. Thelma Drake, R-Va., complained about a $3 billion cut from Bush's budget to put in place the base closings. Obey said the money would be restored in an upcoming war funding bill.

paul ryan

We really don't need the text of whole articles posted. It would be nice if we had a description, explanation or some context instead. Also we really don't need press releases posted. -- M Tofias.

Reid Land Deal Raises Questions

There is a debate over whether Senate majority leader Harry Reid's purchase of undeveloped land in northern Arizona from his friend Clair Haycock at less than one tenth of its assessed value was ethical. Because Reid introduced legislation six months after the deal to help lubricant dealers and Haycock so happens to be a lubricant dealer, it may not be entirely unreasonable for some to claim that the senator violated congressional ethics.

Doyle proposed $225 million plan to help UW Colleges.

In Doyle's latest interview with the Associated Press he proposed a $225 million budget over the next two years to UW Colleges. This proposed plan is to help UW Colleges turn out more graduates in nursing, engineering and teaching. Governor Doyle will go into more detail during his state of the state address. This aid is also to help the rising costs of tuition.

Pelosi heads to Afghanistan as bill is discussed to limit aid to Islambad

This is an article I found on CNN about Nancy Pelosi's visit to the Middle East. As violence is increasing and decisions must be made regarding military spending there. The House is quickly going over President Bush's new plan to increase military funding to areas. The Bill, which was endorsed by the House, already calls for ending spending in Pakistan.

Feingold to Chair the Hearing on Congress's Power to End the War

Wisconsin's Feingold is once again taking the foremost role in foreign policy matters in the Congress. Being against the War in Iraq from Day -1, Feingold's voting record is stellar in terms of consistency. Congress has the power of the purse and can potentially create a resistance the Bush administration's attempt to escalate the funds and troops in Iraq.

More on Feingold in upcoming posts, I'm sure.

House voting rights widen

This was an article I found that was of interest to me about expanding the voting rights District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands and American Samoa. The focus of the article is that Delgates representing the above areas can cast ballots on proposed ammedments. Something that I found interesting though was that if the delegates' votes decide the outcome of an amendment, the vote again without the delegates' from the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands and American Samo.

Big States’ Push for Earlier Vote Scrambles Race

From today's NY Times. Discussion of legislation in the state governments of California, New Jersey, Illinois, and Florida, to have their presidential primaries as early as February. One of the points made in the article is that if candidates have to campaign in such major markets so soon the less known canidates will not have much time to get their names known to the voters. This may give a large advantage to those candidates beginning the campaign with a large amount of name recognition.

Senate Committee Approves Lt. Gen. David Petraeus for Command of U.S. Forces in Iraq

Lt. Gen. Petraeus states that he would not have accepted the nomination if he did not think the new surge plan would not work. He also claims that results would be seen by at the latest mid-end of summer. He has served two tours in Iraq, he has the experience to lead the troops in Iraq hopefully to a better situation.

Bush seeks over $10 billion in aid for Afghanistan

President Bush is asking congress for more than 10 billion dollars to pour in war torn Afghanistan. How much more money are we going to put into a war torn country that hasn't shown signs of changing in hundreds of years? Afghanistan has always been a battleground, with its rugged terrain, and different ethnic groups it is nearly impossible to control. I understand the move in regards to controlling the Taliban and terrorists, but How much money is needed to control a territory another world away? Is it worth it? I think the money could be better used domesticlly i.e. healthcare, immigration reform. We cannot change a culture into thinking capitalist, and I would'nt expect a counrty to change ideals that they have held dear long before the United States came to power.

Cheney Calls Reporter's Question About Gay Daughter's Pregnancy 'Out of Line'

Cheney seems to be a great person, Mrs. Cheney that is. Dick stares Blitzer down. Lynn (Mrs. Cheney) says"Dick and I [are] both very much looking forward to this new baby," "[our] daughter will be a great mom." (FoxNews,Thursday, January 25, 2007). The LGBT community couldn't ask for a better slap-in-the-face to Republicans.

A winter of GOP discontent

As with anything commentators say, you need to take it with a grain of salt. Chuck Todd argues that the 2008 election depends on Bush and Iraq. We know what Bush won't do to help the situation, namely troop withdrawl, but we don't know what he will do other than increase American troop presence. Perhaps unfairly, the Democrats in congress may face some criticism if the situation in Baghdad doesn't improve. I guess it's the price you have to pay when re-taking the majority in both houses.

Congresswoman Gwen Moore and H.R. 5

Congresswoman Gwen Moore is lending her support towards H.R. 5, The college student relief act. This bill, which President Bush has vowed to veto in favor of pell grant expansion, would make it easier for the middle class student and their family to afford college tuition and expenses. I am quite proud of my respresentative for pushing for this bill and an expansion of pell grant funding. This country needs more funding in all area of education primary, secondary, and higher education not less.

Doyle asks for smoking ban

Doyle is proposing a dollar increase on all cigerette packs and a ban in all public buildings on cigarrettes. In regards to the cigarette tax I find it clever to push what amounts to a tax hike on what is prodominetly the working class. The rational is that this will get them to stop smoking. Thamks Papa' Doyle, people aren't responsible to make informed choices for themselves. Next is the smoking ban, what ever happened to letting the free market serve the wants of consumers (find a fancy restaurant, heck find ANY restaurant that still allows smoking. This is a classical case of oppresion of the majority, why should we all pay more taxes when we can push it on a few? why should I have to choose what restaurant/ bar to attend when I can impose my will on others? How soon will it be until college citizens are ticketed for tobacco posession?

Foreign Relations Committee Opposes More Troops

Earlier today, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 12-9 to approve Joe Biden’s (D-DE) opposition resolution to President Bush’s proposed 21,500-soldier addition to those already deployed in Iraq. This means that the opposition resolution will be heard on the Senate floor within the next week or so. A possible competing resolution would be John Wagner’s (R-VA) American forces clarification proposal, which calls for more concrete benchmarks in managing the Iraqi insurgency as well as making clear that American troops are to remain uninvolved in incidents not directly concerning the Iraqi government (anything that is sectarian violence and not sedition or treason).

Senate Republicans block minimum wage hike

Staying true to their word the Democrats put forth a bill to attempt to raise the federal minimum wage. As expected house republicans shot it down with a request to provide tax relief to small buisnesses before a wage increase is passed. All it looks like to me is just some jockeying to get little speaking points to use against opponents in the 2008 election. It doesn't appear to be a serious effort on either side. But now both sides will be able to say that their opponents voted against putting a little extra money into the voters pockets. Republicans keeping minimum wage workers from making a better wage, and Democrats trying to take money away from small buisness owners.

Kerry will not seek White House in 2008

As the 2008 presidential election nears, many of the hopeful candidates are beginning to toss their names in the hat. However, one of the names that we remember very well from 2004’s election is not going to be joining the party. Massachusetts Democratic Sen. John Kerry, 2004’s presidential runner-up, has decided that he will not be attempting a second run at the presidency. Many factors have lead up to Sen. Kerry’s decision, yet he feel’s that a second run isn’t in the cards for him at the moment. I hope he changes his mind with Democratic front runners at the moment being, Clinton and Obama. http://http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/K/KERRY_2008?SITE=WIMIL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Welcome to Spring

This is a blog for POL SCI 426 at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. We are going to use this blog to carry class discussions out of the classroom.

The primary function of this blog will be to keep up with current events as a group during the semester.