GOVERNMENT & POLITICS

News from the Swamp: Where are all the attorneys?

In the Executive Branch: Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty and his chief of staff Michael Elston are leaving the Justice Department, as top cop Alberto Gonzales battles for his job with congressional Democrats. Elston will be leaving immediately, and McNulty later this summer, but they are only the latest to depart from Justice as inquiries and an internal investigation look for evidence that the firing of eight U.S. attorneys was politicized.

Three of those attorneys told the Washington Post this week that they received unsettling, even threatening, phone calls from Elston demanding their silence in exchange for a promise that Gonzales would not besmirch them in his congressional testimony. Elston vigorously denied the charge.

While top aides leave Justice, the department is having a hard time finding candidates to fill more than 20 federal-attorney positions that will soon open due to term limits set by a bill President Bush signed last week. No doubt many promising young prosecutors are reluctant to take these jobs amid such a pitched political battle.

Libby goes directly to jail

I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby was ordered by Judge Reggie Walton to report to prison in six to eight weeks, dashing hopes that he would remain free pending his appeal. During the motion, Walton expressed irritation for a number of angry letters he received and a brief filed by Robert Bork, Alan Dershowitz and others stating that the prosecution lacked proper legal authority. Walton called the brief insulting but insisted that it did not have any impact on his decision.

Libby’s fate does not ultimately rest with a questionably impartial judge. The White House continues to deflect calls for a pardon, claiming that the appeals process should run its course without President Bush’s intervention. Many are beginning to wonder if the President is truly willing to let Libby go to prison, since he wrestled with pardons as governor of Texas, rarely granting them unless a partial sentence had been served.

Immigration bill back from the grave

On the Hill: It wasn’t enough that conservative outrage buried the misguided immigration bill once. It is being reintroduced with a focus on border enforcement, but it is essentially the same package as before, complete with legalization for some 12-million illegal immigrants. President Bush called for $4.4 billion in border-security funds as the first step toward reform, but there has been no mention of a change in the bill’s less desirable elements. Securing the border is something that should have been done long ago, and it is the single most important element in the success of any immigration reform. If Congress wants to earn the trust of the American people, it should act without delay to enforce our borders. Then we can deal with guest-worker and citizenship issues later with better legislation.

As we have said many times, effective immigration legislation in its final form must provide for the following: improved border security and enforcement; immediate detention and deportation of those crossing our borders illegally; deportation of any illegal alien convicted of a serious crime; a temporary-worker program (with reliable documentation a prerequisite) to meet the current demand for unskilled labor; penalties against employers who hire undocumented workers; no extension of amnesty and fast-track citizenship (new applicants to the back of the line); reservation of our tax-subsidized medical, educational and social services for American citizens and immigrants here legally only; and Americanization of new legal immigrants.

House raises bar on DHS budget

In the House: The Lower Chamber voted 268 to 150 for the Department of Homeland Security’s $37.4-billion spending package this week, drawing a veto threat from President Bush for its increased price tag and union-inspired amendments. The bill, which is six percent higher than the President requested, includes a provision that demands prevailing wages for department contractors. The President would be able to lift the restriction only in a national emergency. Litigation with unions and employees has also put the brakes on funding for a personnel-management system, which the House will not release until the matter is resolved.

No new strategy, no new money

The House Appropriations Committee reduced funding for the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) program for 2008, stating that a new nuclear strategy should be put in place before the weapons are produced. The weakening of our defensive nuclear posture went further still, with reduced funding to modernize facilities for building, storing and dismantling nuclear weapons. The Senate will likely re-inject some money for the RRW program for engineering studies, but not nearly the amount needed to update our nuclear stockpile in a timely fashion.

New & notable legislation

Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) introduced the Small Business Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Extension Act (H.R. 2727), which would extend the current small-business exemption from Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for one year.

Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2008 (H.R. 2638) passed 268-150.

Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act of 2008 (H.R. 2642) passed 409-2.

From the Left: Democrats not living up to promises

House Democrats are facing the embarrassing indictment of Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA); they have sanctioned the usurpation of the earmark-approval process by Appropriations boss David Obey; and they have been unable appease the surrender wing of their party by ending the war in Iraq. Having failed on all these fronts, it should come as no surprise that Congress’s approval rating is lower than President Bush’s. Their popularity is likely to sink further as the fight over earmarks rises to a new level.

House Minority Leader John Boehner called for the reinstatement of the earmark reforms passed by Republicans in 2006, which Obey gutted in favor of a plan to keep earmarks away from public eyes until after appropriations bills have been considered. The Republican bill allowed for debate on individual earmarks publicly, honoring public outcry to clean up Congress. If the Democrats openly fight to keep the earmark process from public scrutiny, then they are unlikely to hold their majority in Congress. After all, didn’t they run against the Republican “culture of corruption”?

Bloomberg edging toward candidacy

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg left the Republican Party this week, lending more support to the theory that he will run as an independent candidate for president next year. Bloomberg repeatedly states that he has no interest in running for president, and he claims the spirit of nonpartisanship he has practiced as mayor inspired this latest move. A lifelong Democrat before he ran for mayor in 2001, Bloomberg never really resembled a Republican, having switched parties only to avoid a bruising primary fight in a crowded Democrat field. He won with the help of Rudy Giuliani’s endorsement, and he was easily re-elected to another four-year term in 2005. Though New Yorkers appear pleased with him, his positions on important issues would make even the most shameless of RINOs blush: He is pro-abortion, pro-homosexual “marriage,” pro-property tax, anti-gun and anti-Christian.

Bloomberg certainly has the cash to make a White House run, and his message about the partisan gridlock in Washington resonates with voters. But if the history of third party campaigns is any guide, he is likely to be little more than a spoiler in the 2008 contest, sucking votes desperately needed by the Democrats to gain power. How much of a friend to the left will Mayor Mike be then? Perhaps Ralph Nader would have some insight.

NATIONAL SECURITY

Warfront with Jihadistan: U.S. troops take the fight to al-Qa’ida in Iraq

With the U.S. troop surge now complete, coalition forces have launched a new offensive against al-Qa’ida in Iraq, focused in the area north of Baghdad. More than 30 al-Qa’ida fighters were reported killed in the first 24 hours of the operation, which is expected to last 30 to 60 days. The offensive is made possible by the addition of some 28,500 U.S. troops to Baghdad over the past four months, and commanders now hope to keep the bulk of al-Qa’ida arms and explosives out of the capital by pacifying its perimeter, as well as effectively securing the border with Iran.

On Tuesday, an al-Qa’ida suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden truck into the Khalani Mosque, a prominent Shi’ite edifice in central Baghdad. Initial reports indicated more than 200 casualties from the attack, conducted during midday prayers, including more than 60 killed. It is notable that not only Shi’ites, but also Sunnis and Kurds, were killed in the explosion, as the Khalani mosque had become an expression of Iraqi unity and a place for joint worship among the three groups in this mixed Baghdad neighborhood weary of terrorist violence. As with regional tribal leaders who have recently joined U.S. forces due to their enmity toward al-Qa’ida, we believe the extremists’ tactics will fail as viable political alternatives emerge.

Apparently, the sooner the better. The attack provided the occasion for Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi, a Shi’ite, to resign from the unity government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, which is under increased pressure from all sides amid the continued violence. Should al-Maliki be forced to call for new elections, Mahdi is now poised to challenge his leadership.

Mahdi, though, is not the only one putting the screws to the Iraqi government. Defense Secretary Robert Gates took the occasion of his surprise visit to Iraq last Friday to express disappointment in the government’s efforts to unify Iraqis, saying, “Our troops are buying them time to pursue reconciliation and… frankly, we are disappointed in the progress thus far.” Wisely, Gates also took the opportunity to express greater interest in Iraq’s regional governments. “Perhaps we have gotten too focused on the central government,” Gates said, “and not enough on the provinces, and on the tribes and what is happening in those areas.”

Reflecting Gates’ cautious attitude, U.S. commander in Iraq General David Petraeus testified before Congress this week, advising that the U.S. troop surge would not allow for a drawdown beginning in September. “I think that we have a lot of heavy lifting to do,” he told Congress, adding later in interviews that Iraq’s “many, many challenges” would not be met “in a year or even two years.” Similar counterinsurgency operations he said, referring to the British history in Northern Ireland, “have gone at least nine or 10 years.”

Gaza falls to Hamas, PA on the brink

In the wake of last week’s intramural fighting between Palestinian Hamas and Fatah factions, Hamas has gained full control within Israeli-cordoned Gaza. After dissolving the Palestinian Authority’s shared government with Hamas, President and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas swore in an emergency government on Sunday and formally outlawed the armed wing of the Islamist Hamas movement. The fate of Abbas’ emergency government is uncertain, though, as the PA constitution requires a new government to be confirmed by parliament within 60 days, and that body is firmly in the hands of Hamas following the Palestinians’ post-Arafat “experiment in democracy” 18 months ago.

Shorn of Hamas, however, the Bush administration announced this week its decision to release $86 million in aid to Abbas’ government, which remains firmly in control of the West Bank. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is also showing support for Abbas, offering to release a portion of PA assets frozen by Israel and suggesting that Fatah’s falling out with Hamas may provide the opportunity for a new dialogue with Israel.

Needless to say, all this is for naught unless the Palestinian people step up to the plate. Having swallowed Yasser Arafat’s “from the river to the sea” rhetoric for decades, blindly tolerating Fatah’s corruption and incompetence only to turn control over to Hamas in 2005, Palestinians continue to show an utter inability for self governance. This is likely to continue until Palestinians realize that Arab politics do not revolve around their plight, the United States will not accept terrorist governments, and the Israelis will do what it takes to keep their nation secure. Plainly, the Palestinian people must stop making deals with the devil if they are ever to enjoy a peaceful existence.

Profiles of valor: Air Force Staff Sgt. Covel

In an undisclosed region of Iraq, Air Force Staff Sgt. Earl I. Covel of Oregon was assigned to work with a small group of Army Special Forces soldiers and indigenous Kurdish fighters, when the safe house that Covel and his men were staying in came under a vicious attack.

Covel, the tactical air controller, made his way to the rooftop of a nearby building where he set up communications with air support while pointing out targets to his team. The soldier who was providing Covel cover fire as he coordinated the attack was shot and evacuated, with Covel left in a “little corner of hell” as he later described it. Covel continued to coordinate air and ground strikes for the next 36 hours, all the time returning enemy fire. Through it all, not one of Covel’s men was killed, though more than 100 insurgents were taken down. Later, it was found that approximately 200 insurgents were part of the large-scale assault.

At the recommendation of the Army soldiers with whom he served, Covel was recently awarded the Silver Star. “This honor speaks for itself,” Brigadier General Benjamin Bartlett said at the award ceremony. “Its importance cannot be overstated. I’ve been in the service for 31 years, and I’ve never seen a Silver Star presentation. What he did over there was beyond heroic. Heroes are those people who are put into a position where their true inner character comes out when it is needed most.”

Iranian ‘democracy’ in action

Seems like old times: The Iranian regime has recently been ramping up the repression of its long-suffering people. Never a center of tolerance and liberty, Iran since 1979 has imposed dress codes, speech codes, dating codes and occasional regime brutality against anyone brave enough to resist, all with a twist of Islamic extremism mixed in. Despite the mid-’90s charm offensive led by then-President Mohammad Khatami, Iran has been one of the most repressive nations on earth ever since Old Whiskers came back from exile to establish the Islamic Republic. Iranian women are pulled off the streets and into police custody for mixing “western” colors into their sharia-mandated dress code. Iranian men are hauled off for wearing their hair in modern, western styles. Men and women alike are arrested for possessing western music or videos (the Iranian black market for western entertainment is truly massive, indicating what ordinary Iranians think of life under sharia law).

Finally, the oldest trick in the Dictator’s Handbook—rigidly enforced censorship of anything remotely critical of the regime—has increased in recent months. A spike in the cost of living, brought on in equal parts by UN sanctions and by President Ahmadi-Nejad’s gross mismanagement of economic policy, has produced a corresponding spike in public criticism of the regime. Student groups, academics, clerics, all have spoken out bravely, and in many cases publicly, about the precipitous decline of quality of life in Iran. Some have been jailed, some have been beaten by regime thugs, and all have been intimidated in an attempt to keep them quiet as Iran’s conditions worsen. Remember this the next time someone at the State Department starts to explain that Iran is “basically a democracy.”

Now Kim wants to talk

A surprise visit to North Korea by U.S. Envoy Christopher Hill may help put that rogue country’s nuclear disarmament back on track, with UN inspectors set to return after more than four years and six-nation talks likely to resume within weeks. After having some of its assets frozen, North Korea had refused to implement a February deal to shut its nuclear reactor by April. U.S. and South Korean diplomats agreed to resolve the banking issue, and with its funds returned, North Korea said it would allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to seal the country’s Yongbyon reactor.

While these moves are encouraging, it should be noted that North Korea is being rewarded for refusing to cooperate until its assets have been released, and also that the Yongbyon reactor will be sealed after the North’s nuclear weapon capability has already been developed and tested, presumably with a small but unknown quantity of nuclear weapons built and hidden away. Given the North’s history, and the continued possibility that NoKo nuclear weapons could find their way into Jihadi hands, it is difficult to become overly enthused about Kim’s modest tilt toward cooperation.

Int’l Space Station on the fritz

After a successful mission to the International Space Station (ISS), space shuttle Atlantis was scheduled to return home late this week, having delivered and installed a new solar-power array to the orbiting facility. The mission was not without some excitement, however. Late last week, Russian computers that control the station’s attitude and oxygen generation crashed soon after installation of the new array. Simultaneously, the computers’ power supplies failed. Without these computers, the worst-case scenario would have led to a complete de-crewing of the ISS. Fortunately, the Russian cosmonauts onboard were able to hotwire the computers by bypassing the failed power supplies, allowing the computers to resume their functions and clearing Atlantis to come home. Now, with the cause of the original failure still unknown and the computers directly hotwired to unfiltered power, they are vulnerable to being electronically fried. In that case, the ISS could be abandoned, at least for a while—not a pleasant thought for the perennially troubled U.S. space program.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Regulatory Commissars: An invisible hand for energy markets? Not likely.

Senate Democrats are crafting energy legislation to remove tax breaks enjoyed by the oil industry, including plans to exact $14 billion in taxes from oil companies over the next 10 years. This money would then be redistributed in the form of tax credits to the producers and consumers of renewable energy sources like wind, solar and biofuels. Additionally, the legislation proposes an additional $10 billion in royalty payments to be taken from companies that drill for oil and gas in federal waters.

Payback for high oil-industry profits is foremost on liberal minds with this bill, despite its terrible implications. The enormous tax breaks are being offered to companies that have yet to prove their market sustainability, while money that could be used to explore for more oil and natural gas in our own waters is taken away because the oil companies make too much money. Nuclear power, an energy source long due for a comeback, gets short shrift in the bill as well: It offers no tax incentives to companies to develop new plants to replace several facilities that will be going off line in the decade to come. While free marketeers can only approve of plans to lift subsidies from the oil industry, relocating those same subsidies elsewhere in the energy sector will only breed new dependencies and inefficiencies.

Oil-industry lobbyists are playing their hand wisely, but Republicans will have to work hard to defeat congressional Democrats before they set back American energy policy by decades, all under the guise of energy independence.

Union use of political fees curbed

The Supreme Court has unanimously overturned a Washington State court ruling which found that the state’s law against unions’ using “agency fees” for political purposes without written permission violates the unions’ free speech rights. Writing for the court, Justice Antonin Scalia castigated the unions’ case, stating, “[T]he notion that this modest limitation upon an extraordinary benefit violates the First Amendment is, to say the least, counterintuitive.”

The law in question, adopted through a 1992 statewide referendum, places the burden on unions to get written permission from certain non-members covered under collective bargaining to use their dues for political purposes.

The unions were not completely denied, however. A recent change in the law pushed through by the Democrats in Washington State that stipulates union political spending is not considered to come from agency fees rendered this decision all but moot. Also, the Supreme Court has stipulated that the decision solely affected those in public-sector unions.

No correlation between medical expense and patient care

A recent Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council survey reveals a disconnect between high medical reimbursements and quality patient care. Using heart-bypass surgery as the base service for comparing hospitals, the survey shows reimbursements for the procedure ranged from less than $20,000 to as much as $100,000, even though patients had comparable lengths of stay and risks from complications.

While the underlying reasons for the hospitals’ quality to rate of payment non sequitur stumped politicians, large health insurers and providers who negotiate reimbursements for the full range of services must learn rapidly how to survive in the healthcare industry. Last year, insurers posted cost and outcome information on their websites to educate their customers and help them evaluate where to purchase their health care. Had the Council consulted insurers on payment disparities, they might have learned it could partially be due to relative market dominance of both contracting parties, and the severity of individual medical conditions.

The lack of provider pricing and outcome information is a legacy from decades of the current hospital business models. Currently, about $3 trillion of healthcare goods and services are purchased from a menu lacking any prices. The lack of transparency—the patient’s opportunity to see prices and the probable outcome of procedures—is one driving factor behind the soaring costs of health care because everyone lacks adequate information to evaluate the problem and investigate potential solutions. Not surprisingly, this healthcare debacle has had a ripple effect across the economy. The National Bureau of Economic Research estimates every 10-percent rise in health-insurance premiums (driven by soaring healthcare costs) makes it 1.6 percent less likely a job seeker will find a job, and 3.8 percent less likely a given job provides health benefits. The same 10-percent rise in premiums also produces a 2.3-percent decline in wages for current employees, and a 1-percent reduction in hours. As Reagan once quipped, “Trust, but verify,” price transparency will be the key to reigning in healthcare costs.

CULTURE

Faith and Family: Abortion on the political backburner?

In a reversal the Vatican is calling a betrayal of faith, Amnesty International (AI) recently changed its traditionally non-aligned position on abortion, announcing it now supports abortion in cases of rape, incest and the elusive “saving a woman’s life.” Defending its move against the Vatican’s call for Catholics to withdraw all support, AI claimed that it “remains silent on the rights and wrongs of abortion.” A louder silence was never heard.

Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s 2005-06 annual report showed a record $902.8 million in income and a net profit of $55.8 million, even as income from clinics and donations fell by $1.5 million and $3.6 million, respectively. What rose were taxpayer-funded government subsidies, which reached $305.3 million, a 12-percent increase over the previous year. The most disturbing number of all, however, is the record 264,943 abortions Planned Parenthood performed during this same period—the equivalent of 5,095 per week, 725 per day, 30 per hour. Meanwhile, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins notes that during the same period, Planned Parenthood “did not record a single adoption referral.” So, with national elections looming, should abortion still be a backburner issue?

Around the nation: Duke Lacrosse prosecutor disbarred

The prosecutor in the infamous Duke Lacrosse rape scandal, Durham D.A. Mike Nifong, surrendered his law license after hearings before the North Carolina State Bar Disciplinary Panel. The panel found Nifong guilty of “dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation” in the prosecution of three Duke University lacrosse players for a bogus crime.

The ethics violations against Nifong include his failure to disclose DNA evidence to the students’ attorneys that would have aided their defense. While Nifong voluntarily surrendered his legal license before the panel could take it, he stated that he still believes “something happened” at the lacrosse team’s party last year. “[T]here is no disciplinary action short of disbarment appropriate in this case given the magnitude of the offenses found,” stated the panel’s chairman, Lane Williamson.

Nifong’s woes are far from over, though. He will now have to face a civil suit being filed against him by attorneys for the three lacrosse players, but he won’t face any criminal prosecution. Justice is indeed blind.

From the Village Academic Curriculum File

The National Education Association (NEA) calls it a “weak answer to the national teacher-compensation crisis” and argues it “begs the question of fairness and objectivity.” The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) fears it “lacks objective criteria” yet advocates formulating it to encourage teamwork and enhance teaching quality. Where merit pay spurs disagreement between the national unions, however, local union chapters and teachers are increasingly—if slowly—moving their support behind it.

According to University of Wisconsin Professor Allan Odden, a teacher-compensation researcher, merit pay, while “not ubiquitous,” is “developing momentum.” In Minnesota, for example, the teachers’ union has joined with Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty to support a teacher-mentoring program offering rewards for increasing student achievement. The Department of Education continues to promote similar measures nationwide. Despite local support, however, national consensus remains elusive, as teachers and unions alike fear biased implementation and subjective measurement standards.

And last…

Democrats attending the Take Back America (TBA) conference in Washington, DC, on Monday have deemed “the conservative era is dead” and conservatism is “on the way out.” The 5-year-old TBA conference is something of a liberal counterpart to the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), begun in 1973. This year’s moonbat mixer introduced “bold reforms” by underscoring the same tired topics of universal health care, global warming and, of course, a call for the end of the war in Iraq.

Presidential aspirants Barack Obama, John Edwards and Bill Richardson addressed the conference, with Obama preaching that “the time for selfish politics is over,” and “America is better than this.”

Rick Perlstein, Village Voice commentator and liberal political agitator of note, asserted that “Conservatism will always fail… [it] is a movement about nothing, and I don’t think it can succeed, and I implore the American people to turn their backs on it.” Fittingly, the fete was held at the Washington Hilton Hotel where John Hinckley, Jr., failed in an attempt to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in 1981.

Veritas vos Liberabit—Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus, et Fidelis! Mark Alexander, Publisher, for The Patriot’s editors and staff. (Please pray for our Patriot Armed Forces standing in harm’s way around the world, and for their families—especially families of those fallen Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen, who have died in defense of American liberty, while prosecuting the war with Jihadistan.)