Good afternoon, Daily Kos readers. This is your afternoon open thread to discuss all things Hill-related. Use this thread to praise or bash Congresscritters, share a juicy tip, ask questions, offer critiques and suggestions, or post manifestos.
Our fearless leader has his own open thread on the front page, but these stories are a bit more focused and we do have The Most Important News of the DayTM
My thoughts are across the fold:
With lots of ex-Presidents being sent to Haiti, MotherJones looks at some recent backstory from a NYTimes feature piece many may have missed.
The Bush administration has said that while Mr. Aristide was deeply flawed, its policy was always to work with him as Haiti’s democratically elected leader. But the administration’s actions in Haiti did not always match its words. Interviews and a review of government documents show that a democracy-building group close to the White House, and financed by American taxpayers, undercut the official United States policy and the ambassador assigned to carry it out.
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The International Republican Institute is one of several prominent nonprofit groups that receive federal funds to help countries develop the mechanisms of democracy, like campaigning and election monitoring. Of all the groups, though, the I.R.I. is closest to the administration. President Bush picked its president, Lorne W. Craner, to run his administration’s democracy-building efforts. The institute, which works in more than 60 countries, has seen its federal financing nearly triple in three years, from $26 million in 2003 to $75 million in 2005. Last spring, at an I.R.I. fund-raiser, Mr. Bush called democracy-building "a growth industry." These groups walk a fine line. Under federal guidelines, they are supposed to nurture democracy in a nonpartisan way, lest they be accused of meddling in the affairs of sovereign nations. But in Haiti, according to diplomats, Mr. Lucas actively worked against President Aristide.
Wasn't the election in 2006 all about oversight and subpoenas?
Karen Tumulty gets the last word on Pat Robertson's most recent loathsome comment about the intentions of the planet.
To paraphrase the country song, what part of "radical cleric" don't you understand?
Echoing Casual Wednesday, thoughts and prayers to the people of Haiti. If you can open your wallet, please do.
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On the electric car front, a closed GM plant in Delaware is being put back to work.
Fisker Automotive has contracted with Boston-based A123 Systems to supply battery packs for the forthcoming Fisker Karma plug-in electric car.
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The start-up company gained national prominence late last year when it secured a $528 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy to promote domestic vehicle manufacturing.
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A123 Systems, too, has benefited from state and federal incentives to establish production of electric vehicle technologies in the U.S., having received a $249 million loan from the DOE's auto battery program.
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The company had a provisional agreement with Indiana-based EnerDel to supply batteries for the Karma
Sorry, Evan, about the Karma. Waiting for Rep. Mike Castle R-DE to take credit.
In other DOE and stimulus package news
U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu on Wednesday announced the recipients of more than $80 million in government funding for biofuels research and development.
The bulk of the funding, coming from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, went to algae research and development, while the rest went toward improving the country's ethanol infrastructure.
Not a big fan of burning food stock to get to the mall, but all for keeping algae out of ice cream and creeks.
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The health care debate may be winding down in the House-Senate negotiations but it permeates other news.
McMaster, who's running for governor, said Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson, a Democrat, had joined his threatened court challenge to the Senate bill because it would require other states to cover Nebraska’s cost of expanded Medicaid coverage under the measure.
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While in Washington, McMaster also spoke at a forum sponsored by Americans for Tax Reform, a conservative advocacy group, and addressed a lunch group sponsored by American Spectator, a conservative political journal.
And the speech at the National Press Club has nothing to do with his gubernatorial bid either.
In related conservative strategery news.
The Club for Growth is asking lawmakers and candidates to sign a pledge promising to repeal healthcare reform if the GOP takes over in 2010.
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Among lawmakers already in office, Sens. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), and David Vitter (R-La.) have signed, as well as Reps. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and a handful of others.
Make sure they are sick before you try to drown them in a bathtub, or something like that.
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None of the three House members in West Virginia have filed for re-election yet. Rep. Mollohan D-WV-01 id on the GOP hit list adn has several challengers. About this branch of Warners:
The family's political roots extend back at least to its patriarch, former legislator George "Brud" Warner. But following the May 2004 primary, the family appeared at a pinnacle of political prominence.
The subsequent downfall was quick and thorough.
In other Congressional news, Arizona has another retired person.
"Representing the people of Arizona in the House has been one of the greatest privileges of my life," Shadegg said in a statement. "And, while it would be difficult to leave this position at any time, it is particularly hard to do so now with the challenges we face as a nation, but it is necessary for me to do so."
Maybe that granddaughter told him she really did want health care reform for Christmas.
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In news that may boost spirits in the spring as minds and hearts turn to civil rights and being able to be in love.
A D.C. Superior Court judge ruled Thursday that same-sex marriage opponents do not have a right to hold a public referendum on whether those marriages should be legal in the District.
The ruling, a major victory for gay rights activists, makes it more likely that the District will start allowing same-sex couples to marry in March.
The D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics has twice ruled that a referendum or initiative on same-sex marriage would violate a city law prohibiting a public vote on a matter covered by the Human Rights Act, which outlaws discrimination against gay men and lesbians and other minority groups.
This will be an anecdote to the CPACfreak out next month.
There’s no shortage of other CPAC drama either. Apparently, an organization of gay conservatives called GOProud has decided to co-sponsor the event. "Big tent" and all that... Apparently they’ve figured out that sexual orientation and politics are not joined at the hip, or at least they shouldn’t be.
But, The Liberty Counsel under the direction of culture warrior Matt Barber, feels differently. They have threatened to boycott CPAC if GOProud retains its sponsorship.
Go Galt!
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In another episode of Republican amnesia, Micheal Steele forgets why we fight.
Unless Steele is somehow claiming that the scandal doesn’t concern him because he wasn’t chairman while the actual affair was happening, his statement is absolutely ridiculous. Steele was elected RNC chairman on Jan. 30, 2009. Ensign admitted his affair on June 16, 2009, and the New York Times reported on the potential ethical problems of his efforts to get Hampton a job on Oct. 1, 2009.
That's okay, because there may be an alternative.
This FNC/RNC merger is another threat to reasoned discourse in public life, because it is a showman's concoction of very powerful emotional elements: resentment, sex, religion, anger. It creates its own reality. "We Do Not Torture"; everyone in Gitmo was the "Worst of the Worst"; the stimulus lowered growth; all the debt is Obama's fault; Obama is a Muslim and non-American; the White House is stacked with the Islamist/socialist enemy within; if we had not bailed out the banks, we would be roaring back from the recession; Obama wants to ignore the war in order to effect a radical transformation of America into some kind of scary version of France and Waziristan.
Sparkles. Still thinking about not voting in Congressional races November?
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And in The Most Important News of the DayTM, Obama Defeats Bush.
"This is a very strong beginning for the president's efforts to shape a budget that invests in programs that work and that ends programs that don't," said Tom Gavin, a spokesman for the White House budget office. "The Congress has approved more than 60 percent of the president's proposals, and that's a high mark, that's a strong beginning."
By comparison, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget says Mr. Bush won 40 percent of his spending cuts in fiscal 2006 and won less than 15 percent of his proposed cuts for 2007 and 2008.
Compassionate conservative, remember. Don't be stingy, share your thoughts.