Jefferson Indicted

Representative William Jefferson, a Democrat from Louisiana, was indicted with 16 counts of corruption related offenses including...

• Conspiracy
• Wire Fraud
• Soliciting Bribes
• Obstruction of Justice
• Violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
• Racketeering
  

If found guilty Jefferson could face up to 235 years in prison.

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Veto in the Mist

The much talked about Iraq spending bill, which was recently approved by Congress, is now on its way to the White House where it will be greeted by the Veto stamp of President Bush. Mr. Bush rarely exercises his veto power the last time being in September of 2006 when he shot down the embryonic stem-cell bill.

The bill in question allocates 124 billion dollars to war spending however, the killer caveat which is the basis of Mr. Bush's veto is the October 1st pull-out date.

Nancy Pelosi: Get Back to Work!

Members of the Republican Party in both the House and the Senate are formally requesting that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-NY) "get back to work" after her controversial diplomatic excursion to the Middle East. The interesting thing about this request, aside from its overall hilarity in the grand scheme of things, is the use of the phase "Global War on Terror" which the Democrats have been phasing out. However, regardless of semantics, you have to realize the partisan nature of this development. Republicans want the American People to remember that while Nancy Pelosi was out playing Secretary of State, she was ignoring her post where a critical bill to fund the troops sat idle.

For more developing coverage, visit the fine folks at the Drudge Report.

Dear Speaker Pelosi:

We are writing to urge you to call the House back into session immediately so that Congress can finish its work on the emergency legislation to fund the Global War on Terrorism. This funding request has been pending since February 5, but your leadership team chose to leave town for more than two weeks rather than completing this bill. As a result, our troops have been put at risk.

We are especially troubled by the House's failure to appoint conferees. The Senate appointed conferees on March 29, moments after passing its bill, but the House never did so despite passing the bill a week earlier. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told the Senate that he hoped the House-Senate conference would begin on March 30. That hoped-for progress has been thwarted by your failure to act.

It should go without saying that our military leaders are in the best position to know the needs of our troops, and they have left no doubt that this funding is needed urgently. General Peter Schoomaker, United States Army Chief of Staff, has written that, "without approval of the supplemental funds in April, we will be forced to take increasingly draconian measures which will impact Army readiness and impose hardships on our Soldiers and their families." Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has also emphasized the dangers of delay: "This kind of disruption to key programs will have a genuinely adverse effect on the readiness of the Army and the quality of life for soldiers and their families."

Our troops need this funding, and they need it soon. The Senate is in session and ready to work. We respectfully request that you cancel the remainder of your break, call the House back into session, appoint conferees promptly, and work in good faith to pass a clean supplemental funding bill that the President can sign as soon as possible. Every day we don't fund our troops is a day their ability to fight this war is weakened.

Credit for this story goes to the Drudge Report.

Hillary is Dem Frontrunner: Time Poll

According to a survey conducted by Time Magazine in which 1,026 registered voters were polled, Hillary Clinton (D-NY), is 19 points ahead of Senator Barack Obama (D-IL). These results prove to be interesting especially after the media splash Obama has made.

Despite the buzz generated by Senator Barack Obama entering the race, the survey found that Senator Clinton would beat him for the Democratic nomination by a margin of 40% to 21%. Senator John Edwards is a distant third with 11%. Obama clearly suffers a disadvantage in profile among likely voters, with only 51% indicating that they knew enough about him to form an opinion, compared with 94% saying the same of Hillary Clinton. In Obama's favor, however, is his far lower negative ratings. While 58% of voters familiar with Hillary Clinton have a positive view of her, 41% give her negative marks, for a net favorability score of +17. By contrast, Obama's net favorability score is +47. On the Republican side, Giuliani has a net favorability rating of +68, with only 14% having a negative view of him. McCain's net favorability score is +45.

Bait and Switch: How 2008 Will Go Down

Bait and switch. That's right, remember that term. I foresee that in 08. The bait? None other than media darling Senator Barack Obama. The switch? Al Gore, John Edwards. Here's how it goes down. Obama is a household name and the notion of him in the Oval Office is spreading like wildfire however, what people can't seem to see, with all of those lovely smoke and mirrors obstructing their view is, he stands for nothing except for being as liberal as one could possibly be, but that's it. We don't know Barack, we know the media's version of Barack, nothing more, nothing less. That's fine for the Democrats. He's like a super model in a beer commercial. The beer may taste like crap but you are drawn in by the supermodel. Flash forward a year. They switch Barack with someone more battle hardened, let's say, Gore. People were already lured to the Dem side with lovely Barack and say, "Hey, that Barack fellow was mighty neat, this Gore fella' is a Democrat too, maybe they are similar!" So they buy the beer and they will realize it's shit. BUT WAIT, it's too late. Oh no! You just spent one vote on crappy beer.

What Will Kill Republicans in 08

Republicans are in trouble. A series of scandals and a highly controversial war weigh heavy on the American mind and the media loves making sure it sticks, especially if it comes to screwing over the Republican party. The Dems have had their fair share of scandal and an ass-load of hypocrisy but the media tends to throw that on the one day news cycle. However, it is not the media that will kill Republicans in 08 as much as it is themselves. Right now, I am tired of the same Evangelical good Ole' boy. I want someone who is willing to compromise and forgo their preconceived notions in order to serve the greater good. Senator John McCain and Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, are, in my mind, the last hopes of the Republican party. They are the most potentially electable candidates except for one thing, they are not conservative enough to secure the nomination. Although McCain has been working hard to alter his image to challenge that fact there's no denying his past. Also, Mr. Giuliani's pro-gun control, pro-choice and pro-gay marriage stance, probably will not bode well for him when it comes to the Caucasus and primaries. For it is the party faithful who vote there and the party faithful are the ultra conservatives, so far off to the right in fact that if they Earth were flat they probably would have fallen right off it. The party needs to show that is open to new ideas. For right now that is what people want. New ideas. Americans are coming to the realization that the old ideas aren't working and someone who seems to embody a progressive spirit would be a breath of fresh air for the Republican Party, and for that matter the nation. As Avril Levine once sang, "I'm a hazard to myself, don't let me get me."

Point of Order

Dems in Denver

The Democrats have chosen the mile high city for their 2008 Convention.

Link

Hill Matters

Republicans are rushing to get their agenda moving before the Democrats officially take Congress.

WASHINGTON - The last days of Republican congressional rule are shaping up to be symbolic and brief, with GOP leaders hawking an abortion restriction with no chance of becoming law, loading up tax breaks with unrelated matters and dumping an unfinished budget on Democrats.