The House Judiciary subcommittee moved towards beginning contempt proceedings against former White House counsel Harriet Miers. Miers refused to appear before a Congressional hearing on the firing of U.S. attorneys after President Bush invoked executive privilege to prevent her testimony.
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The House of Representatives voted 223-201 Thursday to require most US troops to leave Iraq by April 1, 2008, the UN issued an urgent appeal for more funding to aid nearly four million Iraqi refugees, privacy concerns were being raised over a U.S. military program that is taking fingerprints and eye scans from thousands of Iraqi men and inputting them into a Pentagon database, and at least sixteen people were killed Thursday in clashes between U.S. troops and Shiite militias in Baghdad by a helicopter reportedly indiscriminately firing on any gathering of people in the area. The dead included a photographer for the Reuters news agency and his driver.
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Senate Democrats voted Tuesday to cut off funding for Vice President Dick Cheney’s office.
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The White House dared Congress to take them to court.
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The Iraqi government is unlikely to meet any of the political and security goals President Bush set for it in January when he announced a major shift in US policy, according to senior administration officials closely involved in the matter.
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By a wide majority, most Americans are displeased with the current two–party political system. Two out of three adults – 67% – said they were dissatisfied with the Democrat–versus–Republican dominated system, while just 31% said they were happy with it.
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Senator Joseph Biden called for “all Americans to flood the White House with phone calls tomorrow expressing their outrage over this blatant disregard for the rule of law,” regarding Bush’ commuting of Scooter Libby’s jail sentence. He also included the phone number (202-456-1414).
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The chairmen of the House and Senate Judiciary committees sent the White House a letter demanding that the president back down from a claim of executive privilege — or give Congress a detailed explanation for withholding each document. In the letter to the White House counsel, Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) and Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) accused the administration of a “veil of secrecy . . . unprecedented and damaging to the tradition of open government.”
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The White House, under attack from Congress for allegedly firing federal prosecutors based on political affiliation, asserted executive privilege Thursday and said they could not turn over documents that could shed light on the prosecutors’ firings.
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A top House Democrat has announced his intention to offer an amendment to strip funding from the yearly budget for the Office of the Vice President.
“On the Hill, there’s an overwhelmingly positive reaction,” a spokesman for Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) said.
[it was sunny]
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3% of Americans approve of Congress’s handling of the immigration issue.
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14% of Americans have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in Congress; meanwhile, 69% of Americans have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the military.
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Senate Democrats are seeking a major reversal of energy tax policies that would take billions of dollars in tax breaks and other benefits from the oil industry to underwrite renewable fuels.
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The Senate voted against ending debate on the immigration bill.
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Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., has been indicted on 16 counts stemming from a 16-month corruption investigation. Jefferson has been the subject of an ongoing probe in which FBI agents allegedly found more than $90,000 in cash in his freezer.
[good hiding spot]
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Larry Flynt offered a million dollars to anyone who admits having sex with a member of congress; this does not include their wives.
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The Senate has voted to limit the number of guest-workers that would be allowed in the United States under the proposed immigration bill.
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The U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday passed legislation authorizing the Federal Trade Commission to investigate and punish gasoline price gouging, and a poll found nearly 80% of the public believe prices are being manipulated. 5% didn’t know.
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Key senators in both parties and the White House announced agreement Thursday on an immigration overhaul that would grant quick legal status to millions of illegal immigrants already in the U.S. and fortify the border.
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The Senate passed a bill that would lift a 1975 ban on the sale of baby turtles, but would require safety pamphlets warning children about the risks.
[potentially dangerous]
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