THE CHOICE OF THE ANTI-CHOICE CROWD: “Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor who is vying for first place in the GOP primary polls there, was endorsed yesterday by the New Hampshire affiliate of the National Education Association. The union’s President Rhonda Wesolowski called a news conference to praise Mr. Huckabee for opposing school vouchers — the only Republican candidate to do so — and for his backing of a national mandate for arts and music education.” - John Fund, Political Diary, 12/12/07
THE MOST GIFTED PERSON OF OUR GENERATION
“Campaigning for his wife, former President Clinton says that when they were starting out he was so struck by her intellect and ability he once suggested she should just dump him and jump into her own political career. . . . ‘She has spent a lifetime as a change agent when she had the option to do other things,’ he said. ‘I thought she was the most gifted person of our generation,’ said Clinton…”
- Associated Press, 12/11/07
CLASSIC OXYMORON
“According to the Washington Post, (House Speaker Nancy) Pelosi may have been joined (at a briefing on interrogation techniques) by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) who is now the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Although, the juxtaposition of the name ‘Jay Rockefeller’ and the word ‘Intelligence’ has caused many thousands of dollars worth of beer to be wasted on Capitol Hill as it came spurting out of the noses of generations of Senate staffers of both parties.”
- Cyber-columnist Rich Galen, 12/11/07
WATER-BOARDING WORKS WONDERS
“…(A) former CIA agent said the waterboarding of Abu Zubaydah, a major Al-Qaida figure, got him to talk in less than 35 seconds. ‘The next day, he told his interrogator that Allah had visited him in his cell during the night and told him to cooperate,’ John Kiriakou, a leader of the CIA team that captured Zubaydah, said in an interview first broadcast Monday evening on ABC News’ World News. ‘From that day on, he answered every question. The threat information he provided disrupted a number of attacks, maybe dozens of attacks.’”
- Associated Press, 12/11/07
JUSTIFIABLE ACT OF SELF-DEFENSE
“Water-boarding Abu Zubaydah as a last resort to find out what he knew about pending terrorist plots was a justifiable act of self-defense.”
- Terence Jeffrey, editor-in-chief of CNS News
SNOWE: DON’T SCARE THE TERRORISTS
“Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) held firm that waterboarding is not acceptable even in the case of Abu Zubaydah. Pressed about whether waterboarding is ever appropriate, even to prevent another 9/11, Snowe replied, ‘Waterboarding is torture and should not be the policy of the United Sates.’ Asked again if it would ever be justified, she said, ‘I gave my answer.’”
- CNS News, 12/12/07
HOOKED ON EARMARKS
“Earmarks are justified and legitimate… I wouldn’t give up my earmarks.”
- Republican Whip Sen. Trent Lott
PRESERVING THE OTHER WHITE MEAT
“(Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch) McConnell on Tuesday called for $70 billion for Iraq with no strings attached, an across the board cut of around 1 percent for domestic appropriations bills and the promise that lawmakers can keep all their earmarks.”
- The Politico, 12/11/07
FANTASTIC IDEA KILLED BY GOP LEADERS
“For weeks, House Republicans stood strong against wasteful spending, resulting in a victory when Democratic Representative David Obey proposed eliminating all earmarks from the Omnibus Appropriations bill in order to reduce the bill’s price tag to meet the President’s request. We think this is a fantastic idea and applaud Obey for recognizing that earmarks are the least worthy component of the Omnibus bill. Unfortunately, Senator (Mitch) McConnell and (Sen.) Trent Lott are perpetuating the practice of wasteful pork-barrel spending.”
- Club for Growth President Pat Toomey, 12/11/07
PELOSI CAVES ON EARMARKS (BIG SURPRISE)
“In the face of stiff opposition from powerful fellow Democrats, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) has abandoned a proposal she supported less than 24 hours ago to eliminate lawmakers’ earmarks from the omnibus spending package.”
- The Hill, 12/12/07
EARMARK DARKNESS
“At some point this week, Congress is going to consider a massive omnibus spending bill that rolls the 11 remaining appropriations bills into one enormous bill. I wish I could take the floor today and talk about what’s in the bill. But I can’t, because I have no idea.
“I’m far from alone. Save for a few Members of Leadership, all of us are in the dark about what could be in this massive bill that we’re going to be voting on in just a matter of hours. With the likelihood of thousands and thousands of earmarks in the bill, our constituents deserve a process that, at the very least, gives Members an opportunity to read the bill before we vote on it.”
- Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Arizona), 12/12/07
THE SCORPION KING…ER, SENATOR
“Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican, has long been known as the Senate’s gadfly, crusading against wasteful government spending. In the last year, however, this gadfly has gone through a metamorphosis and is now more of a scorpion: If you’re not careful, he’ll kill your bill. For that reason, Senate aides on both sides of the aisle now take legislation directly to Coburn’s office before moving forward to make sure he has no objections - whether he’s on the relevant committee or not. If he does, they often swallow their pride and make the changes he’s asking for.”
- The Politico, 12/11/07
Posted on December 12th, 2007 by Chuck Muth
Filed under: National
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