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ACTION ITEM
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Frist Set to Use Religious Stage on Judicial Issue
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/15/politics/15judges.html"As the Senate heads toward a showdown over the rules governing judicial confirmations, Senator Bill Frist, the majority leader, has agreed to join a handful of prominent Christian conservatives in a telecast portraying Democrats as "against people of faith" for blocking President Bush's nominees.
and in the same vein:
Frist Likely to Push for Ban on Filibusters
Failure Risks Conservatives' Ire; Success May Prompt Legislative Stalemate
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54661-2005Apr14.html "Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is all but certain to press for a rule change that would ban filibusters of judicial nominations in the next few weeks, despite misgivings by some of his fellow Republicans and a possible Democratic backlash that could paralyze the chamber, close associates said yesterday.
*ACTION*
1)Contact Senator Frist
http://tinyurl.com/c9zfa Let him know:
a) What you think of his using "the faith card" like this. In this time of overheated rhetoric and violence against judges, is it truly wise or even advisable for him to participate in a telecast such as this? And why is it that Republicans think they are the only people of faith?
b) That the "nuclear option" is bad for the country, bad for politics, and it will be bad for him should he choose to pursue it.
2)Letters to the editor: mailto:letters@nytimes.com
mailto:letters@washpost.com
Mary O'Sullivan (NY)
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ACTION ITEM
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The "White House" is again impeding an investigation, and the media is again failing to cover their failure to cooperate. As you know, this is not the first time Bush and his administration have impeded an investigation. The media has been too silent on this administration's PR tactics, including paying journalists to shill for them. And they're too silent now when the administration says pretty things about not paying journalists but refuse to cooperate when it comes to getting to the truth.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-04-14-williams-investigation_x.htmWhite House said to impede education probe
The Bush administration is impeding an investigation into the Education Department's hiring of commentator Armstrong Williams by refusing to allow key White House officials to be interviewed, a Democratic lawmaker briefed on the review said Thursday.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-armstrong15apr15,0,7333618,print.story?coll=la-home-nationWhite House Curbs Probe of Commentator's Hiring
Education Department investigators looking into the administration's controversial hiring of commentator Armstrong Williams were denied the opportunity to interview some White House personnel because of a White House claim that such interviews could breach long-standing legal traditions.
This week, Higgins and members of his staff briefed Miller and informed him that they had encountered two potential obstacles, Miller said in an interview.
The first was the White House refusal to allow investigators to interview all officials who may have had knowledge of the Williams contract. Second was that Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings was considering deleting part of a draft copy of the inspector general's report, which has not been released.
Asked about the assertion that Spellings intended to invoke a "deliberative process privilege" that would require Higgins to delete information from the report, Spellings' office issued a statement late Thursday saying she would release the inspector general's draft unedited.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/15/politics/15armstrong.html?pagewanted=print&position=Debate Rekindles Over Government-Produced 'News'
A California Democrat accused the Bush administration on Thursday of failing to cooperate fully with the inspector general at the Education Department in an investigation of the government's hiring of Armstrong Williams, a prominent conservative commentator, to promote the president's signature education legislation.
The comments of the Democrat, Representative George Miller of California, came as the Federal Communications Commission and the Senate stepped into a second controversy over the public relations policies of the Bush administration, and moved toward strengthening the rules that govern how video news releases are produced and broadcast.
Williams was paid $240,000 of taxpayer money. We deserve to know the truth, including who was involved at the White House.
In the same vein, video news releases have lately gotten somewhat more coverage, although again not what it should -- when you see almost 6,000 returns on a Terri Schiavo news search and see something closer to 100 results for recent news stories about the government's video "news" releases, we've got a problem. the Senate just voted to ban the releases and the FCC warned the administration that the "news" releases must be labeled and it must be clear that they're government produced when they air.
*ACTION*
Google search showing just a tiny bit of coverage of the Williams issue:
http://news.google.com/news?q=white+house+armstrong+williams&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&sa=N&tab=nn&oi=newsrGoogle search for the government video "news" releases:
http://news.google.com/news?q=video+news+releases'&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&sa=N&tab=nn&oi=newsrWrite to your local media. If they're not covering the Bush administration's use of paid services (e.g., paying journalists, video "news" releases) to sway public opinion, why not? And why aren't they covering the fact that the administration is using American tax dollars to do so? This is part of a big picture, including using tax dollars for the Social Security tour, the cost of which is also now being questioned by Democrats. The media are not doing their jobs covering this issue.
Anne Lindsay (NC)
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ACTION ITEM
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More help needed on the FEC project.
Adam (FEC Project) suggests we look for info regarding
Jon Lauck (and other "bloggers") work for the Thune
campaign, in terms of when and how often their payment
by the campaign was disclosed. There's a piece in the
Argus Leader from, I think, August that's the first
one I know of.
Info can be sent to me at
rob@rapidresponsenetwork.org.
Rob Nesvacil (IL)
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Of Interest
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World Bank Chief to Become a Special Mideast Envoy
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/15/politics/15diplo.html?pagewanted=print&position=Making Connections: Why is the news so bad? What can progressives do to fix it?
http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/print/making_connections/If You Think Taxes Are a Pain Now.....
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-burman15apr15,0,1713570,print.storyLatest Assault on Judges Threatens Rule of Law
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-sunstein15apr15,0,5129540,print.storyStudy Sees Shift in ER Care
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-hospital15apr15,0,6160671,print.story?coll=la-home-localBush Disarms, Unilaterally
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/15/opinion/15friedman.html?pagewanted=print&position=The Medical Money Pit
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/15/opinion/15krugman.html?pagewanted=print&position=A Dirty Little Footnote to the Energy Bill
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/15/business/15pollute.html?pagewanted=print&position=No. 2 Intelligence Nominee Testifies on Privacy Rules
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/15/politics/15intel.html?pagewanted=print&position=New website with helpful DeLay research:
http://houseofscandal.org/ Bush is Seen as Unlikely to See DeLay's Ouster
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/15/politics/15texans.html?pagewanted=print&position=Bush Calls DeLay an Effective Leader
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/print?id=670367Accountability Burden May Be Eased
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A51777-2005Apr13?language=printerIs the 1st Amendment being hijacked by the mainstream media?
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-0504140145apr14,0,3698653.columnProtecting the Press -- And the Public
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A55030-2005Apr14?language=printerGive Democracy Its Due
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A55033-2005Apr14?language=printerPelosi Statement on Privileged Ethics Resolution
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=45878Pelosi: "Bankruptcy Bill Seeks to Squeeze Even More Money for Credit card Companies from the Most Hard-Pressed Americans
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=45897Deported Terror Suspects Tortured
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,5171385-105744,00.html___________________________________________
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