March 2001

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Senate Ready to OK Campaign Bill 3/30/2001 10:39 AM Two weeks of Senate debate has produced the most sweeping overhaul of campaign finance law in a quarter-century, a bill, nearing passage, that could reduce political donations by hundreds of millions of dollars a year. A Senate vote on final passage was scheduled Monday, and even its harshest critics agreed that the legislation offered by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Russ Feingold, D-Wis., is likely to clear a generally receptive House and be signed into law by President Bush. Read the article Bush Turns Humor Toward Verbal Stumbling: 'Bushisms' 3/30/2001 10:38 AM President Bush says the highbrow journalists who give him a tough time for mangling the English language - he cited "Is our children learning?" - just aren't savvy enough to keep pace with his linguistic brilliance. "If they would read it closely they would see I'm using the transitive plural tense so the word 'is' are correct," Bush joked at the Radio & Television Correspondents' Association annual dinner Thursday night. Standing in front of many of those who have made an issue of his trouble with words, he gave a mock-impassioned defense of "Bushisms," reciting a hefty sampling of his past verbal missteps. His audience loved it, proving perhaps, as Bush deadpanned, that journalists should be grateful for his presidency. Read the article President Bush, German Chancellor Schroeder Agree To Disagree 3/30/2001 10:36 AM In talks described as cordial, President Bush and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder agreed to disagree on a number of new U.S. plans that have annoyed European allies. The two leaders held their first face-to-face meeting Thursday at the White House and later said they had also agreed on a number of issues. "The briefers told me that the chancellor is a very straightforward person," Bush told reporters after the meeting. "They were right, and for that, I'm grateful, because we were able to get to the point." "We have different opinions, and we are happy to admit to you that we hold different opinions," Schroeder said through a translator. "We were also happy to admit to one another that we have different positions." Read the article Vice President Cheney on Standby To Break Ties 3/30/2001 10:35 AM For Vice President Dick Cheney, 10 weeks of listening, lobbying and $5 lunches come down to this: Senate budget votes promising to be such squeakers that he'll be on standby all next week to break any ties. "There will be a vote-a-thon. And given the nature of that kind of a process, we're going to have to watch it very closely," said Nancy Dorn, who coordinates Cheney's unusually active Capitol Hill activities. This week, he was as busy lining up Republicans for next week's budget votes - a critical, if only symbolic verdict on President Bush's economic agenda - as he was collecting input on the energy policy recommendations that Cheney and his Cabinet-level task force are due to give Bush in May. Think of the genial former Wyoming congressman as the president's ambassador to Capitol Hill. Read the article GOP Shows Confidence in Bush Budget 3/30/2001 10:34 AM Republicans say they are collecting enough votes to push an outline of President Bush's tax and spending plan through the Senate, though the battle continues over undecided lawmakers from both parties. "We will have the votes," Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said Thursday. Other GOP leaders agreed, and some Democrats acknowledged privately that a narrow Republican victory was beginning to seem likely when the Senate debates the package next week. At stake was a near $2 trillion budget for 2002 written by Republicans and reflecting most of Bush's priorities, similar to one the House approved on Wednesday. Among its features are the commencement of a 10-year, $1.6 trillion tax cut and slower growth in spending for many federal programs. Read the article Bush Would Outlaw Human Cloning Research 3/28/2001 4:16 PM President Bush supports outlawing all human cloning research in the United States, the White House said Wednesday as a congressional panel opened hearings on the matter. "The president will work with Congress" on a federal statute, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said. "The president believes that no research -- no research -- to create a human being should take place in the United States." Fleischer spoke at his daily press briefing just as the House Energy and Committee subcommittee on oversight and investigations was hearing expert testimony on human cloning. Read the article Virginia Governor Gilmore Backs New Metro Signs Honoring Reagan 3/28/2001 4:14 PM Virginia Gov. James S. Gilmore III yesterday said the name of the Metro subway station at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport should reflect the airport's official name. "Well, that's the name of the airport, the Reagan airport, why wouldn't you change the name?" Mr. Gilmore said in response to a question on his monthly call-in show on WTOP Radio. "Why doesn't Metro just change the signs so people know where the airport is and let's move on for heaven's sake." In addition, the Republican governor said financing the estimated $400,000 sign makeover is a "legitimate issue," and he left open the door to Virginia repaying Metro for the cost of recasting the signs. Read the article Bush Pitches Economy Plan to Leaders 3/28/2001 4:11 PM Americans can count on an "incredibly bright" future for the high-tech industry despite bleak signals from the stock market, President Bush said Wednesday as he named a new presidential adviser on science and technology policy. "This administration has great confidence in the future of our technology industry," Bush told more than 100 high-tech executives invited to an East Room forum. "We recognize like you do that the stock market may be sending a little different message right now, that people have suffered losses and there are some difficult times for some of the companies in the high-tech world," Bush said, referring to the massive selloffs that have devastated technology stocks in recent months. Read the article Personal Contribution Limit Increase Passes Senate 3/28/2001 4:10 PM The Senate moved to at least double the amount an individual may contribute to a political candidate, providing a counterstroke to the drive to ban the largely uncontrolled "soft money" flowing to political parties. The Senate voted 54-46 Wednesday to keep alive an amendment by Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., raising the limit on donations an individual can give a candidate during an election from $1,000 to $2,500. It would be the first such increase since 1974. That opened the way for further amendments to reduce Thompson's numbers, which would also double the aggregate limits on individual donations every year to $50,000. But it made certain that the final campaign finance bill that could pass the Senate later this week will have a "hard money" increase. Read the article Bush Is 'Concerned' About Economy 3/26/2001 8:01 PM President Bush plans to deliver a major assessment of the faltering economy on Tuesday that warns of an urgent need to jump start it with a tax cut but proclaims his long-term optimism, administration officials said. Bush gave a preview of his feelings today as he shook hands at a coffee shop here at the start of a two-day trip to three states to promote his budget and tax plan. After leaving Missouri, he goes to Montana and Michigan. "I'm concerned about our economy," Bush said. "I'm confident, however, if we do the right things, we can have economic growth the likes of which we've had in the past. We'll watch the numbers carefully. The numbers will speak the truth." Read the article Powell: Defense Plan Will Aid Allies 3/26/2001 7:55 PM Secretary of State Colin Powell assured the European allies on Monday the administration's proposed missile defense will be designed to protect not only the United States, but friends and allies as well. He made the comment at a joint news conference with French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine. France has been skeptical about the U.S. missile defense plan, a position Vedrine restated in an interview before his arrival here. Read the article Howard Baker Named Ambassador to Japan 3/26/2001 7:55 PM President Bush on Monday named former Sen. Howard Baker to be ambassador to Japan, saying he was proud to tap "a true statesman" for the important diplomatic post. Baker would replace former House Speaker Tom Foley and would continue a trend of prominent politicians serving in Tokyo. "Howard Baker will represent our country with honor and distinction," Bush said in a statement. "Howard Baker is a true statesman and the appointment of a man of his experience and expertise exemplifies the importance I place on the relationship between the U.S. and Japan." Baker, 75, made an unsuccessful run for the White House in 1980. He served 18 years in the Senate, four of them as majority leader, and became chief of staff to former President Reagan in 1987. Read the article GOP Pushes For Immediate Tax Cut 3/22/2001 10:39 PM Republican senators agreed Thursday to push for an immediate $60 billion tax cut, above the tax relief President Bush has proposed, in an effort to boost the ailing economy this year. "The first thing is to do as much as we can, earlier, and in the first year, because of the economy," said Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss. "What you're doing is, you're front-end loading it." Budget Committee Chairman Pete Domenici outlined a blueprint Thursday for GOP senators in which about $60 billion of this year's projected $93 billion budget surplus would be set aside for tax cuts effective this year. They could be coupled with Bush's $958 billion in across-the-board tax cuts over 10 years and probably would not involve a rebate, Lott said. Read the article Group Says Bush Won Florida 3/22/2001 10:37 PM President Bush would have won Florida last fall even if a statewide recount had been allowed, a conservative legal group said Thursday after reviewing disputed ballots in eight of the state's 67 counties. Judicial Watch President Thomas Fitton said the study of ballots picked large counties that accounted for 70 percent of the undercounted ballots where no vote was recorded by machines. He said it showed Bush would have picked up at least 107 votes more than Gore in six counties, enough to maintain his lead despite Al Gore's gains in two Democratic leaning counties. Read the article Bush Pays Tribute to Pope on Eve of Dedication 3/22/2001 5:28 PM President Bush on Wednesday called Pope John Paul II "truly one of the great men" and urged Americans to put his teachings into practice. The president welcomed about 60 Roman Catholic leaders to the East Room of the White House on the eve of Thursday's dedication of the multimillion dollar Pope John Paul II Cultural Center. The center is meant to be part museum, part think tank and part inspirational gathering place at Catholic University in Washington. Bush, who plans to attend the ceremony, said in brief remarks that the best way to pay tribute to the pope, "truly one of the great men, is to listen to his teaching and put his teaching to action in America." Read the article Bush Administration Warns U.S. Must Produce More Energy 3/22/2001 5:27 PM Vice President Dick Cheney warned Wednesday that the United States must generate more of its own energy or the country risks power shortages like those in California, but on a national scale. Cheney cited estimates that the United States will need 1,300 new power plants over the next 20 years -- roughly 65 each year -- to have adequate generating capacity. Plus, he said, those plants will need other infrastructure, such as a means of obtaining the coal or gas and transmission lines. "Our infrastructure in the energy area is very limited," Cheney told MSNBC's "Hardball." "It's very important we get on with this business of making certain we've got enough energy in the future or we will find that the problems in California today are in fact national in scope and affect all parts of the country." Read the article ABA Review Bounced By Bush Administration 3/22/2001 5:26 PM President Bush on Thursday ended the American Bar Association's special, half-century role in vetting prospective Supreme Court justices and other nominees to the federal bench. In writing, White House Counsel Al Gonzales notified ABA president Martha Barnett and two Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee that the White House would no longer give the ABA advance word on names under consideration and first crack at researching prospective nominees. Bush signed off on the change in a private meeting with Gonzales. "The question is whether the ABA should play a unique, quasi-official role and then have its voice heard before and above all others," Gonzales wrote. "We do not think that kind of preferential arrangement is either appropriate or fair." Read the article New Tapes Show Confusion In Wake of Reagan Shooting 3/20/2001 9:22 PM On the day President Reagan was shot 20 years ago, his top advisers shut themselves away in the White House Situation Room and nervously debated who was in command, all the while keeping a wary eye on Soviet military posture, according to newly revealed tape recordings. Reagan was shot by John Hinckley Jr. on March 30, 1981. In April's issue of Atlantic Monthly magazine, Richard V. Allen, Reagan's national security adviser at the time, reports about transcripts of the tapes he made that day. The tapes show that then-Secretary of State Alexander Haig's famous remark to reporters that he was in charge was preceded by similar comments in the Situation Room. After being told that Reagan was on the operating table, Haig said, "So the ... the helm is right here. And that means right in this chair for now, constitutionally, until the vice president gets here," according to the transcript. Read the article Hillary's Offices Priciest in Senate 3/20/2001 9:21 PM Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has inked a half-million-dollar lease for posh offices on Manhattan's Upper East Side, giving the former first lady the most expensive hometown work space of any U.S. senator. The New York Democrat signed the $514,148 lease about the same time her husband, former President Bill Clinton, was giving up an $800,000-a-year penthouse office suite under pressure from congressional Republicans and outraged taxpayers. Mr. Clinton abandoned the Carnegie Towers location on West 57th Street and moved uptown to more workmanlike quarters in Harlem. Mrs. Clinton's 26th-floor Third Avenue office will be the most expensive local office of any senator, according to the General Services Administration, which regulates the costs of such deals. Read the article Campaign Finance Debate Begins With Close Vote 3/20/2001 9:18 PM The Senate took its first step toward rewriting campaign spending rules, approving a proposal to help candidates compete against rich, self-financing opponents. Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, said the measure would help restore fairness to a situation where "personal wealth has changed the whole dynamic of today's federal elections." The proposal, adopted 70-30 Tuesday, would create a complex three-stage formula for raising and eliminating contribution limits to candidates facing wealthy foes. Read the article California GOP to Escalate Political Fight Against Governor Davis 3/20/2001 9:17 PM Time may be running out for Gov. Gray Davis as California Republicans are preparing to ratchet up the political stakes over the current energy problems rolling through the state. Republican members of Congress from California met Tuesday with Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham to discuss the ongoing situation in the wake of blackouts that began Monday. Rep. Ken Calvert of Southern California told Fox News after the meeting that "we all agree there is a blackout problem and lack of supply. We need to work together to try and get more electricity in California which means more power plants. If we don't get more plants on line soon this is just an indication of what will come this summer." Reps. Chris Cox, Jerry Lewis, Mary Bono and George Radanovich were also at the meeting. Read the article Ashcroft Promises Diversity 3/18/2001 8:14 PM Attorney General John Ashcroft took his oath of office for the first time in public at a ceremony Sunday and said the Justice Department would be dedicated to diversity under his tenure. The program included a black gospel chorus, black speakers and a black pastor singing a song Ashcroft wrote. A group of friends and supporters administered the oath, each person in turn reading a line of the official language. The group consisted mostly of minorities. Read the article Hutchison: Won't Run for Texas Governor 3/15/2001 9:55 AM Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said Wednesday she will not seek the GOP nomination for Texas governor in 2002, ending months of speculation that she might take on GOP Gov. Rick Perry. Hutchison was re-elected to a second six-year term last year. Perry is the former lieutenant governor who moved up when George W. Bush was elected president. "I will not be a candidate for governor in the Republican primary of 2002 with Rick Perry and I wish him well," Hutchison said. Read the article Evidence Suggests Former President's Brother Received Pardon Payments 3/15/2001 9:54 AM The U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan has significant evidence that Roger Clinton "knowingly participated in receiving" payments in 1998 from a client in return for his efforts to obtain a pardon from his brother, former President Bill Clinton, sources close to the investigation told Fox News. FBI investigators recently headed to Texas to interview a mother and son - Alberta and Guy Lincecum - who gave two checks for $100,000 each to an Arkansas company called CLM, sources said. The Lincecums said CLM's owners claimed Roger Clinton could get their family member a pardon if the Lincecums paid that amount of money. CLM owner Dickey Morton denied the checks from the Lincecums were payment for a pardon of Guy's brother, Garland, the New York Daily News reported Wednesday. Garland is serving a seven-year prison sentence for his role in an investment scam. Morton said the Lincecums gave the company $235,000 for "advice on a scheme to use a Christian foundation to sell tax-exempt bonds in Las Vegas," the Daily News reported. Read the article Rumsfeld Reviewing Clinton's Chinese Exchange Deal 3/14/2001 2:36 PM Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has limited the Clinton administration program of military-to-military exchanges with China to three months and is reviewing its benefits before continuing beyond that, a Pentagon spokesman said yesterday. "The secretary has approved the planned activities for the military-to-military program [with China] through the end of May," Rear Adm. Craig Quigley said in an interview. "He has directed an internal review of the 'mil-to-mil' program and will consider several issues, such as how the program has been conducted to date, and assessing its goals," Adm. Quigley said. Mr. Rumsfeld wants to look closely at "whether the program is meeting its objectives," he said. Read the article Powell Cautions Russia on Iran Deal 3/14/2001 2:32 PM Secretary of State Colin Powell on Wednesday criticized Russia for cutting a new weapons deal with Iran. "It is not wise to invest in regimes that do not follow international standards of behavior," Powell said. Testifying before a friendly Senate Budget Committee, Powell said the Bush administration will pursue a "realistic" policy toward Moscow, intending to nudge Russia into a better relationship. Ten years after the breakup of the Soviet Union, Powell said, Russia "no longer presents a threatening face to us." But, he said, "Our goal should not be to see if we can make Russia our best friend." Read the article Congressman Steve Largent May Step Down to Run for Oklahoma Governor 3/14/2001 2:30 PM Rep. Steve Largent, R-Okla., is considering a run for governor of his home state and may announce his decision as early as the end of the month, according to a spokesman. It was reported Tuesday that the congressman and former NFL quarterback may resign later this year, in the middle of his current term, to run for governor. "He has been thinking about moving back to Oklahoma for the last two years," said a spokesman for Largent's office, "and considers the governor's seat an option." Read the article Bush Signs Bill Naming Courthouse for Moakley 3/13/2001 9:30 PM President Bush on Tuesday named a Boston courthouse for Rep. Joe Moakley, the Massachusetts Democrat whose fight with leukemia is forcing him to retire after 30 years in Congress. In his first bill-signing in the Rose Garden, Bush saluted a "bread-and-butter Democrat" with a "well-deserved reputation for being civil, friendly and funny." He signed legislation naming a federal judicial building in South Boston as the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse. "It's a fitting tribute to a remarkable man," Bush told the Massachusetts congressional delegation and Moakley relatives and staffers gathered there. Read the article Bush Moves To Block Airline Strikes 3/13/2001 9:25 PM The White House said Tuesday that President Bush would move to block strikes against four major airlines, citing concerns about "crippling the economy and the traveling public." White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Bush would act if authorized by the National Mediation Board, which handles airline and railroad labor disputes. "He does not think four airlines striking at the same time, or any number of those airlines striking, would serve the public well or the economy well," Fleischer said. "He is prepared to act if he has the authority to act." Read the article Chertoff Named Justice Division Head 3/13/2001 9:25 PM A former federal prosecutor who played a prominent role in the Senate's Whitewater investigation was picked by President Bush to head the criminal division at the Justice Department, the White House said Tuesday. Michael Chertoff, a former U.S. attorney in New Jersey, was chief Republican counsel to a Senate committee delving into former President Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton's Arkansas business dealings. He was a key figure in the highly publicized Senate Whitewater hearings in 1995 and 1996, questioning a succession of reluctant Clinton White House aides and Clinton associates who denied any wrongdoing. Read the article Report: Every One of Clinton Pardons to Be Probed 3/13/2001 9:22 PM The U.S. attorney's office in New York has been empowered to investigate all of former President Bill Clinton's last-minute pardons and commutations, Fox News has confirmed. Attorney General John Ashcroft broadened U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White's existing review of at least three cases to include all 177 clemencies and commutations granted by Clinton on the last day of his presidency, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday. The move to include all the pardons came after Ashcroft indicated he would not seek the appointment of a special prosecutor in the case, instead deciding to rely on the Justice Department's career prosecutors. Read the article Bipartisan Flag Protection Amendment Introduced 3/13/2001 9:22 PM Surrounded by military veterans, Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-UT, and Max Cleland, D-GA, introduced their "Flag Protection Constitutional Amendment" on Capitol Hill Tuesday. The amendment says, "Congress shall have the power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States." Hatch called the amendment a "step toward reorienting our moral compass." "It is time for us to make unequivocally clear certain behavior in this country should be recognized as wrong and punishable by law, law based on values," Hatch said. Rep. Duke Cunningham, R-Calif, a Vietnam veteran who is sponsoring the House version of the amendment, fought back tears as he described a POW who was savagely beaten in a Vietnam camp when it was discovered he had knitted a replica of the flag into his shirt. "That's what [the flag] means to us... it's not a political statement," Cunningham said. Read the article GOP, NAACP Take Steps to Come Together 3/9/2001 4:27 PM The House majority leader and the head of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People took a "first step" Thursday, meeting to discuss issues that seemingly divide African-Americans and the Republican party. Rep. Dick Armey, R-Texas, and NAACP President Kweisi Mfume said their conversation was "cordial" and "productive" and covered a variety of issues ranging from President Bush's income tax cut to racial profiling and slavery in the Sudan. "We recognize that, although we may have principle differences, that there is no reason to have permanent disengagement," Mfume said. Read the article Roger Clinton Reportedly Under Investigation for Seeking Pardon Payment 3/9/2001 4:25 PM Federal prosecutors are investigating whether President Clinton's half-brother, Roger, sought $15,000 to help an Arkansas man secure a presidential pardon, the Los Angeles Times reported. The investigation involves Phillip David Young, a North Little Rock restaurant owner who was convicted of illegally transporting game fish across state lines, the Times said in a story posted on its Web site Wednesday. Young, who reportedly turned down the $15,000 offer, was eventually pardoned by Clinton. The restaurateur, who served 10 months in prison, applied for a pardon in 1998. Read the article America's Rich, Famous Asked Clinton to Grant Pardons 3/9/2001 4:23 PM It wasn't just first family brothers and friends calling the White House seeking presidential pardons. Rock star Don Henley, historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr., veteran newscaster Walter Cronkite, Lady Bird Johnson, former Presidents Carter and Ford and a long line of lawmakers also were in there pitching. Before Clinton granted his 141 pardons and 36 sentence commutations, just hours before leaving office, the White House and Justice Department received calls and letters from a "Who's Who" of America's rich, famous and influential. Read the article Powell Defends Stand on Iraq 3/8/2001 2:39 PM Secretary of State Colin L. Powell assured the House International Relations Committee yesterday that his plan to recast sanctions on Iraq would not let Baghdad off the hook. But Powell offered few details about how the administration will achieve the goal sought by many in Congress: the ouster of President Saddam Hussein. Making his first appearance on Capitol Hill since outlining a new approach to Iraqi sanctions a week ago, Powell said the plan to lift many of the economic restrictions did not represent an "easing" of the embargo on Hussein. Rather, he said that that this would allow the United States to revive international support for those sanctions designed to stem Iraq's import of military equipment, which was badly flagging at the end of the Clinton administration. Read the article Bush's School Master 3/8/2001 2:39 PM To get to Roderick Paige's home on the outskirts of Houston, you must drive south past the Astrodome, outside the loop that encircles downtown, to Hiram Clarke Road. To the west, the road is flanked by power line after power line, strung from pole to pole, all a part of the Reliant Energy plant. Turn east, and you enter a medium-size, lower-middle class neighborhood with a marker that reads "Brentwood." There, you will find Paige's house -- a modest one-story brick-and-wood structure with tinted glass in the front windows, a garage and a short driveway. It is, one would think, an odd place to find a member of George W. Bush's multimillionaire Cabinet. Paige, Bush's new secretary of education, sees nothing incongruous about it at all. "Those are my neighbors," he says. "I enjoy my neighbors and I enjoy the church. I enjoy the community. What sense did it make to move out and get a big house I didn't need?" Read the article Jackson Will Amend Tax Return to Include Mistress 3/8/2001 2:29 PM The Rev. Jesse Jackson said Thursday he will amend the tax return of one of his nonprofit groups to reflect money paid to a staffer who was his mistress. The staffer, Karin Stanford, was not included on the 1999 tax return filed by the Citizenship Education Fund. Other staff members' names also were omitted. Jackson called the omissions inadvertent. "It was an oversight. It is in the process of being corrected," Billy Owens, chief financial officer for Rainbow/PUSH, said at a news conference Thursday. Read the article Cheney Vows to Serve Out Term 3/8/2001 2:29 PM Vice President Cheney said yesterday he plans to serve out his term despite his heart problems, and expressed nonchalance about the 40 percent chance he will need a repeat of the artery-opening procedure he underwent Monday. "What are you suggesting that I do about it?" Cheney asked reporters with a chuckle after meeting with Republican leaders on Capitol Hill. Cheney was back on the job at 7:30 a.m. yesterday, just 21 hours after his release from George Washington University Hospital, where he was admitted after four bouts of chest pain in three days. Cheney underwent cardiac catheterization to reopen an artery that had narrowed since catheterization after his fourth heart attack last November. Read the article Ashcroft Announces Voting-Rights Initiative 3/7/2001 6:18 PM Attorney General John Ashcroft announced Wednesday a new voting-rights initiative by the Department of Justice aimed at protecting voters going to the polls on Election Day. Ashcroft said the initiative is a two-fold attempt to prevent barriers to voting and to prosecute abuses. "Let me be clear: We will take action if we find evidence that any American is being excluded from polling places," Ashcroft said at a press conference Wednesday. "We will take action if we find evidence of voting or election fraud. We will take action if we find evidence that the elderly or disabled are illegally denied access to places of voting. When voting rights are violated, the Justice Department will investigate and, as appropriate, prosecute vigorously." Read the article O'Neill is the Leading Tax Cut Cheerleader 3/7/2001 6:17 PM Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill gave a pep talk Wednesday to Republican House members who are rushing to pass the centerpiece of President Bush's economic program, a $958 billion tax cut. House leaders predicted victory on the eve of Thursday's vote. O'Neill and GOP leaders cited the weak economy as a reason for speed, saying Americans will start seeing less tax withheld from their paychecks six weeks after the measure clears Congress and is signed into law by the president. "As we look at the economic statistics, we feel it is important to get money flowing back to the American people as fast as we can," O'Neill told reporters following a closed-door meeting with the House Republican caucus. Read the article Democratic Party Pays 75% of Jesse Jackson's Travel 3/7/2001 6:15 PM Nearly 75 percent of the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson's travel expenses last year were covered by Democratic Party committee efforts to get out the vote, according to a news report released yesterday. The civil rights leader, who faces mounting pressure from the media and public-interest groups questioning his finances, provided a 102-page "internal audit" to a Chicago daily newspaper in an attempt to appease his critics. As he responded to old accusations, a new salvo was fired at Mr. Jackson, this one coming from the American Conservative Union. The nonprofit conservative advocacy group sent a letter to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), urging the federal agency to audit two of Mr. Jackson's organizations. It was the second group to request IRS action in the past week, joining the National Legal and Policy Center, which also recently demanded that the IRS investigate Mr. Jackson's finances. Read the article Woman Indicted in Bush Tape Release 3/6/2001 6:18 PM A federal grand jury on Tuesday indicted a former employee of a media company that handled ads for President Bush's campaign in connection with the release of a Bush debate tape to Vice President Al Gore's campaign. Juanita Yvette Lozano of Austin, Texas, was charged with mail fraud, false statements to the FBI and perjury. If convicted, she faces 15 years in prison and a $750,000 fine. The indictment was handed up by a federal grand jury in Texas. Read the article Bush to Name New Civil Rights Chief 3/6/2001 3:33 PM CNN has learned that President Bush will nominate Ralph Boyd, an African-American lawyer from Boston, as the administration's assistant attorney general for civil rights. Several sources close to the administration, and familiar with the selection process, told CNN they expect Boyd's selection as the government's top civil rights official to be announced as early as Tuesday. Read the article Attorney General Reveals Softer Side to Opponents 3/6/2001 3:30 PM A month into his tenure as U.S. attorney general, one of John Ashcroft's priorities is clear: Reach out to African-Americans and gays, the groups who were most critical of him during his contentious Senate confirmation hearings. Since taking office Feb. 1, the staunchly conservative Ashcroft has tried to show critics there is a human side to the former senator who has taken heat for his fierce opposition to the nominations of a black Missouri judge to the federal bench and a gay man as ambassador to Luxembourg. Read the article Cheney Heading Home From Hospital 3/6/2001 3:27 PM Vice President Dick Cheney walked out of a Washington, D.C., hospital, shook hands with his doctors, said he felt "good" and headed home this morning, a day after undergoing heart surgery, the White House said. Cheney, who has a history of heart trouble, underwent an angioplasty at George Washington University Hospital Monday to unclog a coronary artery, a preventive measure against heart attacks and other heart-related difficulties. After a groggy night, he awoke Tuesday at 7 a.m. feeling "antsy" and ready to leave, according to senior aide Mary Matalin. Three sets of cardiac enzyme tests showed no damage to Cheney's heart muscle, and "multiple EKGs have been unchanged," she said. Read the article Cheney: Bush To Veto High Spending 3/4/2001 8:18 PM President Bush will veto any annual spending bill that costs more than he wants, Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday, warning Republicans not to stray from the administration's budget priorities. Only days ago, budget writers in the House and Senate questioned whether they could stay within the budget levels Bush has proposed - a 4 percent increase for discretionary programs, which constitute everything the government does, except automatically paid benefits like Medicaid. "If, in fact, bills come down with items in it that he thinks are inappropriate or excessive in terms of the total amount, I don't think he will be bashful about using his veto," Cheney said on CBS' "Face the Nation." "I think we'll come to something very close to what the president has recommended." Read the article Bush Administration Condemns Attack 3/4/2001 8:17 PM The Bush administration Sunday condemned an attack by a Palestinian suicide bomber that left three Israelis dead and dozens wounded, and asked the Palestinian Authority to arrest those responsible. "Acts such as these serve only to deepen the pain and suffering of innocent people and do nothing to solve the differences which separate the parties," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in a written statement. "We call upon the Palestinian Authority to do all it can to prevent acts such as these, arrest those responsible and bring them to justice," Boucher said. The statement called for Israelis and Palestinians to "end the cycle of action and reaction" and renew cooperation in an effort to settle their differences. Read the article Lawmakers Take Aim at Airlines 3/4/2001 8:15 PM A $917 ticket to fly between Washington, D.C., and Charleston, S.C.? An outraged senator said he had to pay it. Late flights and high fares? A House member says it's the source of constant constituent frustration. No wonder the industry is a leading congressional target this year, with nine bills introduced so far to regulate airlines. ``With every day that goes by, the airlines build a case against themselves,'' said Rep. John Sweeney, R-N.Y., who has introduced two bills. ``It's the greatest source of aggravation for every member of Congress. You can't walk through an airport without having a constituent stop you and relate some bad experience.'' Read the article Ex-Senators Coats and Baker May Become Ambassadors 3/4/2001 8:14 PM Former Sen. Dan Coats of Indiana, an also-ran for secretary of defense, is President Bush's choice to be the next U.S. ambassador to Germany, U.S. officials said Friday. They said former Sen. Howard Baker, who made an unsuccessful run for the White House in 1980, then finally got there in 1987 as former President Reagan's chief of staff, is the front-runner to be ambassador to Japan. Baker ended an 18-year Senate career in 1984 after four years as majority leader. Coats, 57, would succeed John C. Kornblum, a career foreign service officer and expert on Germany. Baker, 75, would replace former House Speaker Tom Foley in Tokyo, one of several prominent politicians who have held the post. Read the article Perennial Presidential Candidate, Former Minnesota Governor Stassen, Dies 3/4/2001 8:12 PM Perennial presidential candidate Harold E. Stassen, whose name became a synonym for political futility despite a distinguished career as a governor, diplomat and university president, died Sunday. He was 93. Stassen died of natural causes early Sunday at Friendship Village, a retirement community in this Minneapolis suburb where he had been living for the last few years, said his granddaughter, Rachel Stassen-Berger. Stassen, a Republican, sought his party's nomination for the White House 10 times, the first in 1948 and the last in 1992. Read the article Former Ohio Governor Rhodes, Who Sent Troops to Kent State, Dies 3/4/2001 8:10 PM Former Gov. James A. Rhodes, whose decision to quell an anti-war protest by sending National Guard troops to Kent State University in 1970 led to four student deaths, died Sunday. He was 91. Rhodes, the state's only four-term governor, died at 2:45 p.m. at Ohio State University Medical Center from complications from an infection and heart failure, said David Crawford, a hospital spokesman. The son of a coal miner, Rhodes rose from poverty to become Columbus mayor when he was 33. The election marked the beginning of a political career that spanned nearly 50 years. Read the article President Bush Will Hit the Road To Sell Tax-Cut Plan 3/4/2001 8:08 PM President Bush returns to the road next week to ask audiences in states with Democratic senators to "send a message in favor of tax relief" to every member of Congress. "After all, the surplus is your money," Bush said in his weekly radio address Saturday. Bush planned a campaign-style swing through North Dakota, South Dakota, Louisiana and the Florida panhandle. He'll begin the week on Tuesday with a speech on economic issues before the Mercantile Exchange in Chicago. He has already pitched his $1.6 trillion, 10-year tax-cut plan to audiences in Pennsylvania, Iowa, Nebraska, Arkansas and Georgia. The aim is to try to move public opinion in as many states as possible in a bid to sway votes in Congress, especially in the Senate, which is equally divided between the two parties. Read the article President Bush, Nancy Reagan Christen USS Ronald Reagan 3/4/2001 8:07 PM President Bush stood at the side of former first lady Nancy Reagan as she christened a $4 billion aircraft carrier the USS Ronald Reagan Sunday, during a Navy ceremony honoring her husband on their 49th wedding anniversary in Newport News, Va. Bush dedicated the vessel in honor of Reagan and pledged to pursue the 40th president's desire to "patiently build the momentum of freedom" in every corner of the world. Bush's wife, Laura, joined her husband in the wind and rain howling through the ceremony at Newport News Shipbuilding -- attended by hundreds of military personnel and their families. Bush praised Reagan for his commitment to building military strength, and promised to do the same in keeping with the former president "vision of optimism, modesty and resolve." Read the article Democrat Zell Miller Slams His Party for Stance on Tax Relief 3/1/2001 11:21 AM Democratic Sen. Zell Miller sharply criticized his party's political leaders yesterday, warning that they were making "a terrible mistake" with their class-warfare attacks against President Bush's tax-cut plan. Mr. Miller, the only Democrat thus far to embrace Mr. Bush's tax cut plans, said that if his party continues to play polarizing politics on the tax-cut issue "the voters are going to skin us alive" in the 2002 midterm elections. The Georgia senator said he did not like the tactics being used by House and Senate Democratic leaders to discredit Mr. Bush's tax-cut proposals. He also denounced the language being used by Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe as "over the top." Read the article GOP: Broadening Appeal Takes Time 3/1/2001 11:17 AM GOP national chairman Jim Gilmore told a largely Republican audience of blacks Wednesday that efforts to broaden the party's appeal to minorities will take ''a steady and long-term approach.'' The Republican Party has invested a lot of effort in the past year reaching out to black voters, but has little to show for it, the Virginia governor told a crowd of several hundred gathered for a celebration of Black History Month. Read the article House GOP Move Fast on Tax Cut Plan 3/1/2001 11:11 AM Eager to act, House Republicans are moving with extraordinary speed to advance the income tax cuts at the heart of President Bush's economic program, overriding vehement Democratic protests as they go. ''We believe that the president's plan is not only right but responsible,'' Rep. Bill Thomas, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said Wednesday as he announced the panel would convene Thursday to give its approval. A vote in the full House would follow by a week. Read the article