Columnists
Don’t Squander
the Stimulus!
Memo to Washington: To prevent bridges to nowhere, don't give money away without requiring a hefty matching state or local contribution.
The Nation
Senate Opens Path to Seating Blagojevich Pick
Chicago Tribune
The U.S. Senate's Democratic majority, pressured by President-elect Barack Obama, opened the way for former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to become Illinois' next senator. Senate leaders said Burris needs a ruling by the Illinois Supreme Court forcing Secretary of State Jesse White to certify Burris' appointment by Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who faces federal corruption charges.
The Nation
CDC: Teen Pregnancy Rising Again
Denver Post
The nation's teen pregnancy rate has increased for the first time in 15 years, leaving pregnancy-prevention experts wondering whether their tactics have fatigued. The teen birth rate increased in more than half of states in 2006, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Nation
Obama Names Chief Performance Officer
Los Angeles Times
Pressing his bid for a fresh burst of federal spending, President-elect Barack Obama announced he was creating a position of chief performance officer to kill off dubious government programs and ensure that taxpayer money was not wasted. Obama named Nancy Killefer, a director of a management consulting firm who served as an assistant treasury secretary in the Clinton administration, to head the new office.
The Southwest
Law Enforcement ‘Surge’ Planned for Border
New York Times
The soaring level of violence in Mexico resulting from that country's drug wars has led the United States to develop plans for a “surge” of civilian and perhaps even military law enforcement should the bloodshed spread across the border, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said. The criminal activity in Mexico has caused more than 5,300 deaths in the last year.
The Washington, D.C., Region
Airport Rail Project Gets Federal Green Light
Washington Post
U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters gave final federal approval to plans to extend the regional subway system to Dulles International Airport, ensuring that the $5.2 billion project can move forward without restrictions. After a series of regulatory setbacks, the poject was revived last month when the Federal Transit Administration discarded long-standing skepticism about its cost and management.
Posted Wednesday, Jan. 7
The Nation
Feinstein: Senate Should Seat Blagojevich Pick
Chicago Tribune
Democratic leaders seeking to bar former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris from the Senate suffered a rift in their united front as California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the outgoing chairwoman of the committee that judges senators' credentials, urged that the Senate seat Burris. She argued that Burris' appointment by Gov. Rod Blagojevich was lawful regardless of the corruption allegations against the governor.
Minnesota Senator Sues over Franken Win St. Paul Pioneer Press
It will be months into 2009 before Minnesota sees the end of its 2008 U.S. Senate election. The day after the Senate recount ended with Democratic challenger Al Franken declared the winner by 225 votes, Republican Sen. Norm Coleman filed suit.
Jeb Bush Won’t Run for Senate St. Petersburg Times
Dousing Republican hopes that a political giant would enter Florida's U.S. Senate race, former Gov. Jeb Bush said that he will not run. The announcement opened the door for a free-for-all of candidates vying for the rare open Senate seat in 2010.
New York AG’s Aide Discourages Kennedy Senate Bid New York Times
Even as New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo insisted he was staying out of the competition for a U.S. Senate seat, a top Cuomo aide urged labor leaders and upstate officials to refrain from embracing Caroline Kennedy for the job.
The Nation
Obama: Trillion-Dollar Deficits Likely
New York Times
President-elect Barack Obama warned of the unparalleled prospect of “trillion-dollar deficits for years to come,” a stark assessment that he said would force his administration to impose tighter fiscal discipline. Obama sought to distinguish between the need to run what are likely to be record-setting deficits for several years and the necessity to begin bringing them down markedly in subsequent years.
The Nation
DHS to Collect Millions of New Records
USA Today
The Department of Homeland Security will collect millions of new electronic records about private planes, imported cargo, foreign visitors and federal contractors as part of an array of controversial last-minute security policies imposed by the Bush administration. Businesses say the policies are costly, and worry that sensitive information could be released if a database is lost or stolen.
Posted Tuesday, Jan. 6
The West
Push to Ease Development in Forests Dropped
Washington Post
A controversial U.S. Forest Service plan that would have made it easier to build houses in Western mountain forests was dropped when the nation's largest private landowner abruptly backed off the request that sparked the issue. Plum Creek Timber, which owns 8 million acres nationwide, cited widespread opposition to the proposal it negotiated behind closed doors over two years with Forest Service chief Mark Rey.
Bush Moves to Protect Vast Stretches of Pacific New York Times
President Bush will designate vast tracts of American-controlled Pacific Ocean islands, reefs, surface waters and sea floor as marine national monuments, limiting fishing, mining, oil exploration or other commercial activity.
Washington, D.C.
Quick Moves Seen to D.C. Vote in House
Washington Post
Congressional Democrats are planning a quick start in their latest effort to get the District of Columbia a voting representative in the House. Democrats picked up at least seven Senate seats in the November election, which will improve prospects for passage in that chamber, where the measure died in 2007 after it cleared the House. And unlike President Bush, President-elect Barack Obama favors the legislation.
Posted Monday, Jan. 5
The Nation
Probe Bumps N.M. Governor from Obama Cabinet
Congressional Quarterly
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson withdrew as President-elect Barack Obama's choice to be commerce secretary amid reports that a federal grand jury is looking into whether a California company won a state contract after contributing to Richardson’s political causes. Richardson denied any wrongdoing but said the investigation "would have forced an untenable delay in the confirmation process.”
Can Richardson Recover? Santa Fe New Mexican
While Obama left open the possibility that Richardson one day will be a part of his administration, pundits said the cloud of a federal grand jury investigation must dissipate before Richardson's political career can resume its long advance.
Richardson Move Puts State Transition on Hold Santa Fe New Mexican
Richardson's withdrawal as Obama's nominee for commerce secretary put Lt. Gov. Diane Denish's preparations to take over as governor for the final two years of Richardson's term on hold, along with plans of contenders to succeed Denish.
The Nation
Democratic Governors Urge Supersized Stimulus
Washington Post
To help offset state budget cuts, a group of Democratic governors urged the federal government to pass a trillion-dollar economic stimulus package, significantly larger than the $675 billion to $775 billion package under discussion in Congress. Governors from Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Wisconsin said $1 trillion is needed to avoid harmful cuts that could cause long-term economic decline.
Expanded Jobless Aid May Be Part of Stimulus New York Times
President-elect Barack Obama and congressional Democrats are considering major expansions of government-assisted health care insurance and unemployment compensation as they begin intensive work on a two-year economic recovery package.
Stimulus to Include $300 Billion in Tax Cuts New York Times
Obama plans to include about $300 billion in tax cuts for workers and businesses in his economic recovery program, advisers said, as his team seeks to win over congressional skeptics worried that he was too focused on government spending.
Girard Miller on Public Money: Don't squander the stimulus!
Colorado
Denver Schools Chief Named to U.S. Senate Seat
Rocky Mountain News
Gov. Bill Ritter is shattering conventional wisdom in tapping the popular but politically untested Michael Bennet, superintendent of Denver Public Schools, as the U.S. Senate replacement for Interior Secretary nominee Ken Salazar. The surprising move, from a field crowded with big-name political veterans including Bennet's old boss, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, perplexed many political insiders.
Senate Leader Opens Door to Seating Blagojevich Pick Los Angeles Times
Saying "there's always room to negotiate," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid opened the possibility that former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris might serve in the Senate despite the aggressive opposition of Democratic leaders to his appointment by scandal-tarnished Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Posted Friday, Jan. 2
The Nation
Steel Industry Looks for Stimulus Boost
New York Times
With production in collapse due to the recession, executives of the nation's steel industry are adding their voices to pleas for a huge public investment program—up to $1 trillion over two years—intended to lift demand for steel to build highways, bridges, electric power grids, schools, hospitals, water treatment plants and rapid transit.
The Nation
States Balk at Cost for Federal Sex-Offender Law
Dallas Morning News
An effort to create uniform nationwide standards for keeping track of sex offenders has stalled largely because states can't or won't pay the millions of dollars costs to comply with the new federal guidelines. So far, not one state has complied with the 2006 Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act. States that don't comply will lose 10 percent of some federal grant money.
The Nation
On Real ID, Obama’s Stance Unknown
Computerworld
As President-elect Barack Obama prepares to take office, it's unclear how his administration will proceed on the Real ID program. But what is all too clear is that the three-year-old effort to impose national identification-card standards remains a bone of contention between the Department of Homeland Security and state governments that see it as an attempt to force unwanted standards and costs down their throats.
Posted Thursday, Jan. 1
Illinois
Blagojevich Senate Pick Goes to Court
Chicago Tribune
As the U.S. Senate leadership developed an elaborate set of contingency plans to keep former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris from taking over President-elect Barack Obama's seat, Burris' lawyers took the first legal action in what could be a prolonged court fight, asking the state Supreme Court to force Secretary of State Jesse White to certify Gov. Rod Blagojevich's paperwork making the disputed appointment.
Prosecutors Seek More Time to Indict Blagojevich Chicago Sun-Times
Federal prosecutors, saying they captured "thousands of phone calls" on secret wiretaps in their investigation into Blagojevich, asked for a 90-day extension to indict the governor and his former chief of staff, John Harris.
From Governing's Ballot Box: Blagojevich's survival strategy
The Nation
Report: EPA Erred on Health Hazard of Rocket-Fuel Ingredient
New York Times
The Environmental Protection Agency failed to follow its own guidelines and made a basic error in evaluating how a toxic contaminant in rocket fuel harms human health, according to a report by the agency’s inspector general. The contaminant, perchlorate, has been found in significant levels in drinking water in at least 400 locations.
Boston
Feds to End Monitoring of City Elections
Boston Globe
The U.S. Justice Department will stop monitoring Boston's elections, three years after it sued the city for failing to accommodate voters with limited English skills. But Secretary of State William F. Galvin said he had not decided whether he will end state oversight of the city's election commission, saying he wants assurances that improvements will be maintained in how votes are counted and ballots are delivered.