Daily news digest 3/10-12/2007
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Today’s complete daily news: http://media.progressnowaction.org/digest/031207.htm
TOP STORIES
Securing
Iraq Votes, One at a Time
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/10/AR2007031001300.html
Rep. Jerry Nadler was
the only lawmaker at a meeting of all House Democrats on Thursday to stand up
and declare that he could not support a compromise plan to fund the Iraq war with a timeline to end the conflict. So some party leaders had written him off
even as he joined House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for a private meeting. In the
confines of the speaker's suite, Nadler (N.Y.) could be specific. He sought
assurances from Pelosi (Calif.) that President Bush would be compelled to
withdraw all troops from combat by August 2008, as the legislation proposed. He
wanted to know: "What is the legal compulsion to follow this
timeline?"
RELATED: House Democrats unveil plan for U.S. troop pullout from Iraq
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-warvote9mar09,1,999353.story?coll=la-headlines-politics
RELATED: Pelosi
Cautions Bush Not to Veto an Iraq Bill
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/11/washington/11cong.html
After
Tough Week, Gonzales Says He Remains Focused
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/10/AR2007031001001.html
For two years,
Gonzales, 51, has led the Justice Department through a series of prominent
controversies, including complaints of political meddling in civil rights cases
and clashes over the powers of the federal government to detain terrorism
suspects and spy on Americans. But under the protection of a Republican
Congress, and insulated by his status as one of President Bush's closest
confidants, Gonzales emerged largely unscathed. Now, the former White House
counsel finds himself at the center of two of the fiercest political disputes
to recently engulf the Bush administration, which is already coping with a
deteriorating Iraq war and a newly Democratic Congress. Some of the sharpest
criticism has come from fellow Republicans, including a suggestion by Sen.
Arlen Specter (Pa.) that Gonzales may leave office soon.
RELATED: Gonzales Tries to Mollify GOP Critics on Firings, FBI Missteps
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/09/AR2007030902029.html
RELATED: Gonzales is
urged to quit 'for the nation'
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gonzales12mar12,1,2643620.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
RELATED: No. 3 Senate
leader calls on Gonzales to step down
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-03-11-schumer-gonzales_N.htm
Justice
Official 'Horrified' Phone Call Was Seen as Threat
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/11/AR2007031101042.html
Until last Tuesday,
Michael J. Elston was the happily anonymous chief of staff to Deputy Attorney
General Paul J. McNulty. But then a former U.S. attorney told Congress that
Elston had warned him and other fired prosecutors to stay quiet or risk
retaliation from the Justice Department. The testimony from former U.S. attorney Bud Cummins of Little Rock was one of a string of damning accounts to emerge from the
firings of eight federal prosecutors. The firings have prompted outrage in
Congress and moves to limit the attorney general's power to appoint
replacements. Elston said in an interview that he is "horrified" by
the accusation, portraying it as an unfortunate misunderstanding fueled by
rising tensions over the firings. "By no means did I have any message in
mind," Elston said. "I think he misinterpreted what I was saying, and
I'm very sorry that occurred."
RELATED: U.S. attorneys often clash with Washington
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-usattys11mar11,1,4255447.story?coll=la-headlines-politics
RELATED: Rove linked
to fired prosecutors
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0703120143mar12,1,1724570.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
RELATED: N.M. GOP
official sought attorney ouster
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-03-11-nm-gop_N.htm
Today’s complete national news
Colorado
Guv
brushes off threat to move '08 convention
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5408522,00.html
Gov. Bill Ritter on
Friday dismissed threats to move the Democratic National Convention out of
Denver by labor leaders pressuring him to reverse his veto of a pro-union bill.
"I don't have any reason to believe it's going to move," Ritter said of
the convention scheduled for Denver in August 2008. Union leaders meeting in Las Vegas this week decided to take on the governor for vetoing House Bill 1072, called
the Labor Peace Act, and use the convention as leverage. But Ritter showed no
inclination to bow to the AFL-CIO's threats and revive the fight over House
Bill 1072. The measure, which would have made it easier to organize a union,
set off howls of protest from business leaders as it made its way toward the
governor's desk. "The veto message was a pretty clear message,"
Ritter said. "Not many people in Colorado are talking about 1072."
RELATED: AFL-CIO turns up heat
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5410072
RELATED: Big labor's
threat puts power into play
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5408777
Salazar
asks Army to limit growth
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5400031
In a letter to Keith
Eastin, assistant secretary of the Army, Salazar suggested the Army consider a
number of concepts in its contentious plan to triple the size of its Pinon
Canyon Maneuver Site near Trinidad. Salazar said the Army should consider
leasing land from private landowners, allowing public access to cultural and
historic sites, buying its supplies from local farms and stores, allow grazing
to continue on the training land, and create an economic development fund that
would sustain the communities there. "In addition, the Army should
demonstrate that its plans for expansion ... do not involve the use of eminent
domain, are fiscally responsible and protect the agricultural, natural,
cultural and environmental heritage of the region," he wrote.
RELATED: Salazar gives Army conditions on Pinon Canyon
http://chieftain.com/metro/1173510000/1
Legislature
eyes reform for energy
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/03/12/3_12_1A_Energy_Reform.html
The 2007 legislative
session could go down as the start of a sea change for Colorado’s oil and gas
industry. Halfway into the session, Colorado lawmakers have floated roughly a
dozen bills ranging from changes in mining fees to retooling the distribution
of impact funds to reorganizing the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation
Commission. These reforms, lawmakers say, are necessary to confront the growing
problems spurred by Colorado’s current energy boom. Rep. Kathleen Curry,
D-Gunnison, who is spearheading most of the major extraction-reform bills this
session, said the surge in mineral extraction activities makes the reforms
introduced this session not only fair, but necessary to protect the state. “I
don’t see this as tipping the scale too far,” Curry said. “These are things the
public wants to see happen.”
RELATED: Energy tops state issues
http://www.durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article_path=/news/07/news070311_1.htm
Today’s complete Colorado news
Today’s complete daily news: http://media.progressnowaction.org/digest/031207.htm
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