Daily news digest 3/31-4/2/2007
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Today’s complete daily news: http://media.progressnowaction.org/digest/040207.htm
TOP STORIES
Democrats
To Widen Conflict With Bush
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/01/AR2007040100766.html
Even as their
confrontation with President Bush over Iraq escalates, emboldened congressional
Democrats are challenging the White House on a range of issues -- such as unionization
of airport security workers and the loosening of presidential secrecy orders --
with even more dramatic showdowns coming soon. For his part, Bush, who also
finds himself under assault for the firing of eight U.S. attorneys, the conduct
of the Iraq war and alleged abuses in government surveillance by the FBI, is
holding firm. Though he has vetoed only one piece of legislation since taking
office, he has vowed to veto 16 bills that have passed either the House or the
Senate in the three months since Democrats took control of Congress.
RELATED: Ex-Aide Says He’s Lost Faith in Bush
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/washington/01adviser.html
Pelosi
Plans Trip to Syria Next Week
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/30/AR2007033002010.html
House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi (D-Calif.) will visit Syria next week, her office announced yesterday,
prompting the White House to call the trip "a really bad idea."
Pelosi's visit to Damascus is to be a centerpiece of a week-long Middle East
tour that began yesterday in Israel. Both the White House and State Department
knew about the visit in advance. For security reasons, Pelosi staffers held off
announcing the trip until after her arrival in Israel yesterday, and they had
planned to announce the Syria leg after her departure from that country,
Democratic aides said. After media inquiries, Pelosi's office issued a
statement.
RELATED: Planned Visit to Syria by Pelosi Is Under Fire From White House
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/31/washington/31pelosi.html
Detainee
Alleges Abuse in CIA Prison
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/30/AR2007033002246.html
A high-level al-Qaeda
suspect who was in CIA custody for more than four years has alleged that his
American captors tortured him into making false confessions about terrorist
attacks in the Middle East, according to newly released Pentagon transcripts of
a March 14 military tribunal hearing here. Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who U.S.
officials believe was involved in the bombings of two U.S. embassies in East
Africa in 1998 and who allegedly organized the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen
in 2000, told a panel of military officers that he was repeatedly tortured
during his imprisonment and that he admitted taking part in numerous terrorism
plots because of the mistreatment.
RELATED: Detainee Says Torture Led to Confessions
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/31/washington/31torture.html
Judge
Suspends Administration Rules For Managing Forests
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/30/AR2007033001905.html
A federal district
judge ruled yesterday that the Bush administration illegally rewrote the rules
for managing 192 million acres of federally owned forests and grasslands in
2005 and must consider the environmental impact of its plan before offering
another policy blueprint. The ruling by Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton of the U.S.
District Court for the Northern District of California suspends the forest
rules the administration adopted on Jan. 5, 2005. Hamilton said the government
did not adequately assess the policy's impact on wildlife and the environment
and did not give sufficient public notice of the "paradigm shift"
that the rule put in place. The judge ordered the Forest Service to suspend its
2005 rule and subject it to a new round of analysis, taking into account the
environmental protections and public participation requirements in the National
Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act and the Administrative
Procedures Act.
RELATED: Federal Judge Strikes Down Forest Management Rules
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/31/washington/31logging.html
Today’s complete national news
Colorado
Ed
chairman quits over e-mail
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5455332,00.html
Rep. Mike Merrifield
stepped down as head of the House Education Committee on Friday after
apologizing to the legislature for writing in an e-mail: "There must be a
special place in hell" for charter school supporters. The Colorado Springs
Democrat's comments angered charter school advocates in both parties. They
called it a "Mel Gibson moment," referring the Hollywood star's
anti-Semitic outburst during a DUI arrest last year. "Despite the private
nature of the e-mail, I deeply regret my strong language and disrespectful
tone," said Merrifield, who noted the e-mail he sent in December to his
Senate counterpart was from his private account. "It was intended to be a
private communication between me and my friend," he said. Merrifield, who
is being treated for throat cancer, said he was resigning because "I don't
want my remarks or my health to sidetrack the important work of the House
Education Committee."
RELATED: Ed panel switch changes little
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5567474
RELATED: Education
panel chair steps down
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070331/NEWS01/703310378/1002/NEWS17
RELATED: Legislator
leaves chair in wake of e-mail flap
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/03/31/3_31_1b_Lawmaker_React.html
Bill
to boost vote center oversight gets nod
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5454788,00.html
A bill to step up the
state's oversight of vote centers and elections won the Colorado Senate's
initial backing Friday, despite an outcry by Republicans about a provision that
gives parolees the right to vote. "They haven't paid their debt to society
in full," said Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray. "I don't think they deserve
all of society's benefits." Senate Bill 83, passed on a 19-16 vote, is
aimed at preventing the kind of problems that kept more than 20,000 voters in Denver from casting ballots in November. A software meltdown led to hours-long lines at
polling centers. The measure, by Sen. Ron Tupa, D-Boulder, requires the
secretary of state to set up guidelines for vote centers and sign off on all
county election plans. "The provision to allow parolees to vote is only
one aspect to the bill," Tupa said. "In its essence, the bill . . .
adds safeguards, which will go a long way in reducing the likelihood of another
2006 election fiasco." The measure requires Denver and counties with
populations of 400,000 or more to open one vote center per 5,000 voters.
Secretary of State Mike Coffman and Colorado Attorney General John Suthers have
said they will oppose the change that would allow parolees to vote, contending
it would violate the state constitution.
RELATED: Despite opposition, parolee voting still alive
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/03/31/3_31_11B_parolee_voting.html
Lobbyists
play waiting game, hoping for time
http://postindependent.com/article/20070402/VALLEYNEWS/104020011
Colorado's registered lobbyists - some 600
in all - aren't allowed in the House and Senate chambers, where they could lean
on lawmakers even when they're voting. During each body's second reading of
bills - but not during the third and final readings, when votes are formally
recorded - lobbyists are allowed to hand business cards to sergeants-at-arms
who deliver them to lawmakers, an indication a lobbyist wants to talk. Clearly,
there are companies doing a brisk business in business cards around the
Capitol. "Some days the lobby ... you can hardly get through," said
state Rep. Al White, R-Winter Park. Some lobbyists face a greater challenge
getting face time with lawmakers now, following passage in November of
Amendment 41. It limits giving of gifts and meals to lawmakers. Not all
lobbyists dislike the measure, however. Pam Kiely, a rookie lobbyist with
Environment Colorado, said her group couldn't afford to be buying meals for
lawmakers. She believes Amendment 41 has resulted in more equal access to all
organizations, rather than favoring the more well-heeled ones. "It's put
the public back in public policy-making," she said.
Colorado legislators busy playing the
numbers game
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/04/01/4_1_1a_oil_and_gas_boards.html
A series of proposed
changes to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission could transform the
body into a regulatory behemoth, compared with other regional commissions, an
analysis has revealed. A study of the commissions responsible for regulating
oil and gas drilling in Colorado’s eight immediate neighbors revealed that a
proposed expansion to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission will
make it the largest and, critics contend, the most unwieldy board in the
nine-state region. Under House Bill 1341, Colorado’s commission would expand
from its current roster of seven commissioners to nine. Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas all have three-person commissions entrusted with
oil and gas oversight. Wyoming has a five-person commission; Arizona has a
six-person commission; and Utah has a seven-person board. If the commission
expands under House Bill 1341, Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, said he could see the
body becoming bogged down under its own weight and unable to respond to
complaints and matters in a timely fashion.
Today’s complete Colorado news
Today’s complete daily news: http://media.progressnowaction.org/digest/040207.htm
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