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TOP STORIES
House Passes Iraq Pullout Timetable
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/25/AR2007042500273.html
The House last night brushed aside weeks of angry White House rhetoric and veto threats to narrowly approve a $124 billion war spending bill that requires troop withdrawal from Iraq to begin by Oct. 1, with a goal of ending U.S. combat operations there by next March. The Senate is expected to follow the House's 218 to 208 vote with final passage today, completing work on the rarest of bills: legislation to try to end a major war as fighting still rages. Democrats hope to send the measure to the White House on Monday, almost exactly four years after President Bush declared an end to major combat in a speech aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. That would be a particularly pungent political anniversary for Bush to deliver only the second veto of his presidency.
RELATED: Dems toss down gauntlet, press Bush on war, ethics
RELATED: War Bill Passes House, Requiring an Iraq Pullout
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/26/washington/26cong.html
Hill Subpoenas Approved for Rice, Other Bush Officials
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/25/AR2007042501863.html
Lawmakers approved new subpoenas yesterday for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other Bush administration officials, part of an expanding legal battle between the Democratic-controlled Congress and the administration over issues such as the firings of eight U.S. attorneys and flawed justifications for the war in Iraq. The subpoena issued to Rice seeks to force her testimony about the claim that Iraq sought to import uranium from Niger for its nuclear weapons program. President Bush offered that as a key rationale for the war in his 2003 State of the Union address. The subpoena was approved by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee along party lines, 21 to 10. The same panel also issued two subpoenas to the Republican National Committee for testimony and documents related to political presentations at the General Services Administration and the use of RNC e-mail accounts by White House aides, including presidential adviser Karl Rove.
RELATED: Democrats step up oversight investigations, approve subpoenas
RELATED: Flexing Muscles, Democrats Issue 3 Subpoenas
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/26/washington/26subpoena.html?ref=washington
A Unified Voice Argues the Case for U.S. Manufacturing
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/26/business/26alliance.html?ref=business
United States Steel, Alcoa, Goodyear and other manufacturing companies have formed an unusual alliance with the United Steelworkers, aiming to preserve and promote manufacturing in the United States. One of the first issues that the group, the Alliance for American Manufacturing, plans to address is how American factory owners and workers have been hurt by what the group says is the Chinese government’s improper currency manipulation and industry subsidies. The United States has lost one-sixth of its factory jobs over the last six years because of many factors, including automation, imports and relocation overseas in search of lower-cost labor and proximity to developing markets.
Federal Oversight of Student Loan Industry Is Lax, Cuomo Testifies
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/25/AR2007042502777.html
New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, whose investigation of ties between student loan companies and universities has triggered calls for reform, charged yesterday that the Bush administration had been lax in oversight of the $85 billion-a-year industry. "The Department of Education has been asleep at the switch," Cuomo (D) said at a House education committee hearing prompted by controversy over the industry's ethics. He called for federal action to revamp the student loan system. His comments echoed criticism from congressional Democrats, who contend that inadequate federal scrutiny led to the kickbacks and conflicts of interest among lenders, universities and government officials that have emerged in Cuomo's nationwide investigation.
RELATED: U.S. Is Lax on Loans, Cuomo Says
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/26/us/26loans.html
Today’s complete national news
Colorado
Lawmakers' tough choice: judges or roads
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5505218,00.html
A Democratic bill to add 43 judges to Colorado's backlogged court system might limp to passage this week, but only after what is sure to be one of the toughest budget battles of the legislative session. Some Senate Republicans oppose the measure, saying it will strip money from roads. And some Democrats fear the battle over House Bill 1054 could interfere with another proposal that shifts $30 million in transportation dollars to college construction projects. "It's competing with other programs that need funding," said Sen. Abel Tapia, D-Pueblo, chairman of the Joint Budget Committee. "I'm in favor it. It's something we need to do. I hope we get it out this year."
RELATED: Dollars go from roads to buildings
http://www.gazette.com/articles/million_21636___article.html/colorado_one.html
Ethics issue sets off fireworks in House
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5505270,00.html
An ethics brouhaha exploded at the legislature Wednesday, with the House majority leader accusing her Republican counterpart of being a "hypocrite" and violating legislative rules. Majority Leader Alice Madden, D-Boulder, ripped Minority Leader Mike May, R-Parker, after he wrote a two-page letter saying he would boycott a vote to determine whether an ethics panel should review a complaint against a lobbyist. Democrats said the letter, distributed to all lawmakers, was misleading and disingenuous. "It kills me that he used state funds to publish a political rant," Madden said. May said he was only trying to raise the question of whether the legislature has the right to "destroy lobbyists' livelihoods" by ordering that they be investigated. He said the process for handling complaints needs to be changed. Their fight comes as lawmakers have only 10 working days left before they must adjourn. May's letter was critical of the majority and left the impression that Democrats were behind the decision to form an ethics committee to review an earlier complaint against a lobbyist. But May agreed to the review - a decision he now regrets.
RELATED: No ethics probe over lobbying
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5751194
RELATED: Legislature drops Lamberts ethics complaint
http://www.gazette.com/articles/committee_21638___article.html/complaint_lambert.html
Congested I-70 costs state millions, study finds
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/other_business/article/0,2777,DRMN_23916_5505111,00.html
Congestion along the Interstate 70 corridor costs Colorado nearly $1 billion a year, with the greatest impact on business productivity, according to a study commissioned by the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce. "Everyone has experienced personally the frustrations of driving along that corridor," said Joe Blake, CEO and president of the chamber. Blake said he hopes "people recognize that the clock is ticking, that there is intense pressure on the corridor. . . . All of Colorado has an interest in the outcome." The study, released Wednesday and conducted by Littleton-based Development Research Partners, specifically estimated Colorado loses $839 million annually in 2005 dollars because of I-70 congestion.
RELATED: Study: Gridlock toll in mountains $839 million
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5751037
RELATED: Congestion on I-70 causes efficiency loss of $839M across state, Denver study says
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/04/26/4_26_I_70_and_economy.html
RELATED: The cost of doing nothing: I-70 study details congestion's impact
http://summitdaily.com/article/20070425/NEWS/70425010
Salazar opposes Army on Pinon Canyon
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1177597597/1
U.S. Rep. John Salazar just said no. The U.S. Army lost a battle Wednesday in its long campaign to expand the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site when Salazar, D-Colo., sent a letter to the Defense Department stating his opposition to any expansion of the 238,000-acre training site southwest of La Junta. The Pinon Canyon training area is within Salazar's 3rd Congressional District and Salazar spelled out his opposition in a four-page letter to Keith Eastin, assistant Army secretary for installations. Salazar said that adding 418,000 more acres to the Pinon Canyon site would "decimate" the area's ranching economy and take needed tax revenue from the rural counties that would be affected. He said the Army has failed to justify why it cannot conduct training at other Defense Department sites.
Today’s complete Colorado news
Today’s complete daily news: http://media.progressnowaction.org/digest/042607.htm
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