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TOP STORIES
Bush Keeps Vow to Veto War Funding Bill
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/01/AR2007050100968.html
President Bush vetoed a $124 billion measure yesterday that would have funded overseas military operations but required him to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq as early as July, escalating the most serious confrontation between the White House and Congress over war policy in a generation. Bush carried through on his veto threat just after the legislation arrived at the White House, calling the timetable a "prescription for chaos and confusion" that would undercut generals. "Setting a deadline for withdrawal would demoralize the Iraqi people, would encourage killers across the broader Middle East and send a signal that America will not keep its commitments," he said last night. "Setting a deadline for withdrawal is setting a date for failure."
RELATED: Bush vetoes Democrats' Iraq war bill
RELATED: Bush, Dems to seek Iraq funds deal
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-04-26-bush-veto_N.htm
Intelligence Chief Decries Constraints
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/01/AR2007050101357.html
Court orders in January that brought President Bush's warrantless terrorist surveillance program under existing law have limited the intelligence that agencies can collect, Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell told a Senate committee yesterday. "We are actually missing a significant portion of what we should be getting," McConnell said during an unusual public session of the Select Committee on Intelligence on the administration's proposal to update the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA). The intelligence collection program was secretly instituted under presidential authority shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and was disclosed by the news media in December 2005. It permitted warrantless intercepts of telephone calls and e-mails between the United States and locations overseas if one participant was believed to be a member of al-Qaeda or an associated terrorist organization. In January, the administration agreed to bring the program under the oversight of the secret FISA court, which approves warrants in terrorism and espionage investigations. That reversed Bush's position that he had the authority to order the program on his own. In a January letter to some lawmakers, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales said the administration was satisfied the new arrangement would have the "speed and agility" to protect the nation from terrorists.
RELATED: Senators dubious of spying rules
RELATED: Administration Pulls Back on Surveillance Agreement
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/02/washington/02intel.html
Residency Clause Adds Fuel To Dispute Over U.S. Attorneys
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/01/AR2007050101961.html
On Nov. 10, 2005, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales sent a letter to a federal judge in Montana, assuring him that the U.S. attorney there, William W. Mercer, was not violating federal law by spending most of his time in Washington as a senior Justice Department official. That same day, Mercer had a GOP Senate staffer insert into a bill a provision that would change the rules so that federal prosecutors could live outside their districts to serve in other jobs, according to documents and interviews. Congress passed the provision several months later as part of the USA Patriot Act reauthorization bill, retroactively benefiting Mercer and a handful of other senior Justice officials who pull double duty as U.S. attorneys and headquarters officials. Justice officials say the measure was a necessary clarification to ensure that prosecutors could fill temporary postings in Washington, Iraq and elsewhere, and that it also applies to assistant U.S. attorneys. But the episode, which received little notice at the time, provides another example in which Gonzales's statements appear to conflict with simultaneous actions by his aides in connection with U.S. attorney policies.
Interior Dept. Official Facing Scrutiny Resigns
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/01/AR2007050101920.html
A senior Bush political appointee at the Interior Department who revised scientific reports to minimize protection of endangered species has resigned, officials said yesterday. Julie A. MacDonald, deputy assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks, had been criticized by Interior's inspector general, and Congress was preparing to scrutinize her performance in an upcoming hearing. Interior Department spokesman Hugh Vickery confirmed MacDonald's resignation, delivered in a letter late Monday. Her departure came as the agency was discussing plans to demote her, said a person in the agency familiar with the matter. Vickery declined to comment on that possibility.
RELATED: Interior Department official resigns
Today’s complete national news
Colorado
'We came to build America'
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5515865,00.html
Some demonstrators wrapped themselves in Mexican or American flags and chanted in English and Spanish. One banged a plastic bucket like a drum, while another tooted a trumpet. They were among the thousands of people who marched Tuesday through downtown Denver to call for an end to immigration raids and a path to legal status for the estimated 12 million people in the U.S. illegally. Marches also were held in several other cities. Students, families and groups of teenagers started the Denver march at 10:30 a.m. in Lincoln Park just outside downtown. They snaked through the city, passing by the Capitol, downtown business district and LoDo in a 2 1/2-hour march that was a mixture of protest and pride. Denver Police spokesman Sonny Jackson said no major incidents were reported. He estimated the number of marchers at up to 2,000, but event coordinator Julien Ross said 10,000 was a more accurate number.
RELATED: 'Day of National Action' draws thousands to rally
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/may/02/immigration-rallies-day-of-national-action-draws/
RELATED: Immigrants, backers march for U.S. citizenship, families, respect
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5795977
RELATED: Protesters gather to end raids
http://greeleytrib.com/article/20070502/NEWS/105020096
School-funding plan gets green light
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5515825,00.html
Gov. Bill Ritter's plan to generate more property tax income for schools cleared its final legislative hurdle Tuesday with narrow passage in the Senate. The measure, Senate Bill 199 sponsored by Sen. Sue Windels, D-Arvada, passed 18-16. It now goes to Ritter for his signature. Republicans, who called the plan a tax increase, predicted it will spark a backlash. "This is going to drive a revolt in the future of taxpayers, just like it did in the late '70s and early '80s across the country," said Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray. "People cannot take these types of increases in their property tax burden." Democrats said the additional money is needed to prevent the state education fund from becoming insolvent by 2011-12. "There are some votes that require political courage," said Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver. Under the bill, property tax rates will be frozen at current levels, eliminating tax cuts that otherwise would have taken place under a 1994 school finance law.
RELATED: GLOVES COME OFF (Roll Call, May 2)
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5515827,00.html
RELATED: Senate OKs tax freeze
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5796194
RELATED: School funding bill clears the Senate
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/may/02/legislature-2007-school-funding-bill-clears-the/
RELATED: Plan allows PSD extra funding
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070502/NEWS01/705020316/1002
RELATED: Senate approves education plan
http://www.gazette.com/articles/tax_21833___article.html/districts_state.html
RELATED: GOP threatens lawsuit over school funding bill
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1178116701/4
RELATED: School district may receive additional state money
http://craigdailypress.com/section/localnews/story/26390
RELATED: 'Tax increase' now heads to Ritter's desk
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/05/02/5_21a__Freeze_Vote.html
RELATED: Ritter wins on property-tax plan
Interior battle stalls Colo. parks chief's federal nomination
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5795826
The former Colorado parks director's nomination to a high-level federal post was blocked Tuesday by a U.S. senator critical of the Interior Department under the Bush administration. The nomination of Lyle Laverty to oversee the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service was held up by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. "The Interior Department has been a source of shame to this government too long," Wyden said in his floor statement Tuesday. "... It has stumbled from one misstep to another, from one scandal to another." Laverty, 64, was nominated in March as the Interior Department's assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks. Laverty officially stepped down Tuesday as the director of state parks.
Home rule a loser in Eagle County
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20070502/NEWS/105020047
Eagle County voters left no doubt Tuesday how they felt about a proposal to change their style of government. A ballot measure to switch from a statutory to "home rule" style of governing lost for the second time in seven months. In this election, the proposal failed by 355 votes, or 47.5 to 52.5 percent. The measure lost in last November's general election by a similar margin. Home rule proponents put the measure back before voters because they felt the issue was overshadowed on the crowded November ballot and that some county residents were confused about what home rule meant. Tuesday's outcome shows that voters weren't confused, acknowledged Jacque Whitsitt, a Basalt resident who helped lead the campaign in favor of the proposal. "It means people knew exactly what they were voting on," she said.
RELATED: Home rule defeated again
http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20070502/NEWS/70501034
Today’s complete Colorado news
Today’s complete daily news: http://media.progressnowaction.org/digest/050207.htm
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