by Frank James
A quick guided tour of some of the morning's most important or interesting (or both) Washington-related stories.
Senate Republicans increased the pressure on embattled Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho to resign, with the head of the Senate Republican re-election efforts saying that's what he would do if he were in Craig's plight.
The police officer who arrested Sen. Larry Craig in a Minneapolis airport restroom for allegedly soliciting a sexual act accused the senator of lying about the behavior that led to his arrest, according to a recording of the policeman's interview with the lawmaker.
President Bush will propose some relief for homeowners threatened by foreclosures, including having the Federal Home Administration expand eligibility for its insurance program to homeowners with bad credit records and urging creditors to refrain from some foreclosures.
The Iraqi police force should be remade completely to remove corrupt officers and Shiite militias that have infiltrated it, according to an independent panel due to deliver its conclusions to Congress next week.
An American-owned company based in Kuwait paid bribes to U.S. military officers responsible for letting $11 million contracts in Iraq, according to court documents in proceedings started by U.S. government.
Whoever eventually succeeds Attorney General Alberto Gonzales at the Justice Department will face tight budgets in the U.S. attorneys' offices which has resulted in reductions in criminal prosecutions in some places, unfilled vacancies and the inability of staffers to travel.
The Justice Department's inspector general told the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee the department is already investigating whether Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was truthful when he testified before Congress about the controversial firing of U.S. attorneys and the Bush Administration's warrantless surveillance activities.
According to Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign, Illinois's junior senator must win either the Iowa caucuses or the New Hampshire primary if he is to energize the African-American vote in important states like South Carolina where black voters are a major force.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has indicated a willingness to compromise with Republicans with doubts about the Iraq War in order to limit the president's options in terms of troop deployments.
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Comments
"Karsnia later told Craig he was "sitting here lying to a police officer," adding: "I expect this from the guy we get out of the 'hood. I mean people vote for you. Unbelievable."
Posted by: Doug Zook | August 31, 2007 9:07 AM
"Senate Republicans increased the pressure on embattled Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho to resign"
And at the same time, they gave a warm reception to Sen. Vitter (R-LA) after his visits with hookers was made public.
The moral of the story is: If you're going to cheat on your spouse and be a Republican politician - don't make it a homosexual affair.
Posted by: BC | August 31, 2007 9:45 AM
Hey Beanboy,aren't these some of those federal giveaways you despise?
WASHINGTON - Offering federal help for strapped mortgage holders, President Bush is proposing to aid hundreds of thousands of borrowers hard hit by the housing slump.
The president on Friday was to talk about several initiatives and reforms to help homeowners with risky mortgages keep their homes, a senior administration official said Thursday. Bush also was to discuss efforts to prevent these kinds of problems from arising in the future.
Posted by: Raving Loon | August 31, 2007 9:51 AM
OK Swampsters, I think we need a Friday pool to liven up the place.
Everyone needs to guess how many separate charges of media bias Bruce will make today.
Closest without going over wins.
In case of a tie, the tie breaker will be in how many of his posts on media bias will Bruce base his claim on someone having donated money to the Democratic Party?
My guess: 8 claims of bias, 2 of which are based on donations.
Posted by: Tony | August 31, 2007 9:58 AM
Tony,
Does that include the aliases RNC Bruce uses?
And does RNC Bruce's Pit Chihuahua John D. count?
Posted by: Rules Committee | August 31, 2007 10:24 AM
"So according to the MSM Norman Hsu just fell out of the apple tree in 2004?
He's named in a congressional investigation in 1998 laundering contributions and he was also involved with the indonesian family that was bribing Bill Clinton to protect their coal interests."
Gateway Pundit has uncovered the 1998 Congressional investigation into Chinese Communist government contributions to Bill Clinton. The report names Norm Hsu as being involved.
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2007/08/more-bum-news-for-hillary-hsu-named-in.html#links
This might answer where the mysterious Mr. Hsu obtained his millions of dollars to funnel to Democrats.
Posted by: Bruce | August 31, 2007 10:55 AM
RNC Bruce,
Now that you've got a story unfavorable to Democrats - do you fell all better?
Posted by: Doug Zook | August 31, 2007 11:03 AM
As I've been saying...there isn't going to be a choice on Iraq. The Democrats are caving right and left. Bush and Cheney have certainly taken the Democrats' measure. Say "soft on terrorism" and the Dems all run away squealing like scared piglets.
Dick Durbin says the surge is working. That's code for telling liberal Dems to back off on the war, even if it is costing $3 billion a month.
Harry Reid says he's willing to "compromise"
on troop withdrawals". That's code for the same thing. And Harry is also willing to allow the Prez
unlimited ability to wiretap us, read our mail, and so on.
Add in some more scripted violence in Iraq in Sepptember, courtesy of the corrupt and violence-loving Iraqis, and Bush and Cheney will have gotten what they want--an open-ended multi-trillion dollar US presence in Iraq for years to come, no matter who wins in November,
Bush/Cheney will yet walk off the stage laughing.
The laugh will be on the Democrats, win or lose.
Posted by: helena | August 31, 2007 11:31 AM
helena,
Please pursue that same winning strategy in '08 that you used in '06.
See you at President Obama's inauguration.
Posted by: Doug Zook | August 31, 2007 12:02 PM
And Harry is also willing to allow the Prez
unlimited ability to wiretap us, read our mail, and so on.
Add in some more scripted violence in Iraq in Sepptember
The first statement is just a blatant lie, go read the DNC website, helena. The second statement is also a lie. "Scripted" violence? I guess all those American men and women that are dying for no reason is just a figment of our imaginations. For their sake, I hope you don't have children.
Posted by: Mrs. Jesus | August 31, 2007 3:05 PM