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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lazarus_Long who wrote (32093)	2/28/2004 3:07:13 AM
From: D. Long	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793639

Exactly! So how then can there be "free will"? It isn't determined, it is probable. But because the omniscient being has perfect knowledge, the probable is most certain. He knows which path you will most likely choose. I'm don't remember a term in the uncertainty principle equations that let God peek Ahh, but he is outside the laws of physics. Omnipotent, remember? I'm pulling all this out my ass, of course. :) Derek

To: Lazarus_Long who wrote (32093)	2/28/2004 3:27:29 AM
From: zonkie	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793639

Here's some good news for supporters of the president. He finally was able to talk Hastert into going along with the 2 month extension for the "independent" panel investigating the 911 attacks. Everyone knows how hard he has been pushing Hastert for this and now McClellen will be able to say the president got his way. Next step is to get Junior to agree to meet with the full panel and not for just one hour. I'm sure Junior will agree to this because he wants everyone to know exactly what happened, doesn't he? ____________________ Hastert agrees to extension for Sept. 11 commission WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Dennis Hastert agreed Friday to give the independent panel investigating the Sept. 11 attacks an extra two months to finish its report, clearing the way for Congress to approve that extension. Hastert's decision could resolve a dispute that has held up action on an unrelated highway bill. Hastert, R-Ill., in a letter to the two chairmen of the commission, former New Jersey Republican Gov. Thomas H. Kean and former Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind., acknowledged that he had been "reluctant to support this extension" because of the need for Congress to move quickly on the findings of the report. Hastert's spokesman, John Feehery, said the speaker would meet with Kean and Hamilton next week to discuss the future of the commission. President Bush supports the extension and the Senate earlier Friday passed on a voice vote a Senate Intelligence Committee bill including the two-month extension. However, Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., who have led efforts to prolong the life of the commission, have demanded a guarantee that the House would act by next week on that Senate bill. Until receiving that guarantee, they have held up a vote on a highway bill needed to prevent the furlough on Monday of some 5,000 federal workers and a cutoff of highway money. Hastert's letter did not indicate when the House would act on the extension. It noted that under current law the commission, established by Congress to investigate the nation's preparedness for and response to the Sept. 11 attacks, does not go out of existence until July 26, but does have a May 27 deadline for filing its report. He said he was prepared to support legislation that would give the panel an extra 60 days to file that report. Kristen Breitwesier of New Jersey, whose husband Ronald died in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11., said Hastert's offer was "a step in the right direction," but expressed concern that the commission would still cease to exist on July 26. "I'm concerned that by not having the wrap-up time to lobby and testify as to their recommendations, the whole point of the investigation is not going to be brought to fruition to institute change," she said. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush aides had been in contact with Hastert's office throughout the week to make clear the president's support for an extension. Hastert informed the White House of his change of heart before he announced it. "We are pleased that everybody seems to support an extension," McClellan said. There was no immediate response from McCain and Lieberman, who had wanted an extra two months both to write the report and to close down the commission. "We don't live in ordinary times," Lieberman said earlier in explaining why they were using the highway bill as leverage to get the commission extension. The inconvenience of the temporary disruption of highway programs would "pale in significance to not giving the commission the extra time it needs," he said. McCain and Lieberman said the extension was needed because the administration has not fully cooperated with the commission, established by Congress to study the nation's preparedness for and response to the Sept. 11 attacks. McClellan said the White House has provided more than 2 million pages of documents to the panel and is "cooperating closely and in an unprecedented way." He said President Bush plans to meet privately with commission leaders and supports the two-month extension. Being held hostage is a highway bill that would also extend for two months the federal highway and public transit bill, which is set to expire on Sunday. Without passage, nearly 5,000 Transportation Department workers would be furloughed on Monday, Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta said. "It could halt the flow of federal dollars to hundreds of highway construction projects now underway across America," he said. "It could delay federal approval of new projects. And it could slow the ability of states to make debt payments." Department spokesman Robert Johnson said affected departments are the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Kean, also expressed the need to move urgently on extending his work. "Every week that goes by, the extension is worth less to us. It means certain research we're planning to do won't get done, and certain trails we won't be able to follow. Some of our conclusions won't be as informed." The House and Senate are now trying to work out differences on a major new highway bill that would outline spending over the next six years. The Senate recently approved a $318 billion bill, which the White House has threatened to veto, saying it shouldn't go above the president's $256 billion proposal. usatoday.com