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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DuckTapeSunroof who wrote (680694)	4/26/2005 9:01:55 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Vieques Trip Raises Rules Questions for House Democrats Two U.S. House Republicans Thursday called for Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to prove that a lobbying firm that represents Puerto Rico commonwealthers did not pay for a trip to Vieques, PR in 2001. The issue is significant because the future of Representative Tom DeLay (R-TX) as House Majority Leader is being widely questioned due to claims that a lobbyist had paid for some of his travel. House Rules prohibit House members from traveling at lobbyists’ expense. The questions about Pelosi’s trip by Reps. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) and Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) were raised after it was revealed that records showed lobbying firm Smith, Dawson, and Andrews paid for travel by Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH) and her husband on the same trip taken by Pelosi and four other House Democrats. Tubbs Jones is a member of the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, commonly known as the Ethics Committee, which considers such violations of House rules. A spokeswoman for Tubbs Jones said that the listing of Smith, Dawson as having paid for the trip was a "human error." She said that the trip was, instead, paid for Todo Puerto Rico con Vieques, a group that worked to close the Navy’s Vieques training range before May 1st, 2003, and that Smith, Dawson had only handled the arrangements. Jose Paralitici, who ran the group from his home, backed up Tubbs Jones’ claim. He also said that the more than $8,000 in a travel bills came from "a lot of donations." He earlier said that the expenses for Tubbs Jones and her husband alone were $3,366. Paralitici worked closely with then Governor Sila Calderon ("commonwealth" party/no national party) on the anti-range effort. Smith, Dawson, a Washington firm, includes as a Puerto Rico partner, Ramon Luis Lugo, a top "commonwealth" party strategist and lobbyist for "commonwealth" party administrations. Luis Lugo helped organize the Calderon Administration’s unsuccessful lobbying for the range to close earlier than May 1st, 2003. He had earlier helped now Governor Anibal Acevedo Vila organize right-wing opposition to the bill that passed the House in 1998 that would have enabled Puerto Ricans to choose the territory’s ultimate status. Pelosi and the others on the trip other than Tubbs Jones had reported that the travel was paid for by Paralitici’s group. The House Democratic leader, who has called for a full investigation into the allegations that a controversial lobbyist paid for travel by DeLay, refused to provide proof that Todo Puerto Rico con Vieques paid for her trip. DeLay has also asserted that his travel was paid for by a non-profit group and denied that it was paid for by the controversial lobbyist. Questions related to investigating the DeLay allegations have paralyzed the Ethics Committee this year. Unlike other committees, in which the majority party has the most seats, the Ethics Committee has an even number of members, even though a majority is needed to transact business. Republican changes to the committee’s rules, reportedly designed to protect DeLay, have prompted Democrats to refuse to conduct committee business. In a letter to Pelosi, Reps. McHenry and Westmoreland wrote, "If you are serious that the mere allegation that a lobbyist paid for member travel warrants a full ethics investigation, it would seem that a member disclosing it as a fact would more than warrant it . . . We would hope that you would come forward with any and all documentation your office has proving that in fact the group, Todo Puerto Rico con Vieques, initiated and paid for your trip. Ms. Jones’ disclosures that a lobbyist in fact paid for it and her subsequent statement that the lobbying firm handled the logistics has created an appearance the true source of the funds may not actually be Todo Puerto Rico con Vieques." Not raised yet is the question of whether the ultimate source of the funds was the Government of Puerto Rico. puertorico-herald.org

To: DuckTapeSunroof who wrote (680694)	4/26/2005 12:00:43 PM
From: JDN	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

IMHO in general the American populance is very leery of any kind of change, so I blame it on the poll using that word. If your read the Constitution my interpretation is that it says the President will nominate and the Senate will advise and consent. PERIOD. No talk of 60% majority or anything like that. The two parties are usually so evenly split I can envision a situation where NEITHER party could ever get say a Supreme Court judge elected if its gonna always take 60 or more votes. that would probably be a bad thing. All I ask for personally is that judges be constitutional in nature and not activist cause I am a big believer in THE PEOPLE and THEIR DIRECT REPRESENTATIVES MAKING LAW. jdn