The Thursday ‘BushWhack’ing

One day closer to the weekend...

• Sen. McCain skipped the vote on the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act yesterday (which republican senators blocked) and explained his opposition to the bill by saying that it “opens us up to lawsuits for all kinds of problems” and that instead of legislation that would allow women to fight for equal pay, they simply need “education and training.” (Wow, we can now add equal pay as yet another issue that McCain doesn’t know a damn thing about. That makes it how many now?)
• An article in ArmyTimes reports that Vermont soldiers who have completed their tours of duty in Iraq cannot get home because of flight delays caused in part by the recent bankruptcy of ATA Airlines… (Nice… heaven forbid the government try to come up with a way to get them home… but that would require using money for something OTHER than the war, and that’s just not done in this administration…)
• In the wake of a CBS News report earlier that revealed the head of the Department of Veterans Affairs deliberately withheld information about the suicide risk among veterans (which I wrote about HERE on Tuesday). Not surprisingly, some senators are pissed and are acting accordingly, with Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Daniel Akaka (D-HI) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) calling for the resignation of Dr. Ira Katz, the author of the emails that describe the VA’s knowledge of the suicide rate. (If Katz has a brain – a crapshoot after seeing his behavior regarding this issue – he would resign…)
• Weeks ago ABC News reported that “President” Bush’s most senior advisers approved the use of harsh interrogation tactics in 2002… a claim Bush himself confirmed to ABC when he said he had “approved” of the measures. Not only has the media ignored this story, no one in the White House press corps has asked about… until now. White House Press Corps mainstay Helen Thomas brought it up to WH spokesperson Dana Perino yesterday and not only too the administration to task, but her media colleagues as well when she acknowledged her colleagues’ absence on the story and, after her exchange with Perino, asked; “Where is everybody? For God’s sakes.” (Nice smackdown Helen… keep it up…)
• Sen. Clinton faces an uphill battle in North Carolina… though she now has some money to help. After starting the month of April in debt, her campaign is now saying that it’s on pace to raise $10 million in 24 hours…
• The White House says they have intelligence showing a Syria-North Korea nuclear link (Uh-oh… here we go again)
• The Union of Concerned Scientists questioned more nearly 1,600 EPA staff scientists and more than half say that they’ve been victims of political interference and pressure from superiors to skew their findings…
• And have we mentioned? That Iraq is going to “reap an even larger than expected windfall this year” with as much as $70 billion” possible in oil revenue? (Hmmmm… with oil prices well over $100 a barrel, couldn’t the US, gee, I don’t know… have Iraq “foot the bill,” or at least SOME of it, for rebuilding their nation? Just a thought…)