The Wednesday BushWhacking

The week is halfway done… the presidential race; not so much.

• Happy 43rd Birthday to Medicare…
• Sen. Ted Stevens (r-AK) was indicted yesterday on seven criminal counts. Stevens released a statement that said in part; “I have temporarily relinquished my vice-chairmanship and ranking positions until I am absolved of these charges.” (Um… Ted, I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you…)
• Memo to Sen. McCain; 1980 called… it wants its talking points back
• Breakthrough CNN headline says that McCain and Obama have ties to lobbyists… that’s some nice investigative journalism there Lou, we didn’t know that.
• Backpedaling on his prior plan to veto the bill, “President” Bush signed the housing rescue law that has two primary objectives of offering affordable government-backed mortgages to homeowners at risk of foreclosure, and bolstering mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with a temporary rescue plan and, in time, a stricter regulator. (This is good news… hopefully it works and doesn’t get bogged down in red tape)
• Deemed the ‘Sole Survivor policy’, the US Military allows sole surviving siblings to be discharged before the end of their enlistment. But those that got the release found themselves losing benefits they would have otherwise been entitled to like health coverage, access to the GI Bill and, sometimes, being asked to repay some or all of their enlistment bonus. That has now changed after the House passed the Hubbard Act that restores benefits to military sole survivors (It’s mind boggling that the Army would have a policy allowing sole survivors to leave the service but would then turn around and take away their benefits… the House deserves some accolades for passing this bill.)
• You should have known it was only a matter of time before someone started pressuring EPA head Stephen Johnson to resign… well, that time has come as Senate Democrats are calling for him to resign while also asking the DOJ to launch an investigation. Naturally the White House is thumbing its noses at the request with spokesman Tony Fratto claiming that “Boxer has 'no standing' to question Johnson's integrity.” (It’s no secret that the EPA has become politicized under Johnson… the fact that it’s been allowed to go on this long is the sadder part of this story. And seeing as how this administration likes to protect their cronies, expect the White House to start demonizing Senate Democrats very, very soon…)
• And have we mentioned? That Michael Shear & Dan Balz at the Washington Post nailed it? Writing about McCain’s pathetic attempt to smear Obama for not visiting wounded soldiers, the duo write; “For four days, Sen. John McCain and his allies have accused Sen. Barack Obama of snubbing wounded soldiers by canceling a visit to a military hospital because he could not take reporters with him, despite no evidence that the charge is true.” (Thanks guys, too bad the rest of the MSM is ignoring it)