WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- Capital Comment -- Daily news notes, political rumors, and important events that shape politics and public policy in Washington and the world from United Press International.
Standing up to the filibuster...
The White House is weighing in against the Democrat's filibuster of President George W. Bush's nominee, Miguel Estrada, to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The Democrats object to the nomination on the grounds that Estrada has not been forthcoming enough in his views, so they do not know enough about him. They want the White House and the U.S. Department of Justice to release confidential memoranda written by Estrada during the years he worked in the office of the U.S. Solicitor General during the first Bush and Clinton administrations.
In a letter sent Wednesday to Sens. Tom Daschle, D-S.D. and Pat Leahy, D-Vt., the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales indicates the documents will not be forthcoming.
"Your requests have no persuasive support in the history and precedent of judicial appointments. Indeed, the relevant history and precedent convincingly demonstrate that a new and shifting standard is being applied to Miguel Estrada," Gonzales wrote.
The seven living former solicitors general -- four Democrats and three Republicans -- are on record as opposing the demand for the memos, saying to comply would "sacrifice and compromise the ability of the Justice Department to effectively represent the United States in court," Gonzales said in the letter.
According to the White House, neither party in the Senate has requested the type and scope of documents now being sought with regards to Estrada's confirmation of any of the 67 other appellate nominees who, since 1977, had worked in the Justice Department. "With respect," Gonzales says, "it appears that a double standard is being applied to Miguel Estrada."
Oink, oink, oink...
In an effort to finally set federal spending levels for fiscal year 2003, the Congress has fallen back on that tried and true approach, the Omnibus spending bill. And, as is usually the case, the bill, which passed Thursday night, was loaded up with pork barrel spending. Among the more outrageous items, Amtrak, the national passenger rail corporation, got $1 billion -- well above the $521 million the White House requested and more than the $762 million level set by the House in the budget process. Proponents say the $1 billion comes with reforms but opponents say they are vague and, essentially meaningless.
The bill also includes $150,000 in additional spending to fund the perks given to Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W. Va., after he was designated president pro-tem emeritus, an honor usually reserved for former vice presidents who, like Hubert Humphrey, return to the Senate. Byrd got the designation thanks to the efforts of Senate Democrat Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D.
Also included in the bill are thousands of "earmarks," spending approved for specific projects that usually have more to do with a lawmakers re-election needs or personal proclivities rather than anything else. Among the more notable earmarks are: $750,000 for the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.; $90,000 for the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in Ft. Worth, Texas; $350,000 for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio; and $725,000 for the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia.
Bringing home the bacon, frying it up in a pan...
March is National Women's History Month. First instituted in 1981 as women's history week -- to coincide with International Women's Day -- it was stretched out to a month in 1987. The bureau has compiled a list of facts about women in the workforce and in society to mark the occasion.
The percentage of women, the bureau says, age 25 and over who have attained at least a high school diploma is, at 84 percent, slightly higher then men in the same age cohort.
Among the voting-age population, women have cast ballots at a higher rate than men in every presidential election since Ronald Reagan was re-elected in 1984. In the 2000, 61 percent of women over 18 and U.S. citizens cast a ballot in the Bush v. Gore contest compared to 58 percent of their male counterparts.
The bureau also says the number of single mothers is now 10 million, up from 3 million in 1970. Census data says that close to 26 percent of all parent-child situations consist of a single mother and at least one child, more than double the 12 percent in 1970.
Personnel notes...
The president intends to nominate Montanan Harry Haines to be a judge of the United States Tax Court for a 15-year term. Haines is currently a partner at the law firm of Worden Thane & Haines... Influential GOP lobbyist Judy Black, a veteran of the Reagan White House as well as several corporate and K Street ventures, moves over to the law firm of Brownstein Hyatt & Farber... P.R. veteran Jim Jennings, a top staffer at America's Promise, the pro-volunteerism group founded by Secretary of State Colin Powell, has taken over as the chief operating office of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation... Honeywell, the New Jersey conglomerate, has hired Bush White House legislative affairs veteran Christine Ciccone as its new vice president for government relations...
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