Experts don't find issue with policy czars
WASHINGTON, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- U.S. President Obama's use of policy "czars" is legal, provided the advisers don't overreach their authority, constitutional experts said at a Senate hearing.
Congressional members from both sides of the aisle have complained about Obama's use of the appointed czars to coordinate departments on issues such as the environment and healthcare. They have sent letters to the White House saying they think appointing the such high-level advisers skirts the Senate's confirmation process as outlined in the Constitution.
But five constitutional experts testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on the Constitution Tuesday concluded the president has the right to appoint independent advisers, the Los Angeles Times reported.
"The president's personal staff are independently responsible only to the president -- and in the end he is the only czar that is," said Bradley H. Patterson, a presidential scholar. "And he is accountable to the American electorate."
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, among the lawmakers questioning the czars, said in a statement the issue was not dead. The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, where she is the ranking GOP member, scheduled a similar hearing next week.
"The appointments of so many czars have muddied the waters, causing confusion and risking miscommunication going forward," Collins said.
Poll indicates tight midterm races
PRINCETON, N.J., Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Republicans and Democrats virtually are tied in congressional ballot preferences of U.S. voters, a Gallup Poll released Wednesday indicated.
Forty-six percent of registered voters asked say they would vote for the Democrat and 44 percent said the GOP was their choice when asked which party's candidate they would support for Congress if the election were held today, results indicated.
U.S. midterm elections are Nov. 2, 2010.
The Democratic Party held a 50 percent-to-44 percent advantage over Republicans in July, Gallup said, adding that both polls indicate a more competitive political environment since before the Democrats regained control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2006 midterm elections.
The Republican Party's relatively strong showing in the October poll flows from support of political independents, who now favor Republican candidates, 45 percent to 36 percent, the Princeton, N.J., polling agency said.
Gallup's congressional job approval rating showed 21 percent of responents approve and 72 percent disapprove. Approval of Congress's performance was low across all three partisan groups.
Results are based on nationwide telephone interviews with 1,013 adults conducted Thursday through Sunday. The margin of error is 4 percentage points.
Senate OKs $625 billion defense budget
WASHINGTON, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- The U.S. Senate approved a $625.6 billion Pentagon budget that includes $128.6 billion for U.S. military operations overseas.
In a meeting with key lawmakers before the Senate's 93-7 vote, President Barack Obama warned that annual costs would approach $1 billion for every 1,000 troops added, and that Afghanistan is driving military spending more toward meeting immediate needs of soldiers and Marines in the field, Politico reported.
The Senate's vote Tuesday came the same day as a House-Senate conference committee reached agreement on a companion authorization bill that includes controversial funding for an alternative fighter jet engine Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he didn't want included, the Washington publication said.
On the floor, senators debated defense contracts and spending earmarks for private companies.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., proposed the Senate adopt tougher House standards, mandating "full and open competition" for spending items intended for a for-profit entity, Politico said. Senators approved a proposal offered by Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, that any earmarks be subjected to the same procedures as the administration's contracts, many of which are sole-sourced without full competition.
Schwarzenegger issues mass veto threat
SACRAMENTO, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is threatening mass vetoes if the Legislature doesn't agree on upgrading the state's water system, lawmakers say.
Among the 700 measures that could wind up in the trash bin under Schwarzenegger's threatened mass veto include bills to increase war veterans' benefits, extra funding to low-performing schools and protections against predatory mortgage lending, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.
Assembly Democrats told the newspaper they have been informed by legislative leaders that the governor had threatened to veto all the bills if no water deal was reached. The governor faces a Sunday deadline to either sign or veto the pending measures.
Analysts said Schwarzenegger, with a bit more than a year left in office, is playing a game of "chicken" in a move to establish a legacy.
"He's a guy who swings for the fences on everything," Thad Kousser, a University of California-San Diego political scientist told the Times. "But when there's no money, he has little personal popularity and his relationships with the Legislature are poor, it's hard to find a legacy."
Arabs say Israel damaging Temple Mount
JERUSALEM, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Members of the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee and Arab Knesset members touring the Temple Mount accused Israel of excavating underneath the holy site.
Delegates also criticized the way Israeli police and the government handled the recent wave of violence in Jerusalem.
During a tour of the Temple Mount Wednesday, Sheik Kamal Rayan, head of the Islamic al-Aqsa Association said the delegation wants to know exactly where the excavations are taking place and why Israel is keeping them secret, Ynetnews.com said.
"The Jews are laying the groundwork and are building synagogues around the mosque and we are kept in the dark and are prevented from entering al-Aqsa," the Web site quoted Rayan saying.
He urged Israel to exercise transparency and prove "our mosque is in no danger," the Web site said.
The officials also blamed Israel for the recent outbreak of violence on the Temple Mount and the clashes between Muslim worshippers and Israeli security forces, the Maariv newspaper said..
Arab Knesset member Taleb A-Sana said the government's treatment of the events "delivers a negative message and proves it has declared war against worshippers praying at al-Aqsa," Maariv reported him saying.
Jerusalem mufti Sheik Mohammed Hussein harshly criticized a decision by Israel Police to restrict the number of Muslim worshippers praying at the Temple Mount in an effort to suppress the violence. "The Israeli occupation showed its true face," the newspaper quoted him saying.
Knesset member Ahmed Tibi said the violent events were the result of attempts by Israel to "judaize" Jerusalem, and evict Arabs from their homes. Tibi also accused Israel of planning to change the status quo on the Temple Mount, Ynetnews.com said
Japan braces for Typhoon Melor
TOKYO, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Japan is bracing for the arrival of Typhoon Melor, expected to be the first tropical cyclone to make landfall in Japan in two years, weather forecasters say.
In anticipation of the typhoon's arrival airlines canceled more than 240 flights Wednesday and planned another 260 cancellations Thursday, Kyodo News reports.
Japan's Meteorological Agency says the season's 18th typhoon is likely to make landfall in or around Kii Peninsula in western Japan on Thursday and travel northward across Honshu Island Friday.
"It is expected to take a quite dangerous course that will require caution across Japan," said Akira Murakami, a senior weather forecaster for the agency.
The agency warns that the typhoon could bring strong winds, high waves and heavy rain to western and eastern Japan, Mainichi Shimbun reported.
The last typhoon to make landfall in Japan was in September 2007.
