ATTACK OF THE GREENS: Seven liberal state attorneys general-including Eliot Spitzer, persecutor of crisis pregnancy centers in New York State-announced plans last week to sue the Bush Administration over its "failure" to regulate emissions of carbon dioxide from power plants. The AGs charged that the administration's current policy regarding CO2 emissions violates the federal Clean Air Act. Capitol Hill environmental experts say their case won't get far in court. In 1990, while adopting amendments to the Clean Air Act, Congress specifically rejected proposals to authorize the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate emissions of carbon dioxide.
CLEANING UP EDUCATION: Because of rampant corruption during the Clinton years, government workers stole more than $1.9 million in grant funds from the Department of Education, which they used to buy themselves real estate, a Lincoln Navigator, and a Cadillac Escalade. But now under Bush-appointed Education Secretary Rod Paige, the department is no longer being operated like a private money machine. For only the second time in its history-and the first time in recent memory-the department has received a "clean audit" from the General Accounting Office. Moreover, four of the alleged wrongdoers were arrested and indicted on federal charges for stealing the money, which was intended for South Dakota schools. Said Rep. Charlie Norwood (R.-Ga.), "The fact that the department has received a clean bill of financial health from an independent firm is very encouraging, and a good indication that Secretary Paige is on the right track."
AGAINST SODOMY: Concerned Women for America (CWA), the country's largest women's public policy organization, announced its support for long-standing state anti-sodomy laws, currently under attack from activist judges willing to overthrow centuries of English and American legal precedent, not to mention traditional morality. CWA filed an amicus curiae brief supporting Texas in its legal defense of its anti-sodomy law, now before the U.S. Supreme Court in Lawrence v. Texas. "Anyone who doubts how big this case is should check the list of amicus briefs listed on the Lambda Legal Defense website. There are 15 different groups who've filed briefs representing over 100 civil rights, political, legal, social, public health, mental health, international and religious organizations. . .," said Jan LaRue, CWA's chief counsel. "They're claiming that states have no right to enact moral laws and they want the court to reverse its 1986 ruling in Bowers v. Hardwick holding that there is no constitutional right to engage in homosexual sodomy. What Justice White said then is still true: To claim that homosexual sodomy is a fundamental constitutional right 'implicit in the concept of ordered liberty,' is 'at best facetious.'"
PALM SPRINGS WEEKENDS: That is the one of the earliest effects of the ban on "soft money," at least if you are part of the Republican National Committee. At the winter meeting of the RNC in Washington, D.C., committee members were informed that all future meetings would now be held in the Nation's Capital because, without soft money, the committee could not afford the travel costs for the staff and the more expensive hotels in cities that had formerly been meeting sites. In the past, the RNC has met in four-star hotels in such cities as Palm Springs, San Francisco and New York. Because soft money is now outlawed, members attended a cocktail party at the Washington conclave put on by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whose city will host the 2004 Republican National Convention. Another effect of the soft-money ban: National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Reynolds (N.Y.) publicly warned '04 candidates not to expect as much NRCC funding as in '02 because of the squeeze on the party treasury.
GOP EDGE: The soft-money ban may crimp the GOP's style, but forcing parties to compete with just hard money is causing nightmares for the Democrats. "[Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Jon] Corzine [N.J.] is as good as anyone [at fund-raising]," said Democratic political consultant Jim Margolis, "but if you look at the capacity of Republicans, it's just scary." According to a study conducted by Brigham Young University, national Republican committees raised $402 million in hard money to $220 million for their Democratic counterparts in the 2002 election cycle. In soft money, the same study showed the parties about equal: $250 million for the GOP, $246 million for the Democrats.
