NO MOORE AWARDS: Fahrenheit 9/11, the Bush-bashing film directed by Michael Moore, was nominated for a grand total of zero Academy Awards last week. Moore took himself out of the running for the top "documentary" Oscar when he aired Fahrenheit 9/11 on pay-per-view television the night before last November's presidential election. (The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences disqualifies entries that air so soon on television after their release.) "My feeling is to always go with the greater good," Moore told the Flint (Mich.) Journal. "I already have a documentary Oscar, and it's been a great year for documentaries, so let somebody else have it." Despite taking a pass on the documentary prize, Moore was technically still in the running for the best picture award. No such luck there either. However, there's no need to feel sorry for Moore. Earlier this month, Fahrenheit 9/11 was named the best movie at the People's Choice Awards, and last May, Moore took the top prize for his "documentary" at the Cannes International Film Festival. (Lest anyone forget that in 2003 he won best "documentary" for his anti-gun rant Bowling for Columbine.)
EDUCATING ILLEGAL ALIENS: Colorado would become the ninth state to offer in-state tuition to illegal aliens if Democrats in the state House and Senate get their way. Colorado Rep. Val Vigil (D.) has revived a measure that Republicans helped kill the past two years. But this year, with Democrats in control of the legislature, it might be up to Gov. Bill Owens (R.) to veto the bill if it reaches his desk. A spokesman for Owens told the Rocky Mountain News the governor was concerned about last year's version, but was willing to consider revisions made by Vigil, including a ban on out-of-state students receiving in-state tuition rates after living in the state for only one year. Owens will have to answer to U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R.-Colo.) if he seriously considers Vigil's bill. Tancredo, an outspoken conservative foe of illegal immigration, wrote to Owens, advising him that federal law would require Colorado to offer out-of-state students in-state rates if he gave illegal aliens a tuition break. "Our priority ought to be educating Colorado's kids," Tancredo said, "not asking state taxpayers to foot the higher education bills of illegal aliens and people from out-of-state." Eight states offer illegal aliens in-state tuition, including California, Illinois, Kansas, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Washington.
OPERATION ELEPHANT TAKE-OVER: Milwaukee County District Attorney E. Michael McCann filed felony charges against five Democratic Party employees who slashed tires on 25 vehicles that the Republican Party of Wisconsin had planned to use for its get-out-the-vote campaign last November. "Make no mistake, this was an act of political sabotage-a coordinated effort by paid Democrat workers to disrupt the political process and prevent Republicans from getting to the polls," state GOP Chairman Rick Graber said. "It is especially interesting to note that, according to the criminal complaint, those charged made detailed plans to vandalize Republican headquarters and even gave their project a name-'Operation Elephant Takeover.'" Graber said two of the individuals charged were the sons of U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore and former Milwaukee Mayor Marvin Pratt. The plaintiffs face up to three-and-a-half years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000. "It is extremely troubling to see the depths to which the Democrat Party will sink to disrupt the political process through criminal means," Graber said, "all in an effort to prop up the Democrats' flailing candidates and floundering agenda." President Bush came within 11,814 votes of beating Sen. John Kerry (D.-Mass.) in Wisconsin.
CAR-TAX RELIEF: Republican leaders in Virginia's House of Delegates set themselves on a collision course with Democrat Gov. Mark Warner over the state's popular car-tax relief program that lawmakers temporarily froze in a wake of a budget deficit last year. With more money than expected filling the state's coffers thanks to the tax increase Warner signed in 2004, Republican delegates are itching to complete the phase-out of the car tax, which has been in the works since 1998. Speaker William J. Howell (R.) and Appropriations Chairman Vincent F. Callahan, Jr. (R.) pitched the idea last week in hopes of shaping the agenda for 2005-and making the car tax an issue in the gubernatorial election in November. The two likely candidates-state Atty. Gen. Jerry Kilgore (R.) and Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine (D.)-offered little indication of where they stand on the House proposal. But the idea of car-tax relief has been a popular one with Virginians. Former Gov. Jim Gilmore rode it to an easy victory in 1997, and then, two years later, Republicans won the state House and Senate.
