Credibility Gap. Because the White House left out an important fact, the Bush Campaign faces a credibility gap. The Administration went to great details to dramatize the latest terror threat when they announced it Sunday. But failed to mention their warning was based on three year old terrorist plans. The Washington Post's Glenn Kessler offers analysis. (WashPost)
How Smart is this Intelligence Reform? President Bush -- who opposed the creation of a 9/11 Commission, then resisted testifying before it -- is quickly embracing some of its recommendations. He's going along with a new National Intelligence Director to coordinate America's 15 intelligence agencies. But the President wants to deny the new guy the power to hire and fire people and keep him from having any control over budgets. People in Congress, like Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) claim that's just window dressing. (WashPost)
The Pricet of Eternal Vigilance. New Jersey is spending $16,000 a day in overtime to guard the Holland Tunnel in the latest terror alert. The Capitol Police will spend $3 million a month in overtime. Then there are the city police forces in Washington, Newark, and New York. The price of eternal vigilance is costing city governments dearly. (NYT)
Goosing Gas Prices. The terror alert is making some Nellies nervous in the oil futures business. That could send your gas prices back above $2.00 a gallon.
Plane Expensive. 9/11 has shone the light on how many politicians are flying around the country on taxpayer supported planes. The numbers were hard to pin down before. But since 9/11, you have to get a waiver to fly into Washington-Reagan National Airport outside Washington. The New Republic reports that since 9/11, politicians have been granted 244 waivers to fly in on a corporate, private, or chartered plane.
The magazine reports flights by a handful of prominent politicians:
- Governor Mark Warner (D-VA) -- 46 times
- Governor Sonny Perdue (R-GA) -- 26 times
- Governor George Pataki (R-NY) -- 24 times
- Governor Jeb Bush (R-FL) -- 16 times
- Senator John Kerry (D-MA) -- 14 times
Operating a private plane can cost $600 to $2,000 an hour. It just seems cheaper to politicians if taxpayers are buying the gas. (New Republic)
Long Lines, Cramped Seats, and the President's Daughters. Not much better for us if politicians get involved with commercial flights. US Airways admits it diverted a regularly scheduled flight between Boston and Washington to pick up some stranded passengers in Albany, NY. Among the stranded passengers just happened to be the Bush twins. You'd have thunk they could have waited in the airport bar. (WRAL.com)
The Skyrocketing Costs of Spaceflight. President Bush wants to return Americans to the moon. We may have a tough time just returning Americans to space. The Shuttle fleet's been grounded for well over a year -- ever since the Challenger crash. Now, NASA estimates it'll take $900 million to get them into orbit again. (Omaha World-Herald)
Halliburton in a Controversial Money Deal, That's a First! Iraq has the second largest oil reserves in the world. So why is it importing oil? A new audit shows the Coalition Provisional Authority took $1.6 billion (with a "B") from the Iraqi treasury to pay a Halliburton subsidiary for that and some other work. (MSNBC)
Gifts for Those Who Govern. Saudia Arabia's leader, Crown Prince Abdullah gave $128,000 worth of fine jewelry to President Bush, the Bush family, and the President's top aides last year. The State Department is out with its list of gifts to government officials. It's in the Federal Register, along with all the other pricey presents. Be sure to look for Argentine President Nestor Kirchner's gift -- 300 pounds of raw lamb. Yum! (WashPost Third Item)
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