Turning the Investigation Around

Policing the Cops. Lawmakers are calling for an investigation of the investigators. They're upset about reports I mentioned earlier this week that FBI guys were questioning protestors from past events about their plans for the Republican National Convention. (NYT)

Play Nice and We'll Comp You. New York is offering perks -- like Broadway tickets -- to protestors who promise to be nice during the RNC. Protestors have to stay somewhere, eat somewhere, and so on. Cities learned a long time ago that protestors can mean as much business for city businesses as the conventioneers. (USA Today)

About Face. The Army first said it would not pay Halliburton for overcharging to the military for feeding soldiers. Then Tuesday, the Army announced it'd withhold 15% of payments to Halliburton. After that made headlines, the Army retreated, now saying it'll pay the full amount until the billing dispute is worked out. Halliburton has made $4.3 billion through its logistics contract in Iraq. (NYT)

Hey, FDA! Take Take a Chill Pill. Illinois has become the first state to help people buy prescription drugs from outside the US. America has the most expensive prescription drug prices in the world. The FDA opposes importing drugs that were made here then exported to other countries. They say they can't vouch for their safety. Mind you, the pills are made int the USA under FDA approval. Then they're shipped overseas. So either the FDA is saying you can't trust them to guarantee the quality of drugs the US exports. And since they all come off the same assembly lines, perhaps the FDA really means you can't trust them to guarantee the quality of all drugs made here. (WashPost)

If We Don't, the Lobbyists Will Have Already Won. The 9/11 Commission wants hard deadlines to force reforms into place. Three years after 9/11, they report some procedures are no different than on September 10, 2001. Special interests have been delaying some reforms. It'd cost close to $1 billion to patch holes in airline security. Lobbyists are surely aghast that a Washington Commission is suddenly more worried about Americans' safety than special interests' profits. (WashPost)

Talk About Your Information Superhighway. Starting in November, trucks crossing US borders must have an electronic manifest e-mailed to the border checkpoint at least 30 minutes before they get there. Let's see, 18-wheelers, tight schedules, and e-mail. And you thought talking on cell phones while driving was a problem. (USA Today)

Ronald Reagan Must Be Spinning in his Grave. The Great Communicator was also a great negotiator. He talked down Soviet arms build-ups, but he did it from a position of strength. Now, as the US negotiates with North Korea to get rid of its WMDs, President Bush has decided to cut troop strength in South Korea by a third. It's part of his redeployment plan. That's not a trade with North Korea. We get nothing for it, except a weaker position at the bargaining table. (WashPost --Opinion)

Charter Schools Flunk. The Bush administration heralded them as the fix for failing public schools. Private companies, groups, or governments outside the school system would run charter schools. But in the first report of test scores, charter schools lagged behind public schools. Surprisingly [sarcasm mode enabled], the results were buried in an Education Department report and released without comment. (NYT)

SAIEWDNBIFSWHTUTAAWTTTSTCOTFW. The Washington Post explains that acronym as they celebrate the return of Bushisms. As our President would say -- or actually did say in Oregon, "I hope you leave here and walk out and say, 'What did he say?' " (WashPost)