"Working Retirement" Doesn't Work with the Fact Checkers

MoveOn.org is running an ad in some Congressional districts that falsely claims the Bush administration Social Security reform plan would cut benefits by 46%. FactCheck.org is back in business as the public debate over Social Security turns to TV ads. (FactCheck.org)

Rejecting the Slam Dunk

Then-CIA Director George Tenent called the likelihood of Saddam possessing WMD's "a slam dunk" on the eve of the invasion. The CIA has blown a whistle on that play -- two years later. The CIA -- convinced that Iraq posed an imminent chemical weapons threat on the eve of the Iraq War -- has issued a correction. The spy shop has issued a classified report concluding Saddam abandoned his chemical weapons programs in 1991. It's the first time the CIA has disavowed his pre-war notions. But Mr Tenent will apparently get to keep his Medal of Freedom. (LAT)

Vacating the Pentagon

New security requirements at the Pentagon will force 50,000 workers into new office space. The Pentagon is the world's largest government office building. But the DoD will have to come up with a lot more space for the 50,000 people they displace because of an anti-terrorism directive. The DoD already leases or owns half the commercial real estate in Arlington County, Virginia. (Washington Examiner)

It Worked So Well Before

The chairman of the House Aviation Subcommittee wants to privatize the Transportation Security Administration -- those folks who screen passengers at airports. The federal government formed the TSA and took over baggage and passenger screening after private security failed to catch the 19 9/11 hijackers. (USA Today)

NIH Curing Conflicts of Interest

All staff scientists at the National Institutes of Health will be banned from accepting any income from drug companies. They'll also have to divest industry stock holdings. The changes halt lucrative deals that scientists have been able to forge over the last decade. The idea was to attract the best talent to the NIH, but it led to conflict of interest investigations instead. Some scientists worked for drug companies that directly benefited from their reccomendations. (LAT)

Abstinence Programs Failing in Texas

A new study reTexas high school students became more sexually active after taking abstinence-only sex education. Texas A&M researchers conducted the study. They don't think the programs encouraged sex -- but that the messages in the classes didn't interfere with customary trends among teenagers. (ABC)

Your Tax Dollars Paying for Viagra

The $400 billion Medicaid prescription drug plan won't just cover "life-saving" drugs -- but "lifestyle" drugs, too. Add Viagra to the list of drugs Uncle Sam will pay for. Clinical experts say the plan simply follows commercial insurance coverage. The Department of Veterans Affairs limits patients to just four Viagra or similar tablets a month. They also get a price break for the 151,000 VA patients taking Viagra. The VA pays $4.68 a pill -- compared to a regular $9.00. It's unclear what it will cost Medicaid for anti-impotency pills -- but 22% of Viagra's market is men over 60. (LAT)

If It Works for Wal-Mart...

States are buying prescription drugs in bulk to get better prices -- driving down their health care costs. And there are lots of state plans where Governors are looking beyond their borders to control the costs within them. Wisconsin's bulk bargining plan saved taxpayers $25 million. (Stateline.org)

Social Security Blowback

There's increasing talk that Social Security reform could be President Bush's "Hillarycare." The New York Times offers its analysis of why that could happen. (New York Times)

Burning Issue at the Fire House

Fire departments all over the country face cutbacks. But saving money is costing lives. A series in the Boston Globe shows that fire stations are closing in cities around the US -- taking firefighters longer to get to fires. The series also looks at the reasons behind the cuts. There's also a database with information on 20,000 fire departments around the country. (Boston Globe)

The Governator's Lawyer Bills

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has run up more than $500,000 in legal bills defending himself and his campaign from libel cases -- all stemming from the groping charges. Considering the Governor's former profession, a half million dollars comes to about the first 3 minutes, 15 seconds of The Last Action Hero. (MSNBC)

The Cost of War

The total number of Americans service men and women killed in the Iraq War stands at 1,415 -- 1,089 in hostile actions. (WashPost)

Coming up Short with Halliburton

Washington didn't budget enough money to pay Halliburton for its services in Iraq -- at least according to Halliburton's bean counters. Halliburton says it'll cost $4 billion more than $3.6 billion the Army put aside to pay the company. The Army has paid Halliburton $9.8 billion since the Iraq War began. Halliburton says it should have been paid $16 billion. Military auditors have clashed with Halliburton for more than a year now over price. The auditors complain that Halliburton has been slow in accounting for what it's spent in Iraq. (ABC)

Today in Congress

Here's what's going on in Congress today. Use the links at the right to write your Hired Hands on the Hill with your ideas. (WashPost)

Better Benefits for Soldiers' Survivors

Congress is likely to welcome a Bush administration plan to raise the death benefits for troops killed in action. Right now, his family recieves only $12,420. The new plan would raise it to $100,000 with an extra $150,000 in life insurance. And the plan would be retroactive to October, 2001 -- covering all military people killed in the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars. The plan follows a similar effort for National Guard in New Mexico that Governor Bill Richardson (D) unveiled in his state of the state speech. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Social Security More Secure Than Thought

The Congressional Budget Office says Social Security is in better shape than expected. Their new estimates show revenue will exceed spending until 2020 -- two years later than earlier estimates. The CBO also figures the Social Security trust fund will be around until 2058 -- if nothing's done. Earlier reports predicted they'd run out 16 years earlier. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Burning Issue over LNG

Bipartisan members of a pair of House committees want the GAO to find out how vulnerable oil and liquified natural gas (LNG) tankers and terminals are to terrorist attack. The request comes as energy companies plan construction on more than two dozen new LNG terminals around the country. Sandia Labs has run tests showing an attack on an LNG tanker could create a fire so intense it would blister people a half mile away. (Reuters)