When the spin is stripped away

McCain stands by Bush at GOP conference

USA Today - Mar 14 12:50 PM
Listening to Arizona Sen. John McCain at The Southern Republican Leadership Conference you'd never suspect that he and President Bush once were rivals for the presidential nomination or that Bush is in a trough and having trouble keeping fellow Republicans by his side.

Ex-Enron Analyst Backs Fastow Testimony

By KRISTEN HAYS, AP Business Writer
Tue Mar 14, 3:37 PM ET

HOUSTON - A former Enron investment analyst on Tuesday corroborated testimony from a key prosecution witness that the company improperly used partnerships to help its earnings seem better than they were.

But Chris Loehr, who worked for partnerships run by former Enron Corp. Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow, could not directly link ex-CEO Jeffrey Skilling to the deals because his contact with the company's top echelon didn't stretch that far.

more...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060314/ap_on_bi_ge/enron_trial

Posted on Tue, Mar. 14, 2006

Four Georgia Republicans pleased with the progress in Iraq

ELLIOTT MINOR
Associated Press

ALBANY, Ga. - Morale is high among the Georgia National Guard members wrapping up a deadly, one-year tour in Iraq and they can return home proudly, knowing that they played an important role in shaping the new Iraq, four Republican members of the state's congressional delegation said Tuesday.

Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson and Reps. John Linder and Phil Gingrey made that assessment soon after their return from a five-day visit to the Middle East. They accompanied Maj. Gen. David Poythress, the state's adjutant general and commander of the Georgia Army and Air National Guard.

The delegation visited members of the Georgia Guard's 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, which has units from 30 Georgia communities, and then headed to Dubai to discuss the failed plan for Dubai Ports World, a company owned by the United Arab Emirates, to manage six U.S. ports. The controversy was a major embarrassment for the Bush administration, and the company eventually withdrew its bid.

more...

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/14097726.htm

Republicans In the House Vote Against Securing America's Ports

Republicans Killed A Vote On An Amendment That Would Have Added $250 Million For Port Security Grants. Republicans killed the vote on the Obey, D-Wis., amendment that would add $2.5 billion for homeland security, including $800 million for first responder grants, $250 million for port security grants, and $150 million for research to develop capabilities against chemical weapons. NOTE: Every Republican present voted to kill this amendment. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2003/roll104.xml

Republicans Voted Against $400 million Increase in Port Security. In 2005, Republicans voted against an alternative Homeland Security Authorization proposal that would commit $41 billion to securing the nation from terrorist threats - $6.9 billion more than the President's budget. The proposal called for an additional $400 million in funding for port security, including $13 million to double the number of new overseas port inspectors provided for in the President's budget. The proposal addressed the holes in securing the nation's ports by requiring DHS to develop container security standards, integrate container security pilot projects, and examine ways to integrate container inspection equipment and data. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll187.xml

Republicans In The Senate Vote Against Securing America's Ports

Republicans Voted Against Restoring Homeland Security Funding For Ports. In 2005, Washington Republicans voted against an amendment to protect the American people from terrorist attacks by restoring $565 million in cuts to vital first-responder programs in the Department of Homeland Security, including the State Homeland Security Grant program, by providing $150 million for port security grants and by providing $140 million for 1,000 new border patrol agents.< S.Amdt. 220 to S.Con.Res. 18>

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00064

Republicans Voted Against $150 Million In Additional Funding For Port Security. In September 2004, Republicans voted against a bill which would appropriate an additional $150,000,000 for port security research and development grants. (S.Amdt. 3580 to H.R. 4567)

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=108&session=2&vote=00166

SEC Issues Subpoena To Frist, Sources Say
Records Sought On Sale of Stock

By Carrie Johnson and Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, October 13, 2005; Page A01

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) has been subpoenaed to turn over personal records and documents as federal authorities step up a probe of his July sales of HCA Inc. stock, according to sources familiar with the investigation.

The Securities and Exchange Commission issued the subpoena within the past two weeks, after initial reports that Frist, the Senate's top Republican official, was under scrutiny by the agency and the Justice Department for possible violations of insider trading laws.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/12/AR2005101202286.html