Progress Report: Bush's Proxy Vote?

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Tue, 11 Oct 2005 07:42:34 -0700

Progress Report: Bush's Proxy Vote?

" American Progress Action Fund "

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AMERICAN PROGRESS ACTION FUND

The Progress Report

by Judd Legum, Faiz Shakir, Nico Pitney

Amanda Terkel, Payson Schwin, and Christy Harvey

 

 

www.progressreport.org

10/11/2005

 

For news and updates throughout the day, check out our new blog at

ThinkProgress.org.

 

SUPREME COURT

Bush's Proxy Vote?

 

The nomination of Harriet Miers to be the next associate justice on

the Supreme Court is engendering much criticism from the right as a

result of her lack of experience as a jurist and her unknown views on

many key social issues. But in an effort to assuage those concerns,

some right-wing leaders have voiced support for Miers by employing the

argument that she will in essence be President Bush's proxy vote on

the Supreme Court. Dr. Richard Land, an influential evangelical

minister, commenting on NBC's Meet the Press last weekend, said that

Miers will " vote the way [bush] would want her to vote. " In a

conference call arranged by the White House, Land told participants,

" If Harriet Miers didn't rule the way George W. Bush thought she

would, he would see that as an act of betrayal and so would she. "

Land's comments may shed some light on statements made by another

evangelical leader, James Dobson, who said he supported Miers after he

spoke with Karl Rove and was told things he " probably shouldn't know. "

The rhetoric from pro-Miers conservatives gives rise to a very real

concern that Harriet Miers may not be an independent voice on the

Supreme Court.

 

MIERS'S CONFLICT OF INTEREST PROBLEM: One important concern about the

Miers nomination is that she will be forced to recuse herself from

many cases that would come before the Court due to her participation

in controversial issues during her tenure in the White House. One

conservative political consultant concerned about the recusal issue

said, " I don't see how she survives the confirmation hearings. " He

added that Miers is " one of the five or six people in this

administration who get in the middle of every decision and has been

since the get-go. " The recusal standard is laid out in title 28,

chapter 21, section 455 of the United States Code. Section 455(b)(3)

clearly states that a justice " shall recuse " himself/herself in cases

" where he has served in government employment and in such capacity

participated as counsel, adviser or material witness concerning the

proceeding or expressed an opinion concerning the merits of the

particular case in controversy. "

MIERS CONFLICTED ON NUMEROUS ISSUES: According to talking points

distributed by White House allies, Miers was " heavily involved in the

war on terror. " Former White House political director Ken Mehlman

emphasized that Miers would " not interfere with the administration's

management of the war on terrorism. " Miers was also part of the

" administration's legal team when it developed both the Patriot Act

and the detention policy for suspected terrorists. " Miers's

participation in these controversial issues that may come before the

Court, coupled with the concern that she will be Bush's proxy vote,

has led some experts to argue her nomination should be rejected unless

she can " show that she will not have to recuse herself in vital

war-related cases. " The recusal standard may force her to disqualify

herself from a much wider range of cases. For example, on the current

Supreme Court docket, there is a phsyician-assisted suicide case that

has as one of its named parties Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, a

former colleague of Miers in the White House. If Miers commented on

the case at any point, or if she worked with the Department of Justice

on the issue, she would be forced to recuse herself.

TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT: " You are the best governor ever - deserving of

great respect, " Harriet Miers wrote to George W. Bush days after his

51st birthday in July 1997. She said Bush was " cool " and that he and

Laura were " the greatest! " She told then-Gov. Bush, " All I hear is how

great you and Laura are doing, " and said, " Texas is blessed. " Miers's

fawning over Bush only increased over time. Former Bush speechwriter

David Frum said Miers once told her " that the president was the most

brilliant man she had ever met. " Such obvious loyalty towards Bush

creates a greater need to discern whether Miers can exercise her

judgment independent from the president's and whether she would feel

comfortable taking a position which she knows Bush would not support.

Much of Miers's government service work has been dedicated to

" protect[ing] and polish[ing] the image of George W. Bush. " Given that

Bush has repeatedly said that Miers's philosophy is " not going to

change, " the question about her independence is an important issue

that senators should raise at her confirmation hearings.

HEALTH

Unprepared For Avian Flu

" It could kill a billion people worldwide, make ghost towns out of

parts of major cities, and there is not enough medicine to fight it, "

ABC News reports. It is the avian flu, and if it were to reach U.S.

shores, the nation's top health experts say it " would make the scenes

of Katrina pale in comparison. " According to Shelley Hearne, director

of the nonprofit Trust for America's Health, it " would be like having

a Category 5 viral hurricane hit every single state simultaneously. "

Moreover, say U.S. and United Nations health experts, it is no longer

a question of whether the avian flu pandemic will hit, but when, and

how severely. " On behalf of the [World Health Organization], I can

tell you that there will be " such an outbreak, Health and Human

Services (HHS) Secretary Michael Leavitt said last week. " The only

question is the virulence and rapidity of transmission from human to

human. " Unfortunately, notwithstanding the potential catastrophic

impact of such a pandemic, nor the high likelihood of its spread, the

Bush administration has left Americans dangerously unprepared for a

deadly outbreak.

A DANGEROUS NEW STRAIN: Sixty-five people have been killed by the

avian flu thus far. All were infected directly by birds, scientists

say, though " every infected person represents one step closer to the

tipping point, " when the disease can be spread efficiently from human

to human. " Right now in human beings, it kills 55 percent of the

people it infects, " says Laurie Garrett, a senior fellow on global

health policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. " That makes it the

most lethal flu we know of that has ever been on planet Earth

affecting human beings. " Each year, Garrett says, " different flus

come, but your immune system says, 'Ah, I've seen that guy before. No

problem. Crank out some antibodies, and I might not feel great for a

couple of days, but I'll recover.' " Yet the current constellation has

apparently never been seen in our species, so " absolutely nobody

watching this has any natural immunity to this form of flu. "

Alarmingly, scientists announced on Thursday that the last massive flu

pandemic in 1918 was " also a bird flu that jumped directly to humans. "

That strain of " Spanish flu " killed 50 million people worldwide.

KATRINA FAILURES DWARFED BY LACK OF PANDEMIC FLU PREPARATION: Last

week, the New York Times published details of the Bush

administration's draft plan to deal with a domestic pandemic flu

outbreak. It shows " that the United States is woefully unprepared for

what could become the worst disaster in the nation's history. " The

plan details how a large outbreak originating in Asia would likely

reach U.S. shores within " a few months or even weeks, " and that if

such an outbreak occurred, " hospitals would become overwhelmed, riots

would engulf vaccination clinics, and even power and food would be in

short supply. " The draft's " conservative estimate " predicts as many as

200,000 Americans will die within a few months, and that a vaccine

will not be available until half a year after the first outbreak, and

then only in limited supply. " I imagine that not a lot of poor people

will get vaccinated, " Laurie Garrett of the Council on Foreign

Relations says. " If you think about New Orleans, this is a similar

situation. "

YET AGAIN, BUSH HAS LET U.S. FALL BEHIND REST OF WORLD: There is

currently no vaccine to prevent the spread of avian flu, though there

is one medicine to treat it. " Called Tamiflu, it is made by the Roche

pharmaceutical company in Switzerland, " and is now under huge demand.

According to Secretary Leavitt, the objective is to stockpile 20

million doses of Tamiflu, though health experts believe the United

States should optimally have enough doses for at least half the

population, approximately 150 million people. Only 2 million are

currently on hand. And though Leavitt claims that " no other country is

in a better position, " officials in Australia have 3.5 million doses,

while Great Britain will soon have enough to cover a quarter of their

population. The medicine is being made available on a first-come,

first-served waiting list, and the United States is " nowhere near the

top. " When asked why the United States did not place its orders for

Tamiflu sooner, Leavitt replied, " I can't answer that. I don't know

the answer to that. " Even Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN)

says the current Tamiflu stockpile could spell disaster. " That's

totally inadequate. Totally inadequate today. "

POINT MAN FOR PANDEMIC FLU FEARED TO BE ANOTHER MICHAEL BROWN: If the

avian flu does reach the United States, the HHS official overseeing

the response will be Stewart Simonson, Michael Leavitt's assistant

secretary for public health emergency preparedness. Simonson's resume

is " disturbingly reminiscent " of that of disgraced former FEMA chief

Michael Brown. Though Simonson is " now the point man for just about

every health emergency that may hit our shores, ranging from anthrax

attacks to an avian flu pandemic, " he has no background in medicine,

public health, or bioterrorism preparedness. His chief accomplishment

seems to be his position from 1995-1999 as legal counsel to former

Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, who was tapped as President Bush's

first Health and Human Services secretary. (Simonson reportedly

specialized in " crime and prison policy " under Thompson.) A fact sheet

released by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) notes that at a House Government

Reform hearing on July 14, 2005, Simonson " claimed he had sufficient

funds to purchase influenza vaccine and antiviral medication for the

nation. The next day, his office submitted a funding request to

Congress seeking an additional $150 million for flu vaccine and

antiviral medication. "

UNDER THE RADAR

HUMAN RIGHTS -- BOLTON BLOCKED UN BRIEFING ON DARFUR ATROCITIES: U.S.

Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton joined China, Algeria and

Russia in blocking U.N. envoy Juan Mendez from briefing the Security

Council on continued human rights violations in Sudan. Bolton helped

to block the update " despite pleas from [secretary-General Kofi] Annan

and 11 other council members that Mendez be heard. " Bolton said the

council should instead be " talking more about the steps it can take to

do something about the deteriorating security situation " in the Darfur

region. Council diplomats " noted Bolton had lined up with the three

council members - Algeria, China and Russia - which have watered down

action against Khartoum. " One diplomat added anonymously, " [bolton's]

playing into the hands of people who don't want to do anything. "

CONGRESS -- RIGHT WING TWISTS ARMS TO PASS OIL INDUSTRY WINDFALL: The

Gasoline for America's Security Act of 2005 passed on Friday by a

narrow 212-210 vote, but only after House conservatives extended the

five-minute vote to 50 minutes to round up extra votes for the bill

that appeared ready to fail. Rep. Bill Young (R-FL), one of the last

lawmakers to switch his vote to support of the bill, said, " He [House

Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL)] worked me over a little " to get him to

switch. (See the video on Think Progress.) Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA)

called it a " leave-no-oilman-behind bill, " and Rep. Sherwood Boehlert

(R-NY) stated, " The bill weakens state and federal environmental

standards...and gives a break to wealthy oil companies while doing

little or nothing to affect oil prices. "

KATRINA -- LOBBYISTS CRAFTED RECONSTRUCTION BILL: A member of the

advisory panel that made recommendations to Louisiana senators on how

best to craft Katrina relief legislation has spoken out against the

high number of lobbyists who were included. The resulting $250 billion

Louisiana Katrina Reconstruction Act contained billions of dollars for

firms whose lobbyists were on the panel. Ivor van Heerden of Louisiana

State University's hurricane public health research center said, " I

was basically shocked. ... What do lobbyists know about a plan for the

reconstruction and restoration of Louisiana? " Van Heerden called the

bill a " huge injustice " to his state. " This is congressional looting

at its worst, " added Keith Ashdown of Taxpayers for Common Sense.

CONTRACTS -- GOVERNMENT CAN'T EXPLAIN WASTE OF $343 MILLION IN 2002

TSA CONTRACT: After Sept. 11, $343 million of the public's money --

intended for airline safety -- went to an unnecessary spending upgrade

of a 2002 Transportation Security Administration (TSA) contract with

NCS Pearson Inc. The Washington Post notes, " The modification to the

contract involved switching the interview sites for tens of thousands

of airline passenger screener jobs from a contractor's own assessment

centers to hotels and luxury resorts. " Pamela Pearson, then the TSA

director of workforce creation, said that the original assessment

centers were too small and weren't attracting enough applicants.

However, documents obtained by the Post show that " the decision [to

switch to hotels] was contemplated before the contract was signed. "

" Homeland security officials say they have no memos, e-mails or other

paperwork to document the reason for the change, as required by

federal contracting regulations. "

MILITARY -- ARMY VOWS TO REVERSE RECRUITING SLUMP: This year, the Army

fell 6,600 recruits short of its 80,000 goal, and it was the first

time it had failed to hit a recruiting goal since 1999. In response,

" [t]he Army has a master plan for recovering from this year's painful

recruiting problems that includes new financial incentives for

enlistees, greater use of computers, a new way for recruiters to make

their pitch and a proposed finder's fee for soldiers who refer

recruits. " The Massachusetts Army National Guard is taking a more

novel approach by recruiting soldiers at the mall. New England

Patriots cheerleaders will kick off the grand opening of their new

recruiting office in the Natick Mall, the Boston Herald reports.

GOOD NEWS

President Bush withdrew the nomination of Timothy Flanigan, a lawyer

with strong ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, for deputy

attorney general.

STATE WATCH

COLORADO: Advocacy group ProgressNow has created an online hub for

Colorado activists.

NEW MEXICO: Gov. Bill Richardson (D) and Albuquerque City Councilor

Martin Heinrich (D) plan to push the state legislature for a minimum

wage increase.

OREGON: Chairman of Oregon's Christian Coalition faces sex abuse

allegations from his family members.

FLORIDA: Florida newspapers are suing FEMA in an attempt to get the

agency to open its records and show how it spent taxpayer money after

the 2004 hurricanes.

BLOG WATCH

THINK PROGRESS: Raucous video from House floor as conservatives hold

energy bill vote open for 45 minutes to twist arms.

DAILY KOS: A list of relief organizations doing work in Pakistan,

where tens of thousands died in Saturday's earthquake.

HUFF POST: NYT editor Bill Keller thinks blogs only " recycle and chew

on the news. "

RADIO BLOGGER: Wall Street Journal's John Fund says we will see " six

or seven surprises come down the road the next few days about Harriet

Miers, " and that the White House " was completely unprepared for this. "

DAILY GRILL

" The President was looking exactly for someone with her qualifications

and experience and judgment. " -- White House Press Secretary Scott

McClellan on Harriet Miers, 10/3/05

VERSUS

" You are the best governor ever -- deserving of great respect. " --

Harriet Miers to Gov. George W. Bush, July 1997