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AP:RT:US Domestic Politics 16 Apr 200...

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#11 of 23 Posted 4/16/05 3:09 PM

From Gerard <Sysop> Posts 82654 Last 3/19/09
To All [Msg # 194914.11 194914.1 ]

   Bush: U.S. Needs Smarter Ways to Meet Energy Needs

RTos 16/04/2005 10:16

Copyright 2005 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved.
The following news report may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of Reuters Ltd.

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Under pressure over rising gasoline prices, President Bush said on Saturday that energy legislation to be debated on Capitol Hill must encourage conservation and increased production of energy at home.
     Bush introduced energy legislation four years ago that languished in Congress through his first term. With gasoline prices hovering at record levels, he and members of Congress are feeling the heat from anxious Americans.
     "American families and small businesses across the country are feeling the pinch from rising gas prices," Bush said in his weekly radio address. "If you're trying to meet a family budget or a payroll, even a small change at the pump can have a big impact."
     Next week, Congress is to debate energy legislation and Bush will give a speech on Wednesday about America's energy woes and ways to improve supply. He will speak to the U.S.-Hispanic Chambers of Commerce Legislative Conference in Washington.
     In his radio address, he said he wanted energy legislation to encourage the use of technology to improve conservation.
     "We must find smarter ways to meet our energy needs, and we must encourage Americans to make better choices about energy consumption," he said.
     The energy legislation, he said, must also encourage more production of energy at home, diversify the energy supply by developing alternative sources such as ethanol or bio-diesel and find better, more reliable ways to deliver energy to consumers by upgrading transmission lines and pipelines.
     Bush, who worked in the oil business early in his career, said U.S. energy consumption had increased by about 4 percent, while domestic production had dropped by 1 percent in the past three years.
     "That means more of our energy is coming from abroad. To meet our energy needs and strengthen our national security, we must make America less dependent on foreign sources of energy," he said.
     Bush is expected to discuss high prices when he meets this month with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah at his Crawford, Texas, ranch on April 25.
     Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said in a speech on Friday the country was pursuing ways to make electricity and transportation fuel without fossil fuels in order to reduce emissions and reduce dependence on foreign oil.
     As examples, Bodman cited renewable motor fuels like ethanol, bio-diesel and clean diesel.
     "Already there are eight models of clean diesel vehicles and more than 20 models of ethanol-compatible vehicles available to U.S. consumers," Bodman said. "We also are working to develop hydrogen-powered cars, and to make greater use of renewable electricity sources such as wind and solar power."
     The Republican-controlled Congress appears poised to open Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.
     Giving oil companies access to the refuge's 1.5-million-acre (600,000-hectare) coastal plain and billions of barrels of crude oil is a key part of the Bush administration's national energy plan to help reduce U.S. oil imports.
     Despite objections from Democratic lawmakers, the House of Representatives Resources Committee voted on Wednesday to allow oil companies to drill there.
     With gasoline demand the biggest component of oil consumption at about 40 percent, many environmentalists say the only way to reduce petroleum demand significantly is to boost vehicle fuel efficiency.
     But lawmakers on Wednesday blocked an effort to improve U.S. vehicle fuel efficiency.

#12 of 23 Posted 4/16/05 3:09 PM

From Gerard <Sysop> Posts 82654 Last 3/19/09
To All [Msg # 194914.12 194914.1 ]

    Senators Acting Alone Can Block Nominees

APO 16/04/2005 09:58

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of the Associated Press.
   By JIM ABRAMS
Associated Press Writer
   WASHINGTON (AP) -- While the Senate is near open warfare over minority party filibusters of judicial nominees, senators acting alone are blocking some of President Bush's other choices for top government jobs with little protest.
   Democratic senators have in place or are threatening to place "holds" on Bush's nominees to head three key agencies -- the Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Drug Administration and the office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
   In each case, the chokehold is being applied not to defeat the nomination but to raise an issue important to the objecting senator.
   "I do this with a heavy heart and with much regret because I think Stephen Johnson is well qualified to head the EPA," Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., said in announcing his decision this week to block a vote on Johnson.
   Carper said he was acting because the EPA and the White House had ignored his request for an analysis of the economic, health and environmental impact of his alternative bill to Bush's clean-air plan.
   His hold was a second shot against Johnson, a career EPA employee and otherwise non-controversial candidate for the top job. Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Bill Nelson, D-Fla., lifted their hold on the nomination only after Johnson agreed to cancel a pesticide study in Florida involving children.
   Among other recent delaying actions:
   --Sens. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., say they will block a vote on Lester Crawford to head the FDA until the agency decides whether to allow over-the-counter sales of post-sex contraceptives.
   --Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., says he won't allow a vote to confirm Rep. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, as U.S. Trade Representative until Senate leaders agree to take up his bill on enforcing anti-subsidy laws against China and other non-market economies.
   --Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., says he will block Treasury Department nominees because of recent department rulings that he says make it more difficult to sell farm products to Cuba.
   Many Republicans are trying to change Senate rules so that judicial nominees can be confirmed by a simple majority rather than the 60 votes needed to overcome Democratic filibusters.
   But Republicans also use holds when the political need arises.
   Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., whose state is home to threatened military bases, last month blocked a Senate vote on the nominee to head a base closing commission. Bush circumvented the hold by appointing all nine members of the commission while lawmakers were on their Easter recess.
   Alabama's two Republicans senators, Jeff Sessions and Richard Shelby, said Friday they were blocking Bush's choice for assistant secretary of the Army for civil works because they said the federal government was favoring Georgia in a decade-old fight over water.
   Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., an opponent of holds, said they have become a "flagrant abuse of what was the historic basis" for the action, which was to put off a vote for a short time in respect to a senator who might be sick or need more information.
   "It has now become one of the most powerful and least known tools in American government," Wyden said. More often than not, he said, holds are placed anonymously so other senators don't know who is preventing a nomination from going forward.
   Wyden and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, are behind legislation that would make those who put a hold on a nomination do it publicly. "I'm going to continue this fight until there is a new day of openness and accountability," Wyden said.
   Sarah Binder, a Brookings Institution fellow who has testified to Congress on the issue, said there is no formal Senate rule on holds. They gained prominence because Senate leaders have increasingly turned to "unanimous consent" requests, which can be rejected with one dissenting voice, to advance legislation and nominees.
   The Senate can overcome a hold through a time-consuming process and a motion requiring a 60-vote majority, but Senate leaders are reluctant to go that route in a 100-member body where interpersonal relations are so important.
   "The hold is a mechanism to draw attention to what you really want," Binder said. "Quite often it really works."

#13 of 23 Posted 4/16/05 3:10 PM

From Gerard <Sysop> Posts 82654 Last 3/19/09
To All [Msg # 194914.13 194914.1 ]

    Conservative Lawmaker: DeLay Should Quit

APO 16/04/2005 09:57

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of the Associated Press.
   By SUZANNE GAMBOA
Associated Press Writer
   WASHINGTON (AP) -- One of Congress' most conservative members on Friday became the second House Republican to urge Majority Leader Tom DeLay to step aside because of the ethics scrutiny he's facing.
   "If the majority leader were to temporarily step aside so that these trumped up charges can be dealt with in a less hostile environment, as they have proven to be an unnecessary distraction, it may be a productive move," said Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo.
   Tancredo's comments come after Connecticut Rep. Chris Shays, a moderate Republican, urged DeLay to resign from his leadership position at the beginning of the week. Also, Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, the No. 3 Republican in the Senate, said DeLay needs to answer questions about his ethics.
   Tancredo, elected in 1998, said he believes all charges against DeLay, R-Texas, "lack merit" and are "being leveled in the hopes of bringing him down and with him, the Republican majority."
   Tancredo is known in the House for his tough stand on immigration and has 100 percent rating from the American Conservative Union for votes and his position on issues.
   DeLay has been dogged by questions for months about his overseas travel, corporate fundraising in 2002 for Texas legislative campaigns, campaign payments to family members and his connections to a lobbyist now under federal investigation.
   Some GOP colleagues have suggested his continuing ethics controversy is harming the GOP, while others say the criticism has been orchestrated by Democrats and their liberal allies.
   DeLay has said he is eager to appear before the leaders of the House ethics committee and give "everything I have" in connection with allegations of misconduct. Spokesman Dan Allen provided a similar comment Friday and cited a list of accomplishments by House Republicans with DeLay as majority leader.
   Before DeLay can meet with the ethics committee, Democrats and Republicans must resolve a deadlock over rules Republicans pushed through the House. Democrats oppose the changes.

#14 of 23 Posted 4/16/05 3:10 PM

From Gerard <Sysop> Posts 82654 Last 3/19/09
To All [Msg # 194914.14 194914.1 ]

   Millions Race to Beat Tax-Day Deadline

APO 16/04/2005 03:13

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of the Associated Press.
   By ERIN McCLAM
Associated Press Writer
   NEW YORK (AP) -- Eyes fixed nervously on clocks and watches, millions of Americans packed into post offices and logged onto the Internet to submit their tax returns before the midnight deadline.
   In some places, the annual ritual became a kind of celebration, with bands performing and postal workers serving coffee and doughnuts as patrons waited to mail their tax forms or file for extensions.
   At the cavernous Eighth Avenue post office in Manhattan, hundreds of people stood waiting for tellers while the Columbia University marching band played on the steps outside an hour before Friday's deadline.
   As she approached the head of the snaking line, Ayanna Adams, 25, said she liked the festive atmosphere.
   "The experience of filing here at the last minute is very whimsical," she said, adding that those who didn't like the chaos should have filed early.
   But there was a strong element of anxiety in the air, too, especially among those who had planned to file for extensions: The post office ran out of forms earlier in the evening.
   "We had 10,000 extension forms and they're all gone. People are getting a little edgy here," said Pete Fontana, a post office customer relations coordinator.
   In Miami Beach, Fla., Jacqueline Benjamin came to H & R Block on Friday afternoon before her shift at a nearby hospital. "Last year I forgot," said Benjamin, 41. "I was at work when somebody told me that day was the last day. I had to leave work."
   All the cubicles at the office were full of late-filers, and branch manager Nancy Morrissette said her staff had been working overtime all week, including staying Thursday night until 1:30 a.m.
   In Springfield, Mass., the main post office stayed open until midnight Friday for the 23rd year in a row.
   "We started off with a coffee pot and a couple dozen doughnuts, but this has emerged into a really big day for us," said Springfield operations manager Ted Goonan, who expected the post office to receive about 285,000 tax returns Friday.
   Still, much of the eleventh-hour rush was happening online: The Internal Revenue Service said it expected more than half of all U.S. returns this year to be filed electronically, a first.
   "When you compare it to doing business on the Web or through e-mail, the acceptance level for tax filings is much higher," IRS spokesman Eric Smith said. "It's been very successful."
   The agency had no estimate of how many returns would be filed Friday, but Smith said of the 120 million returns expected to be filed on time, only 88 million had come in by April 8.
   President Bush spent part of Tax Day in a suburban Ohio cafe, pushing his plan to make his first-term tax cuts permanent. The White House gathered five small business owners to sit with the president around a table and talk about how tax relief has helped them expand their businesses and hire more workers.
   At the Manhattan post office, spokeswoman Patricia McGovern said extra workers had been assigned to handle the "mad crush" of later filers.
   "Some people come in at 11 p.m. and park themselves at a table, spread everything out and begin work," she said. "It is amazing how they can get it done but I guess they do."
   Procrastinators in Hawaii were the last taxpayers in the nation to file their returns, taking advantage of the six-hour time difference with the East Coast.
   Neal Hazama was among those waiting in a tax preparer's office in Honolulu. "I think this year I'll probably end up paying a little bit, so I'd like to hold onto my money as long as possible."
   ------
   On the Net:
   Internal Revenue Service: http://www.irs.gov

#15 of 23 Posted 4/16/05 3:11 PM

From Gerard <Sysop> Posts 82654 Last 3/19/09
To All [Msg # 194914.15 194914.1 ]

   Bushes Report Gross Income of $784,219

APO 15/04/2005 22:55

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of the Associated Press.
   By DEB RIECHMANN
Associated Press Writer
   WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush reported adjusted gross income of $784,219 for last year, on which he paid $207,307 in federal taxes -- about $20,000 less than the previous year, according to the president's return released Friday by the White House.
   In 2003 the president and first lady Laura Bush reported $822,126 in adjusted gross income and paid $227,490 in federal income taxes.
   On their 2004 return the Bushes listed as income his presidential salary -- about $400,000 -- and investment income from trusts that hold their assets.
   The couple contributed $77,785 -- about 10 percent of their adjusted gross income -- to churches and charitable organizations. Those included Evergreen Chapel at Camp David, Md., St. John's Church in Washington, the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army World Service Office, AmeriCares, an international relief organization; and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
   The Bushes paid $22,158 in state property taxes on their ranch near Crawford, Texas, up slightly from $21,352.
   The White House also released the 2004 tax return filed by Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne.
   The report shows the Cheneys owe federal taxes for 2004 of $393,518 on adjusted gross income of $1.7 million.
   Throughout last year, the Cheneys paid $290,855 in taxes through withholding and estimated tax payments. When they filed their return on Friday, they paid the remaining $102,663.
   The Cheneys' income included the vice president's $203,000 government salary and $194,852 in deferred compensation from Halliburton Co., the Dallas-based energy services firm he headed until Aug. 16, 2000. Cheney elected in December 1998 to recoup over five years a portion of the money he made in 1999 as chief executive officer of Halliburton. This amount was to be paid in annual installments -- with interest -- after Cheney's retirement from Halliburton.
   "The amount of deferred compensation received by the vice president is fixed and is not affected in any way by Halliburton's current economic performance or earnings," a statement issued by the White House said.
   The Cheneys' tax return also reports Mrs. Cheney's wage and salary income from the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington, and compensation for sitting on the board of Reader's Digest until retiring in 2003.
   The Cheneys donated $303,354 to charity in 2004, primarily from royalties from Simon & Schuster on Mrs. Cheney's books: "America: A Patriotic Primer," "A is for Abigail: An Almanac of Amazing American Women" and "When Washington Crossed the Delaware: A Wintertime Story for Young Patriots."
   Bush spent a portion of Tax Day in a suburban cafe in Ohio promoting the idea of making the tax cuts passed during his administration permanent. The White House gathered five local small business owners to sit with the president around a table at the Yours Truly Restaurant in Mentor, Ohio, and talk for the cameras about tax relief and how it had helped them expand their businesses and hire more employees.
   "Tax relief helps small businesses. If you're interested in expanding jobs, one way to do so is to help small businesses," the president said. If Congress allows the tax cuts to expire, as most are now slated to do, "your taxes are going to go up," Bush said.
   He also put in a plug for simplifying the tax code, an item on his domestic agenda that has taken a back seat to others such as overhauling Social Security. Bush said $300 billion in taxes go unpaid by Americans every year.
   "That's why we need simplification," he said.

#16 of 23 Posted 4/16/05 3:11 PM

From Gerard <Sysop> Posts 82654 Last 3/19/09
To All [Msg # 194914.16 194914.1 ]

       Republicans to Go on Offensive Over Judges

APO 15/04/2005 22:55

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of the Associated Press.
   By JESSE J. HOLLAND
Associated Press Writer
   WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate Republicans are moving to put some muscle behind their pitch to eliminate judicial filibusters after watching liberals push out TV ads against them in anticipation of a showdown over who sits on federal appeals courts.
   "They're ahead of the power curve," Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said of the orchestrated effort by Democrats and groups such as MoveOn.org and People for the American Way. "I think you'll see a greater, stepped-up message on part of the Republicans, to go on offense on this issues."
   Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, after vowing last fall to stop Democrats from blocking the most conservative of President Bush's nominees, will appear in a telecast later this month with leaders of social conservative groups.
   According to a flier for the Louisville, Ky., event, it will focus on how judicial filibusters are being used "against people of faith." The telecast is being organized by the Family Research Council, which sponsored a similar event last year opposing gay marriage. First's staff said he will probably record his message for the telecast.
   The Tennessee Republican, a likely contender for his party's presidential nomination in 2008, is under pressure to force a Senate showdown before Congress breaks May 27 for a long Memorial Day recess.
   To change Senate rules so that Democrats can no longer block Bush's nominees with filibusters requiring just 41 votes, Frist needs a simple majority in the 100-member Senate. He can get that by mustering 50 votes and bringing in Vice President Dick Cheney as the tiebreaker.
   The Senate has 55 Republicans, 44 Democrats and one independent. But a half-dozen GOP senators either have said they oppose or have refused to support changing the rules.
   Frist's plan has been dubbed the "nuclear option" because Democrats have promised to retaliate by blocking the rest of Bush's legislative agenda -- excluding spending and highway bills and national security measures. His supporters call it the "constitutional option," saying the forefathers never intended to let a minority of the Senate block a president's choices for judgeships.
   Democrats blocked 10 of Bush's first-term appeals court nominations through filibuster threats while allowing the confirmation of 34. Bush has renominated seven of the 10. Democrats have said they intend to block their confirmation this time as well, arguing that the nominees' views on abortion, civil rights, the environment or other issues place them well outside the mainstream.
   People for the American Way and MoveOn PAC have been running television ads for weeks trying to discourage Republicans from forcing a showdown over filibusters. Democratic leaders Harry Reid in the Senate and Nancy Pelosi in the House have coordinated a message accusing majority Republicans of "abuse of power" and "arrogance."
   "Our voice is being lost," Frist said this week. "From a leadership standpoint, we've held back, which has allowed the vacuum to be filled by lots of other voices. I hope what you will see over the next several weeks is us to do a better job."
   To help publicize their message, a GOP group called the Advise and Consent Working Group now issues daily recaps of what GOP senators say about judicial nominations and rebuts Democrats' statements on the issues.
   Republican senators have joined Democrats in giving daily speeches on the subject from the Senate floor. New conservative organizations like the Judicial Confirmation Network and the National Coalition to End Judicial Filibusters are entering the fray to counter MoveOn and People for the American Way.
   The Judicial Confirmation Network has planned an initial $250,000 ad buy on cable television to counter the liberal ads.
   "The other side has started a pretty aggressive campaign," said Wendy Long, the group's lawyer. "We didn't want to just sit here and do nothing."
   Some conservative groups have held off spending money on the filibuster battle, saving resources for an anticipated Supreme Court fight. Chief Justice William Rehnquist, 80, is fighting thyroid cancer, and many people expect a retirement from the nation's highest court before President Bush ends his second term.
   But conservative senators and advocacy groups say there must be a resolution on the filibuster before that happens. Needing 60 votes to confirm a Supreme Court justice might affect whether Bush picks a conservative or a moderate, they say.
   Thune said a high-profile Supreme Court nomination and a simultaneous fight over whether that person can be filibustered by Democrats might muddy the water and make both objectives more difficult.
   ------
   On the Net:
   People for the American Way: http://www.pfaw.org
   Judicial Confirmation Network: http://www.judicialnetwork.com
   MoveOn PAC: http://www.moveonpac.org/
   Sen. Bill Frist: http://frist.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseActionIssues.Detail&Issue--id
7

#17 of 23 Posted 4/16/05 3:12 PM

From Gerard <Sysop> Posts 82654 Last 3/19/09
To All [Msg # 194914.17 194914.1 ]

       U.S. Lacking Transportation Security Plan

APO 15/04/2005 22:52

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of the Associated Press.

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Homeland Security Department has yet to produce a plan to protect the U.S. transportation system 3 1/2 years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and at least two senators are getting impatient.
   Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut released a letter Friday pressing Homeland Security officials to finish a transportation security plan within the next three months. Collins, a Republican, chairs the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and Lieberman is the panel's ranking Democrat.
   "We are concerned that the delay in producing a cohesive and comprehensive transportation security strategy is adversely affecting the federal government's ability to protect the citizens of the country," said the letter, dated Wednesday and addressed to Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Michael Jackson.
   Though intelligence officials say al-Qaida continues to be interested in attacks on aviation, terrorists have also attacked ships, trains, transit systems and buses around the world.
   Under questioning from Congress in 2003, then-chief of the Transportation Security Administration James Loy said a plan would be finished by the end of the year. Congress later set a deadline of April 1 for the plan. It was not met.
   The new Homeland Security secretary, Michael Chertoff, is reviewing the department's plans and policies, said spokeswoman Kathleen Montgomery.
   "In the process of that review, the secretary and Deputy Secretary Jackson determined significant additional work is needed to ensure the strategy is consistent with other strategic planning efforts underway in the department," Montgomery said.
   ------
   On the Net:
   Transportation Security Administration: http://www.tsa.gov
   Homeland Security Department: http://www.dhs.gov

#18 of 23 Posted 4/16/05 3:13 PM

From Gerard <Sysop> Posts 82654 Last 3/19/09
To All [Msg # 194914.18 194914.1 ]

       Congress Renews Interest in Identity Theft

APO 15/04/2005 22:07

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of the Associated Press.
   By TED BRIDIS
Associated Press Writer
   WASHINGTON (AP) -- Responding to outrage from consumers whose personal information has been stolen from companies, Congress is primed to pass new laws to try to prevent break-ins and to require businesses to confess to customers when private data is taken.
   The government's new interest in requiring such embarrassing disclosures reverses years of efforts by the FBI and U.S. prosecutors to shield corporations that have been victims of hackers from bad publicity by keeping such crimes out of headlines.
   But now, consumers want to know if their private information has been stolen.
   The Senate is considering at least two proposals to crack down on companies suffering breaches of private customer information. The Federal Trade Commission's chairwoman has endorsed the idea and the Senate Judiciary Committee's chairman hinted this week that a new law might be inevitable.
   "We may well face a necessity for some really tough legislation," said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa.
   The new push for government action responds to frustrated constituents who are among more than 10 million victims of identity theft each year. It comes after years of reluctance by most companies to voluntarily report break-ins that put customers' financial information at risk.
   "Congress is primed to take a very serious look at this and pass comprehensive legislation," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., sponsor for one bill. "Nobody has given this problem the focus it deserves. This is a high priority."
   A California law already requires disclosures to victimized consumers who live there, and roughly 30 states are looking at similar laws.
   "The last thing a merchant wants to do is tell all his longtime customers he's been hacked and lost all their information," said Keath Nupuf, chief technology officer for CardCops Inc. of Malibu, Calif. The company monitors Internet chat rooms and other hacker communications for stolen credit card numbers, then notifies merchants and consumers to block bad purchases.
   CardCops contacted 80 consumers earlier this week to report their card numbers and other personal details were circulating among Internet thieves, Nupuf said. The card numbers were pilfered from merchants that range from mom-and-pop shops to Fifth Avenue retailers.
   "One guy was blowing a blood vessel," he said. "He was going to drive across country and kill the merchant."
   Peiter "Mudge" Zatko, a computer expert who consulted for the White House during the Bush and Clinton administrations, often is hired by companies to tighten security and clean up the digital mess after a data breach. Zatko said victim companies "almost never" tell the FBI or customers when sensitive data is stolen.
   "Maybe they have a government contract and it would look bad," Zatko said. "Maybe they're trying to keep it quiet so they don't scare the financial markets."
   Sometimes companies warn customers. Howard Schmidt, a former White House adviser, said thieves took a computer this year from the store where he buys eyeglasses. The computer contained his credit and medical information, Schmidt said, but the owner contacted his customers and encouraged them to watch for fraudulent purchases.
   "That was a good thing," Schmidt said. "I want to do business with these guys."
   In a twist, the FBI and Justice Department have worked aggressively to shield the identities of corporations that have been hacking victims. To encourage businesses to contact them after such break-ins, U.S. investigators and prosecutors have publicly promised to seal court records, keep top executives off witness stands and use protective orders to keep details of these crimes out of the headlines.
   "There is still some reluctance to call law enforcement, some hesitancy because of the negative impact on reputation," said Amit Yoran, the Bush administration's former top cyber-security official. He said requiring companies to acknowledge a break-in "may be of value, but it should not be done as a knee-jerk reaction to the handful of high-profile and significant disclosures of the past few weeks."
   The FTC chairwoman, Deborah Majoras, estimated consumers lost $5 billion and businesses lost $48 billion because of identity theft in 2003. The FTC is studying how it can use existing banking statutes and laws against consumer fraud to prosecute companies that fail to report serious breaches.
   Majoras said government should consider requiring companies to tell customers about break-ins when thefts put them at financial risk. She also endorsed minimum security requirements for businesses that collect sensitive personal information.
   "The challenge is to come up with a way of defining when notice should be sent and when it doesn't make sense," said Joel Winston, associate director at the FTC's division for financial practices.
   ------
   On the Net:
   Federal Trade Commission: http://www.ftc.gov
   CardCops: http://www.cardcops.com

#19 of 23 Posted 4/16/05 3:13 PM

From Gerard <Sysop> Posts 82654 Last 3/19/09
To All [Msg # 194914.19 194914.1 ]

   Senate Leader Urged to Withdraw from Telecast

RTos 15/04/2005 21:51

Copyright 2005 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved.
The following news report may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of Reuters Ltd.

    By Thomas Ferraro
     WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top Democrats urged U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist on Friday to withdraw from an upcoming telecast organized by Christian conservatives that portrays Democrats as "against people of faith" for blocking President Bush's judicial nominees.
     Democrats complained that Frist, a Tennessee Republican and potential 2008 presidential contender, was improperly injecting religion into a high-stakes political fight.
     "God does not take part in partisan politics," said Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada. "I would hope Senator Frist ... would not participate in this.."
     Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy added, "I hope Senator Frist will decide not to participate in this blatant assault on the fundamental principle of separation of church and state."
     Frist aides said he had no plans to withdraw from the event, scheduled for April 24 and billed as "Justice Sunday."
     The telecast may come just days before a Senate showdown over Republican threats to change the chamber's rules to ban procedural hurdles known as filibusters that Democrats have used to block 10 of Bush's judicial nominees while helping confirm 205 others.
     "Senator Frist is doing everything he can to ensure judicial nominees are treated fairly and that every senator has the opportunity to give the president their 'advice and consent' through an up or down vote," said spokesman Amy Call.
     "He has spoken to groups all across the nation to press that point and -- as long as a minority of Democrats continue to block a vote -- he will continue to do so," Call said.
     Republicans control the 100-member Senate, holding 55 seats. Yet it is unclear if they can muster the 51 votes needed to change the rules to ban filibusters. A number of Republicans have voiced concerns such a move could come back to haunt them in a future Democratic-led Senate.
     Organized by Family Research Council, a conservative Christian group, the telecast is to being offered to churches and Christian radio and television networks nationwide, a spokesman for the group said.
     A flier for it includes the message: "The filibuster was once abused to protect racial bias, and now it is being used against people of faith."

     'DOUBLE STANDARD'
     A half century ago, Senate filibusters were used to block civil rights legislation. Democrats have used them the past four years to block 10 conservative judicial nominees they cast as "right-wing extremists."
     That has angered the religious right, which wants to make the federal courts more amenable to its views on such issues as abortion, gay marriage and public prayer.
     Bob Stevenson, a Frist spokesman, said the senator accepted an invitation to participate in the telecast "some time ago" and that the first time the office saw the flier was on late Thursday.
     Stevenson declined to answer when asked if Frist agreed with the flier's claim the filibuster was "being used against people of faith."
     He accused Democrats of a "double standard" on religion and politics. He cited a story in The Washington Post last October about then Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry using a Baptist pulpit to denounce Bush and speak of eternal life.
     "Senate Democrats said nothing in response," Stevenson said.

#20 of 23 Posted 4/16/05 3:13 PM

From Gerard <Sysop> Posts 82654 Last 3/19/09
To All [Msg # 194914.20 194914.1 ]

       Reid Calls Frist's GOP Politics 'Radical'

APO 15/04/2005 21:30

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of the Associated Press.
   By DAVID ESPO
AP Special Correspondent
   WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate's top Democrat accused Majority Leader Bill Frist of engaging in "radical Republican" politics on Friday and urged him to cancel a videotaped speech to a group that claims President Bush's conservative court nominees face opposition on religious grounds.
   "It is really beyond the pale. He should rise above this," Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada said of Frist, R-Tenn. "God does not take part in partisan politics."
   In response, Frist spokesman Bob Stevenson accused Democrats of a "clear double standard." He said they failed to speak out last fall when their presidential candidate, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., campaigned against President Bush at a Baptist church.
   "Now, as they prepare to continue their unprecedented filibuster against the president's judicial nominations, they criticize the leader for agreeing to deliver a similar address pressing for fair treatment of the president's judicial nominees," Stevenson said.
   Frist, a likely presidential contender in 2008 as well as the man charged with shepherding Bush's agenda through the Senate, is scheduled to make a brief videotaped speech at a rally on April 24 organized by the Family Research Council.
   A flyer for the event, viewable on the group's Web site, shows a young man with a gavel in one hand and a Bible in the other and says, "He should not have to choose." Under the title "Justice Sunday," the flyer adds, "The filibuster against faith -- the filibuster was once abused to protect racial bias, and now it is being used against people of faith."
   The New York Times first reported Frist's plans.
   "This goes too far, and I hope Sen. Frist would stop and reflect," said Sen. Dick Durbin, the Senate's second-ranking Democrat. He joined Reid at the news conference after criticizing Frist in a speech on the Senate floor.
   The clash over judges has become one of the central areas of controversy in Congress, and Republicans unveiled a Web site video in an attempt to sway public opinion. It says a majority vote on judges was good enough for the Founding Fathers, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln -- but not for modern-day Democrats, Sens. Robert C. Byrd and Edward M. Kennedy and party chairman Howard Dean.
   It is unusual for senators to criticize one another openly in personal terms, and the day's rhetoric underscored the partisanship that has long been developing over Bush's court appointees.
   Democrats blocked confirmation on 10 of the president's first-term judicial nominees while confirming 204. The president has renominated seven of the 10, and Democrats have again threatened to employ filibusters to prevent them from coming to a final vote. It takes 60 votes to break a filibuster, and Republicans, with 55 seats, lack the strength to do so as long as Democrats remain united.
   Under pressure from conservatives, Frist is threatening to strip Democrats of their ability to block votes on court nominees. While a formal change in the Senate's rules requires a two-thirds vote, Republicans argue that a mere majority is sufficient to outlaw filibusters on candidates for the bench.
   At his news conference, Reid predicted Republicans won't stop there.
   "Judges today. We'll have Cabinet officers tomorrow. Then we'll just have simple legislation" that is placed beyond the reach of a unified minority, he said. "What is going on ... is not Republican mainstream politics. It is radical Republican politics."
   Frist has said he intends to seek a compromise with Reid on the judicial issue before Republicans try to force it. For their part, Democrats have vowed to slow or halt Senate action on much routine business if Republicans follow through with their threat to force confirmation of the judges.
   Democrats have at least 47 solid votes against the Republican proposal, including GOP Sens. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island and John McCain of Arizona. In addition, Republican Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine have expressed concerns about changing Senate practices on the issue.
   A 50-50 vote would allow Republicans to prevail because Vice President Dick Cheney could break the tie.
   ------
   On the Net:
   Family Research Council: http://www.frc.org
   Web site video from National Republican Senatorial Committee: http://www.GOPSenators.com.

#21 of 23 Posted 4/16/05 3:14 PM

From Gerard <Sysop> Posts 82654 Last 3/19/09
To All [Msg # 194914.21 194914.1 ]

   Task Force on U.N. Overhaul Impressed

APO 15/04/2005 20:54

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of the Associated Press.
   By NICK WADHAMS
Associated Press Writer
   UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, the co-chairman of a congressional task force to examine United Nations reform, said Friday he was impressed with U.N. officials' apparent desire to fix the world body.
   Gingrich, a Republican, said U.N. officials recognized that the opportunity was right after years of promises that had brought no significant change.
   "There was no argument today about the fact that there are systems that just don't work, there are patterns that just aren't acceptable," Gingrich told reporters during a visit to the United Nations.
   He was accompanied by fellow co-chair George Mitchell, a Maine Democrat and former Senate majority leader. They met with Secretary-General Kofi Annan and other top U.N. officials.
   "As somebody who's often been a critic of the U.N. and a critic on occasion of Secretary-General Annan, I thought we could not have asked for more candid, more open, private discussions," Gingrich said.
   The task force plans to complete its report to Congress on a possible U.N. reforms by June. The co-chairs said their goal is to come up with U.S. action that could strengthen the United Nations.
   "An effective United Nations is in the American national interest and we think it is the national interests of other countries as well," Mitchell said.
   The Republican-controlled Congress and the Bush administration are expected to act on the task force's recommendations before world leaders meet at the U.N. General Assembly in September to consider Annan's proposals for an overhaul of the world body.
   In March, Annan outlined his plan, which among other things would seek more development spending by rich countries and expand the Security Council -- the premier U.N. decision-making body.
   The changes would be the most sweeping in its 60-year history of the United Nations.
   The task force is also looking at a host of scandals that have rocked the United Nations, from allegations of wrongdoing in the $64 billion oil-for-food program in Iraq to sex abuse by peacekeepers in Congo and other missions.
   Several congressional committees are investigating the oil-for-food program. The United Nations also ordered an independent probe being conducted by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, with a final report is expected this summer.
   "It is clear that there are serious systemic problems, some of which are internal to the U.N. operations, some of which reflect on the Security Council rather badly, and some of which reflect on the major powers, and I would not exclude Washington," Gingrich said.

#22 of 23 Posted 4/16/05 3:14 PM

From Gerard <Sysop> Posts 82654 Last 3/19/09
To All [Msg # 194914.22 194914.1 ]

       Ex-GOP Senator to Lead U. of Colo. for Now

APO 15/04/2005 20:51

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of the Associated Press.

   DENVER (AP) -- The University of Colorado on Friday chose former U.S. Sen. Hank Brown as interim president, asking the veteran Republican politician to help the school emerge from a tumultuous series of scandals as they search for a permanent leader.
   Brown would take over on Aug. 1, replacing Elizabeth Hoffman, who is stepping down at the end of June. He would serve until a permanent president is picked.
   The state's flagship university has been under intense scrutiny for a sexual assault scandal in the football program and for its handling of a professor who likened some victims of the Sept. 11 attacks to a Nazi bureaucrat.
   Hoffman said last month she was resigning after nearly five years so that questions about her leadership would not distract from efforts to solve the university's problems.
   Brown, 65, served five terms in the U.S. House and one in the Senate, leaving Congress in 1997. He was president of the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley from 1998 to 2002.

#23 of 23 Posted 4/16/05 3:14 PM

From Gerard <Sysop> Posts 82654 Last 3/19/09
To All [Msg # 194914.23 194914.1 ]

    Rice: Reform Mandatory for Troubled U.N.

APO 15/04/2005 20:34

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of the Associated Press.
   By ANNE GEARAN
AP Diplomatic Writer
   WASHINGTON (AP) -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday that she deliberately chose a blunt-talking critic of the United Nations to be the U.S. representative there and that the institution must remake itself to survive as a significant force.
   Rice said the United Nations itself is now advocating the sort of change that John R. Bolton has demanded in the past. A Senate committee may vote next week on Bolton's nomination to be the next U.N. ambassador.
   In remarks to the American Society of Newspaper Editors, Rice sounded nearly as critical of the United Nations as Bolton has been.
   She used her strongest public language to date on the need for change. She barely mentioned embattled U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who has sometimes been on the outs with the Bush White House.
   "As important an institution as it is, one has to say that there are some things that are not so great about the United Nations right now," Rice said. "Everybody recognizes that, and we've got to fix it."
   Rice was especially critical of internal U.N. decisions such as allowing Sudan to sit on the world body's human rights commission.
   Rice's State Department deputy toured Sudan's ravaged Darfur region on Friday. Government-aligned Arab militias have ransacked African villages and killed thousands in Darfur in what the United Nations itself has labeled the world's worst humanitarian crisis. An estimated 180,000 have died in fighting or its aftermath, and about 2 million were forced from their homes.
   Rice also ticked off recent scandals over the U.N. oil-for-food program in Iraq and the actions of U.N. peacekeepers abroad.
   "It is no secret to anyone that the United Nations cannot survive as a vital force in international politics if it does not reform -- if it doesn't reform its organizations, if it doesn't reform its secretariat, if it doesn't reform its management practices," Rice said.
   One member of the Senate panel considering Bolton's nomination, Republican Norm Coleman of Minnesota, has called for Annan's resignation over financial mismanagement in the oil-for-food program. The Bush administration has said it supports Annan.
   More than 50 internal U.N. audits of the Iraq oil-for-food program detailed how U.N. agencies squandered millions of dollars through overpayment to contractors, mismanagement of purchasing and assets, and employee fraud.
   The program permitted Iraq an exemption in U.N. economic sanctions and allowed oil sales if the income were used for food and medicine for the Iraqi people.
   Rice said she proposed Bolton for the U.N. job after watching him steer complicated arms control negotiations as the State Department disarmament chief.
   "His commitment to me and to the president is that he is going to be a force for what is always needed in the United Nations: American leadership to update and reform and strengthen this great institution," Rice told the editors.
   On other subjects, Rice said the Israelis and Palestinians have the best opportunity to forge peace that they are likely to see for many years. She said the United States deserves some credit for promoting democracy in the Middle East, although she cautioned that true democracy must be homegrown.
   "What I think this president has done, the United States has done, (is) perhaps something only the United States could: We've enlarged the realm of the possible," Rice said.
   Bush has made the expansion of democracy a unifying theme of his second-term foreign relations.
   Rice declined to speculate on how soon al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden could be captured.
   "I would hate to try to give odds on it, because I'll tell you that I think in this case, close really doesn't count," Rice said.
   She looked ahead to her meeting next week with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has alarmed the United States and its allies by internal moves that consolidate power and erode some of the country's democratic gains.
   "My message there will be that a democratic and vibrant and prosperous Russia is in everyone's interests," Rice said. "Our relationship with Russia holds enormous potential, and we can do even more together as Russia moves along a democratic path."
   ------
   On the Net:
   American Society of Newspaper Editors: http://www.asne.org

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