Blake Morlock, Tucson Citizen
U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is launching a major solar power initiative, in an apparent effort to make that one of her key issues in Congress. Giffords, a Tucson Democrat, was to make the announcement today at Global Solar Energy Inc., a Tucson manufacturer of wafer-thin solar products.

The state has the sun and she wants to do what others have claimed to want, turn solar power into an economic engine for Arizona. Her work will involve teaching local businesses about solar tax credits available now, making sure government meets its own solar-powered commitments and establishing a solar cabinet of sorts that will advise her on the science and economics of solar power.

The first-term congresswoman has not as yet proposed legislation, but suggests southern Arizona could be the solar Silicon Valley.

The world is looking to renewable energy to cut greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on foreign oil. Southern Arizona can cash in on that trend, Giffords said. Click here for more on this story…

Rasmussen Reports, April 27,2007

Fifty-seven percent (57%) of American voters now favor either an immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq (37%) or a firm deadline for their withdrawal (20%). The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that just 35% of voters are opposed to both of these options for ending the war. Yesterday, the House of Representatives narrowly passed a bill mandating a troop withdrawal to begin by October 1. The legislation’s goal is to end all U.S. involvement by March 2008. The Bill is expected to pass the Senate setting up a confrontation with the White House which has promised a Presidential veto.

The number of Americans favoring immediate withdrawal has increased nine percentage points since November. On the eve of Election 2006, just 28% favored bringing home the troops right away.

Overall, 80% of voters say they are following news stories about this debate closely, including 46% who are following it Very Closely.

This issue establishes one of the clearest partisan divides among the general population. Most Democrats (54%) favor immediate troop withdrawal while another 24% in Nancy Pelosi’s party favor a firm timetable for withdrawal. Just 16% of Democrats are opposed to both options.

Among the GOP, just 17% favor immediate withdrawal and another 15% favor a timetable. Most Republicans (57%) oppose both restrictions on the War effort. Click here to read more.

Today’s breaking news is that Rick Renzi appears to be about to announce his resignation from Congress. Rumors have been breaking out all over. Last night on Arizona Illustrated, the Pima County Republican Chair mentioned the possibility in passing. A Washington online paper known as The Hill has picked up the story. Now here in Phoenix, the East Valley Tribune has picked it up. (Naturally this important story has not been picked by either the Arizona Star or the Arizona Republic for some reason)

Renzi weighs resignation in wake of probe, paper says
Paul Giblin, East Valley Tribune

Rep. Rick Renzi. R-Ariz., is “looking at” the prospect of resigning his office in response to an FBI public-corruption investigation.On Tuesday, he told The Hill, a newspaper that covers the Washington political scene, that he was considering leaving office.

He has denied any wrongdoing, but has stepped down, at least temporarily, from his three committee assignments. Renzi’s plight and his recent talk of resigning has Arizona political leaders talking themselves — about how to replace him if he goes. Should he resign as one of Arizona’s eight U.S. representatives, his office would remain empty for three to five months before a successor would be selected.

Gov. Janet Napolitano’s top aides have been “refreshing their recollections” during the past few days on the procedure to fill such a vacancy, her general counsel, Tim Nelson, said Wednesday.

Brett Mecum, a spokesman for the Arizona Republican Party, said the decision about whether Renzi should resign his office should be left to the three-term Republican lawmaker.

“We’re going to wait to see what happens and we’re hoping the Democrats lay off the attacks and let the investigators investigate. We’ll take this one step at a time,” Mecum said. Click here to read more.  Meanwhile there is now another story at The Hill, a Washington news service.

In years past, when scandal broke out, the guilty miscreant would admit his guilt and “honorably resign.” Not so in this administration. John Bolton refused to quit for months. Harriett Miers hung on after until all reasonable offers were exhausted. Scooter Libbey that “good family man” in the words of W (worst ever) hung on til he was hung. In the end, all of these three were pushed aside only after all alternatives were completely and finally exhausted.

This past week we have had the example of Alberto Gonzales. Today we learned that Monica will have the opportunity to “earn” her immunity. Let’s hope she was impressed with Scooter’s fate. Her immunity will be for past mis-deeds not for misleading or false answers she might otherwise try to slip past the Senators. Our own Rick Renzi is expected to provide some of the drama. We Democrats may not be all that hot to impeach W, but we have no compunctions about Karl or Dick.

And tonight we get the example of Paul Wolfowitz. This afternoon the Parliment of the European Union called for the resignation of Mr. Wolfowitz. The response is just what you guessed. Mr. Wolfowitz has announced that “I WON’T QUIT, I HAVE THE SUPPORT OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!” Click here to read more from Associate Press.

In case you are outraged by all this, we counsel calm and appreciation for the good works of George W. Bush. It is increasingly likely that he will keep us in Iraq, bomb Iran, and try to start another war in Syria. Certainly he will torture more people and spy on citizens. But from a political standpoint, it may be thirty years before the Republicans recover from this administration.

Industry “Self-Monitors” Health and Safety Conditions on the Job

New York Times, April 24th. Seven years ago, a Missouri doctor discovered a troubling pattern at a microwave popcorn plant in the town of Jasper. After an additive was modified to produce a more buttery taste, nine workers came down with a rare, life-threatening disease that was ravaging their lungs.

Puzzled Missouri health authorities turned to two federal agencies in Washington. Scientists at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which investigates the causes of workplace health problems, moved quickly to examine patients, inspect factories and run tests. Within months, they concluded that the workers became ill after exposure to diacetyl, a food-flavoring agent.

But the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, charged with overseeing workplace safety, reacted with far less urgency. It did not step up plant inspections or mandate safety standards for businesses, even as more workers became ill.

On Tuesday, the top official at the agency told lawmakers at a Congressional hearing that it would prepare a safety bulletin and plan to inspect a few dozen of the thousands of food plants that use the additive.

That response reflects OSHA’s practices under the Bush administration, which vowed to limit new rules and roll back what it considered cumbersome regulations that imposed unnecessary costs on businesses and consumers. Across Washington, political appointees — often former officials of the industries they now oversee — have eased regulations or weakened enforcement of rules on issues like driving hours for truckers, logging in forests and corporate mergers.

Since George W. Bush became president, OSHA has issued the fewest significant standards in its history, public health experts say. It has imposed only one major safety rule. The only significant health standard it issued was ordered by a federal court. Click here to read more about money and “compassionate conservatives.”

Rick Renzi, who is being investigated by the Arizona U.S. Attorney’s office for corruption charges moved a step closer to a courtroom as the FBI raided the offices of his wife’s real estate company. They were apparently searching for additional records relating to two land swap transactions that resulted in a $4 million payment to a Renzi business partner.

Rick Renzi, four term Republican congressman, is attracting early attention from potential Democratic opponents. Officers from the Pinal County Democrats met this past week with Howard Shanker, a Flagstaff attorney and Democrat who has launched a campaign to unseat Renzi.

The Wall Street Journal has a detailed story revealing, for the first time we have seen, the details behind Renzi’s schemes. Acccording to the article, Renzi was promoting a land swap for Resolution Mining Company of Superiior, Arizona. Renzi demanded that someone purchase a 480 acre alfalfa field in Sierra Vista for $4 million. It turns out that the field was owned in part by a his business partner and possibly through his wife’s real estate firm. Resolution Mining Company balked at the transaction because the land price was “too high.” Eventually though the alfalfa field was purchased by a secretive investment firm known as Petrified Forest Group. Soon thereafter, Congressman Renzi, inserted a rider to bill in the House Natural Resources Committee favoring the swap and granting it federal priority.

Click here to read the story in the Wall Street Journal.

GOP Troubles May Hurt Their Bid to Re-take Congress in 2008 (Not that they really could!)

Johnathan Weisman, Washington Post

The abrupt resignations last week of two Republican House members from their sensitive committee assignments have thrust lingering legal and ethics issues back into the limelight, potentially complicating GOP efforts to retake Congress next year.

On successive days, Wednesday and Thursday, Reps. John T. Doolittle (Calif.) and Rick Renzi (Ariz.) disclosed FBI raids on their wives’ businesses. The men proclaimed their innocence, but the raids exposed their legal jeopardy. The announcements were only the most recent in a series of developments that have kept the focus on the old ethical and legal clouds that helped chase the Republican Party from power on Capitol Hill.

Two other lawmakers face possible ethics investigations amid allegations that they pressured a U.S. attorney in New Mexico to indict Democrats before last year’s fall elections.

Rep. Gary G. Miller (R-Calif.), under investigation by the FBI for a series of land deals, is now facing Democratic ads alleging that he lied about a land sale that he declined to pay taxes on.

Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) still faces FBI scrutiny of his work as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, and this month, his campaign filings showed that he has racked up $892,951.69 in legal fees since July. And for the first time, Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) reported significant legal fees — $15,620.60 — in his campaign filing this month, as he tries to stave off accusations that he used taxpayer-funded congressional staff and resources to do political work.  [Note from the Editor: In the case of Lewis, this was probalbly money spent to retain defense counsel, as he is or is about to be indicted.]

Click here to read more.

Now Administration Officials and the Chair of the House REPUBLICAN Conference Committe are throwing Gonzo under the bus.  CNN reports that several administration officials and the House Republican Conference chairman said Friday that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should step down, following the harsh response to his Senate testimony on last year’s firing of eight U.S. attorneys.

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee grilled Gonzales for hours Thursday about the dismissals.

The attorney general has been roundly criticized for his handling of the shakeup and for the shifting explanations Justice Department officials have given for the changes.

Gonzales said more than 60 times that he “couldn’t recall” certain incidents. His former chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, used that explanation 122 times during his testimony weeks ago.

Detractors say the Justice Department has not been straightforward about the reasons the attorneys were dismissed. The controversy has led to allegations of political interference with pending investigations. Click here to read more.

With all this talk about Bushies, you have to qualify your reference as to what kind of Bushie is under discussion. For example, there are Katrina Bushies who are plain incompetent. Then there are World Bank Bushies or Iraq War Bushies or even Iran Bushies. Alberto Gonzales who is normally an AG Bushie yesterday testified about “Loyal Bushies.” According to Gonzales that was the real test, if you are a “Loyal Bushie” you got to keep your U.S. prosecutor job.

However, yesterday, Alberto was a “Forgetting Bushie” as he replied “I don’t remember…” 74 times to questions from United States Senators while testifing under oath. Oh well, I guess he can take solace from the fact that his deputy, Kyle Sampson, could not remember 122 times. Read more about this in the Washington Post. But if you would like to laugh a little, follow this link to PoliticsTV.com where Comedy Central reviews Gonzo’s testimony.

The Pinal County Democrats hold their meetings at 7pm on the third Wednesday of each month in Florence. We generally gather for a dutch treat supper at about 5:30 pm at the A&M Pizza on Highway 287 west of Florence. This is great opportunity to meet and greet fellow Democrats in an informal setting. The meeting is held at the offices of the Pinal County Attorney at 31 N Pinal St. Carpooling is generally available from SaddleBrooke.