The General Accounting Office took the unusual step of releasing a ‘draft’ report on the Iraqi Surge saying that they did so to present the actual report to the public before the White House and Pentagon intervened to “edit and water down” the conclusions. This report presents the unvarnished conclusions of the congressionally mandated General Accounting Office.

Reuters, August 30th By Tabassum Zakaria
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Thursday played down a congressional report showing Iraq had achieved few of the political and security goals set by Washington, saying the standards were too high to meet.

A draft of the report by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, said Iraq met only three out of 18 benchmarks, The Washington Post reported. The report is to be delivered to Congress on Tuesday.

The findings appeared at odds with a more positive assessment the White House gave in July that Iraq had made progress on eight out of 18 benchmarks.

But the White House drew a distinction between the standards for the two reports, saying that the GAO looked at which political and security goals had actually been met, while the administration’s assessment was about progress being made.

“It’s no secret that many of the benchmarks have not been met,” White House spokesman Tony Snow said.

“If you’re trying to do an overall judgment on what’s going on in Iraq, the idea that somehow your standard is everything completed or nothing completed seems to me to be a pretty high standard to meet.

“On the other hand, if you’re trying to figure out are you making progress toward the goals that you have set out, that’s probably the proper way to look at it,” he said. Click here to read more at Reuters.

This story comes to us from the Washington Post. It makes the argument that Hurricane Katrina will be seen as the defining moment in the Bush Administration and it discusses the likely legacy. While not “news” we present this story as an Editor’s Choice.

Washington Post, August 28th, Dan Balz
America marks a grim event on Wednesday — the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the devastation it wrought. New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are still grappling with the consequences. So too is President Bush.

Bush’s presidency took a fateful turn during Katrina and reminders of the damage inflicted from that storm were resurrected again this week with the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. What linked the two events — and what has left the president permanently weakened — were perceptions of incompetence within the Bush administration.

Certainly Bush suffered from other problems as Katrina began to make its way through the Gulf of Mexico. By then, public support for the war in Iraq had begun to significantly erode. By then the president’s audacious plan to restructure Social Security was on life support on Capitol Hill. His approval rating had fallen into negative territory.

But the storyline of a bungling administration was far from fully realized before Katrina hit the coast. Democrats had lost too many elections to Bush to conclude that his political team was a gang that couldn’t shoot straight. The White House team enjoyed grudging respect from Democratic opponents for its discipline, strategic impulses and, yes, competence. Public approval of the president, while drifting down, was not yet in the danger zone.

Katrina suddenly changed all that. Bill McInturff, the Republican pollster, did an analysis Katrina’s effect on Bush’s approval ratings in the summer of 2006 and concluded that almost a year after the storm, the president was still suffering a post-Katrina hangover.  Click here to read the rest of this analysis by Dan Balz.

Alberto Gonzales the discredited Attorney General has joined the growing list of officials leaving public office. Accused of perjury, Alberto is, no doubt, hopeful that Congress will stop pursuing his crimes.

From the New York Times, August 27th.
WACO, Tex., Aug. 27 — Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, whose tenure has been marred by controversy and accusations of perjury before Congress, has resigned. A senior administration official said he would announce the decision later this morning in Washington.

Mr. Gonzales, who had rebuffed calls for his resignation, submitted his to President Bush by telephone on Friday, the official said. His decision was not immediately announced, the official added, until after the president invited him and his wife to lunch at his ranch near here.

Mr. Bush has not yet chosen a replacement but will not leave the position open long, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the resignation had not yet been made public.

Mr. Bush had repeatedly stood by Mr. Gonzales, an old friend and colleague from Texas, even as Mr. Gonzales faced increasing scrutiny for his leadership of the Justice Department, over issues including his role in the dismissals of nine United States attorneys late last year and whether he testified truthfully about the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs. Click here to read more in the New York Times.

The weekly Rasmussen Presidential Polls are out with Hilary Clinton leading in her quest to be the Democratic nominee. Hilary scored 38% over 27% for Barack Obama and 14% for John Edwards. Bill Richardson and Joe Biden bring up the rear at only 3%.

Hillary Clinton is favorably viewed by 77% of Democrats. Both John Edwards and Barack Obama are viewed favorably by about two thirds of Democrats.

On the Republican side of ledger Rudy Giuliani is ahead 24% to very close 22% for Fred Thompson. Mitt Romney and John McCain are favored by only 13% of likely Republican voters.  John McCain holds the distinction of being the most disliked Republican with a full 40% of the party faithful registering their disapproval.  This being the case, John is unlikely to even be considered for the number two spot.  Dead last among Republican candidates is Mike Huckebee.

Click here to read Rasmussen’s press release.

Republican Rick Renzi today announced that he will not run for re-election as he prepares himself for an expected federal corruption indictment. He has already been forced to give up all of his congressional committee assignments and many have expected him resign from congress.

However, it appears that Renzi wants to continue serving in the U.S. Congress as long as possible so that he can use public monies budgeted for his office expenses to pay lawyers assisting with his possible defense against criminal corruption charges.

The indictment could come at any time, perhaps within the next thirty days or so. So far, the Republican Party has not called for his resignation. Arizona political observers expect that Renzi may reach a point (trial commencement) that could force his resignation. If that point is reached before next April, then Arizona’s first congressional district would have a series of special elections to fill the seat. If Renzi holds on past next April, then the seat could be vacant at the time of next fall’s elections.

In any case Fox News, (Republican’s favorite place to announce bad news) is carrying the breaking story of Renzi’s continued troubles. Fox News, Associated Press, August 23, 2007

WASHINGTON — Three-term Rep. Rick Renzi, an Arizona Republican facing a federal inquiry into his family’s insurance business, has told colleagues he will not seek re-election next year, GOP officials said Thursday. {Fox News fails to mention that the expected indictment will name Rick Renzi, not his insurance business.}

Renzi becomes the fourth GOP House member in recent days to announce retirement plans, giving Democrats hopes of possibly picking up seats next year that otherwise would not be in play. However, leaders of both parties viewed Renzi as seriously damaged politically by the allegations against him, and several Republicans had let it be known they hoped he would step down.

Renzi gave up his House Intelligence Committee seat in April after FBI agents raided his wife’s insurance business. {Fox News fails to mention that all other committee assignments were canceled days later than the April date. At that same time, he was forced to quit the official Republican Party committee which raises money for Republican Congressmen.}

Renzi paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes while settling charges that his businesses improperly paid for his first congressional campaign. He also faces an inquiry into whether he used his House seat to help a former business partner make land swaps.

Renzi had been shadowed by ethical questions for several years but held onto his seat, winning 58 percent of the vote last November. Click here to read the full story.

Three Democrats have announced their candidacies for Arizona’s first congressional district. The three announced candidates are Ann Kirkpatrick, an Arizona State Senator from Flagstaff, Mary Kim Titla, a television journalist and Howard Shanker, an environmental lawyer also from Flagstaff.

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.

Diebold Inc. is the principle manufacturer of Touch Screen Voting Machines that appear to have design flaws that make it easy for election officials and others to alter vote counts and high jack elections.  The company has been severely criticized for also being a large political donor to the Republican Party.  The Company’s machines are implicated in numerous complaints of vote fraud, principally in Ohio and Florida during the 2004 and 2006 elections cycles.

Apparently they have decided that the potential fines and penalties are so great as to warrant the immediate sale of the Voting Machines Division.  Such a sale would normally contain legal documentation to “seal off” the parent corporation’s liability for past actions and liability.

In any event, the New York Times reports that Diebold Inc. has been trying unsuccessfully to sell the division for some time.  The aforementioned liability issues may be one stumbling point.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Diebold Inc. confirmed on Thursday what had been widely speculated since January: That it tried and failed to sell its often criticized voting technology business.

Instead, the company said, it will allow the unit to operate more independently, giving it a separate board of directors and perhaps a new management structure.

Diebold touch-screen voting machines are used in elections across the country, often amid criticism that the technology can be manipulated. The company has insisted touch-screen voting is reliable and an improvement over punch-card ballots that resulted in a complicated and difficult recount in Florida during the 2000 presidential election.

Diebold also slashed its revenue outlook $120 million for the year from its earlier full-year guidance of $185 million to $215 million for that segment because of delays by several states in purchasing voting equipment. The lowered revenue outlook, a cut of 56 percent to 65 percent, will slash the company’s earnings by 27 cents per share for the year.  Diebold did not rule out later selling part or all of the realigned business.  Click here to read more in the New York Times.

Republicans have again turned a scientific fact into a political battle. Nevertheless, today it has been reported that the Arctic Ice area has melted back to a smaller area than has ever been recorded in human history. They still deny that human use of fossil fuels (Big Corporate Oil and Big Corporate Coal) have indeed changed our planet for the worse. And the topper is that they don’t want to take any action whatsoever to preserve or protect our planet.

There’s less sea ice in the Arctic than ever before on record, and the melting is continuing.

• RISING TEMPERATURES: Sea ice in the Arctic helps keep the region cool by reflecting sunlight that might be absorbed by darker land or ocean surfaces.

• RECORD LOW: Scientists began monitoring the extent of Arctic sea ice in the 1970s when satellite images became available.

“Today is a historic day,” said Mark Serreze, a senior research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center. “This is the least sea ice we’ve ever seen in the satellite record and we have another month left to go in the melt season this year.”

Satellite measurements showed 2.02 million square miles of ice in the Arctic, falling below the Sept. 21, 2005, record minimum of 2.05 million square miles, the agency said.

Sea ice is particularly low in the East Siberian side of the Arctic and the Beaufort Sea north of Alaska, the center reported. Click here to read more from the Associated Press.

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.

At a state party meeting yesterday in Prescott which was attended by over 300 delegates for the Arizona Democratic Party (including at least two from SaddleBrooke), Don Bivens was chosen to succeed  David Waid as State Party Chairman.  David Waid resigned in late June to devote more time to his family and business.

Click here to read more at KOVA News 4 from Tucson.