Location, Location, Location! (Open Thread)
By SusanUnPC on July 22, 2007 at 10:53 PM in Afghanistan, Current Affairs, Foreign Aid, Iraq
– Cartoon by Mike Luckovich of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, sent to me by Leslie
Next, from McClatchy’s top article today, “Constant filibuster threat is tying Senate in knots“:
Senate Republicans this year are threatening filibusters to block more legislation than ever, a pattern that’s rooted in — and could increase — the pettiness and dysfunction in Congress.
The trend has been evolving for 30 years. The reasons behind it are too complex to pin on one party. But it has been especially pronounced since the Democrats’ razor-thin win in last year’s election, giving them effectively a 51-49 Senate majority, and the Republicans’ exile to the minority.
Seven months into the current two-year term, the Senate has held 42 “cloture” votes aimed at shutting off extended debate — filibusters, or sometimes only the threat of one — and moving to up-or-down votes on contested legislation. Under Senate rules that protect a minority’s right to debate, these votes require a 60-vote supermajority in the 100-member Senate.
Democrats have trouble mustering 60 votes; they have fallen short 22 times this year. That’s largely why they haven’t been able to deliver on campaign promises.
By sinking a cloture vote last week, Republicans successfully blocked a Democratic bid to withdraw most combat troops from Iraq by April, even though a 52-47 Senate majority voted to end debate.
Republicans also have blocked votes this year on immigration legislation, a no-confidence resolution for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and major legislation dealing with energy, labor rights and prescription drugs.
Nearly one in every six roll-call votes in the Senate this year has been a cloture vote. … READ ALL.
Other news items today:
- “Rice’s foreign-aid overhaul sparks backlash“:
… Rice responded to the disarray by handpicking corporate veteran Randall Tobias to manage a sweeping overhaul of U.S. foreign assistance. Tobias abruptly resigned in April after he admitted receiving massages from women linked to an alleged prostitution ring — but not before he created a system that aims to reshuffle billions of dollars in aid to better reflect the administration’s priorities.
Rice’s foreign-aid approach “sadly bears the hallmarks of our failed early assistance efforts in Iraq, where ideology and political connections trumped professionalism,” charged Pam Pearson, a foreign-service officer who had worked for Tobias, in a cable she sent to top State Department officials last fall.
The fight over U.S. foreign aid largely has been hidden from the public, but it is likely to emerge Tuesday, when the Senate holds confirmation hearings for Henrietta Holsman Fore, the undersecretary of state for management and the nominee to replace Tobias as the deputy secretary of state for foreign assistance.
The bulk of the $23 billion in annual U.S. foreign aid goes to a handful of key countries, leaving about 120 nations to battle over $3 billion of the pie. India is one of the big losers in Rice’s foreign-aid revolution. All U.S. aid to assist India in education, women’s rights, democracy and sanitation is terminated under the new system. Overall aid to India — where 80 percent of the population lives on less than $2 a day — would be cut 35 percent in 2008, to $81 million, on the theory that India has one of the best-performing economies in the world.
One promising U.S.-funded program in India is QUEST, a partnership with tech firms such as Microsoft and Lucent aimed at teaching critical skills in Indian classrooms. With Washington, D.C., promising about $2 million a year, QUEST grew from 200 to 2,000 schools in one year.
But without a continued U.S. contribution, the initiative probably will not survive. …
- “Mob Wars Hit New Heights in Israel“:
When an explosion goes off on a busy Israeli street these days, it seems as likely to be a mob hit as a Palestinian attack.
Rival underworld gangs are waging bloody battles for control of gambling and protection rackets, targeting each other with bullets, bombs and anti-tank missiles.
Organized crime, long overshadowed by the Arab-Israeli conflict, has become such a part of everyday life that Israel has its own “Sopranos”-style TV series, “The Arbitrator,” in which even synagogues are no refuge from hit men. …
, the basis for the Best Motion Picture Nominee (Golden Globes) starring Brad Pitt.
, the novel by John Le Carre, a new motion picture starring Gary Oldman and Colin Firth.
by 
* (Included in the 
* 
.by David Fredosso who wrote 2008's 
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