Republican the party of aristocracy that spread dire poverty across the US – destroyed individual rights and freedoms – brought down the economies of the world and destroyed the Greatest US prosperity and its foundation

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/plumbook/2008/2008_plum_book.pdf

The army of 7000 that President Bush used to get the Republican’s policies shoved across our landscape.

***
The National Economic Council (NEC) is a United States government agency in the Executive Office of the President. Created by President Bill Clinton in 1993 by Executive Order, its functions are to coordinate policy-making for domestic and international economic issues, coordinate economic policy advice for the President, ensure that policy decisions and programs are consistent with the President’s economic goals, and monitor implementation of the President’s economic policy agenda. The Director of the NEC is also Assistant to the President for Economic Policy.

The current Director is Lawrence Summers, appointed by President Obama in 2009.
Organization

The NEC is comprised of numerous department and agency heads within the administration, whose policy jurisdictions impact the nation’s economy. The NEC Director works in conjunction with these officials to coordinate and implement the President’s economic policy objectivesThe Director is supported by a staff of policy specialists in various fields including: agriculture, commerce, energy, financial markets, fiscal policy, healthcare, labor, and Social Security[1] .

[edit] Directors

* Robert Rubin (1993-1995)
* Laura D’Andrea Tyson (1995-1996)
* Gene Sperling (1996-2000)
* Lawrence Lindsey (2001-2002)
* Stephen Friedman (2002-2005)
* Allan Hubbard (2005-2007)
* Keith Hennessey (2007-2009)
* Lawrence Summers (2009- )

[edit] Deputy Directors

In the Obama Administration [2]:

* Diana Farrell
* Jason Furman

Deputy Directors for Domestic Affairs
This article may need to be updated. Please update the article to reflect recent events or newly available information, and remove this template when finished.

* Gene Sperling (1993-1996)
* Sally Katzen (1998-1999)
* William Dauster (1999-2000)
* Sarah Rosen Wartell (2000)
* D. Marc Sumerlin (2001-2002)
* Keith Hennessey (2002-2007)
* Charles Blahous (2007-2008)

[edit] Deputy Directors for International Affairs
This article may need to be updated. Please update the article to reflect recent events or newly available information, and remove this template when finished.

* Daniel Tarullo (1993-1998)
* Lael Brainard (1998-2000)
* Gary Edson (2001- )

[edit] Membership
Structure of the United States National Economic Council (2009)
Chair Barack Obama (President of the United States)
Director

Lawrence Summers (Assistant to the President for Economic Policy)
Regular Attendees

Joe Biden (Vice President)
Hillary Rodham Clinton (Secretary of State)
Timothy Geithner (Secretary of the Treasury)
Tom Vilsack (Secretary of Agriculture)
Gary Locke (Secretary of Commerce-pending confirmation)
Hilda Solis (Secretary of Labor)
Shaun Donovan (Secretary of Housing and Urban Development)
Ray LaHood (Secretary of Transportation)
Steven Chu (Secretary of Energy)
Additional Participants

Lisa P. Jackson (Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency)
Christina Romer (Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers)
Peter Orszag (Director of the Office of Management and Budget)
Ron Kirk (United States Trade Representative)
Melody Barnes (Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy)
James L. Jones (Assistant to the President for National Security)
John Holdren (Assistant to the President for Science and Technology Policy)

[edit] Further reading

* Sarah Rosen Wartell. “The White House: National Economic Council.” In Change for America: A Progressive Blueprint for the 44th President. Edited by Mark Green and Michele Jolin, 15-22. Washington: The Center for American Progress Action Fund, 2008.

[edit] References

1. ^ http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/nec/
2. ^ http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/ObamaAnnouncesDeputyDirectorsfortheNationalEconomicCouncil/

[edit] External links

* NEC page at whitehouse.gov

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Economic_Council

***
The Federal Budget, 2004–2009
(in billions of dollars)
Description   Actual
2004   Actual
2005   Estimates
2006   2007   2008   2009
Receipts by source
Individual income taxes   $809.0   $927.2   $997.6   $1,096.4   $1,208.5   $1,268.4
Corporate income taxes   189.4   278.3   277.1   260.6   268.5   277.1
Social insurance and retirement receipts   733.4   794.1   841.1   884.1   932.1   980.7
Excise taxes   69.9   73.1   73.5   74.6   75.9   77.5
Estate and gift taxes   24.8   24.8   27.5   23.7   24.4   26.0
Customs duties and fees   21.1   23.4   25.9   28.1   31.4   31.7
Miscellaneous receipts:
Federal Reserve deposits   19.7   19.3   27.5   32.7   35.4   38.5
All other   13.1   13.7   15.3   15.7   14.0   14.2
Total receipts   $1,880.3   $2,153.9   $2,285.5   $2,415.9   $2,590.3   $2,714.2
Outlays by function
National defense   455.9   495.3   535.9   527.4   494.4   494.3
International affairs   26.9   34.6   34.7   33.3   33.5   34.0
General science, space, and technology   23.1   23.7   24.0   25.4   26.6   27.8
Energy   –0.2   0.4   2.6   1.0   1.9   1.3
Natural resources and environment   30.7   28.0   32.7   31.0   29.5   29.3
Agriculture   15.4   26.6   26.8   25.7   23.5   21.9
Commerce and housing credit   5.3   7.6   9.1   11.2   8.1   7.4
Transportation   64.6   67.9   71.6   76.3   76.8   78.0
Community and regional development   15.8   26.3   52.0   28.2   21.1   20.7
Education, training, employment, and social services   87.9   97.5   109.7   87.6   86.8   85.8
Health   240.1   250.6   268.8   280.9   293.6   308.6
Medicare   269.4   298.6   343.0   392.0   404.3   426.4
Income security   333.1   345.8   360.6   367.2   375.6   383.1
Social security   495.5   523.3   554.7   585.9   616.3   649.7
Veterans’ benefits and services   59.8   70.2   70.4   73.9   79.0   81.5
Administration of justice   45.6   40.0   41.3   44.3   42.4   42.6
General government   22.3   17.0   19.1   20.2   22.8   18.8
Net interest   160.2   184.0   220.1   247.3   272.4   291.4
Allowances   —   —   3.7   5.5   3.1   2.6
Undistributed offsetting receipts   –58.5   –65.2   –72.4   –94.3   –98.1   –83.6
Total outlays   $2,293.0   $2,472.2   $2,708.7   $2,770.1   $2,813.6   $2,921.8
Source: Department of the Treasury and Office of Management and Budget.

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0873746.html

#
FindLaw: U.S. Constitution: Article I: Annotations pg. 33 of 58
Avoidance of multiple taxation, or the risk of multiple taxation, …. ”When a state statute clearly discriminates against interstate commerce, ….. Rebman, 138 U.S. 78 (1891) (law requiring postslaughter inspection in each county of …
caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/article01/33.html – 110k – Cached – Similar pages

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1B3GGGL_enUS258US258&q=US+laws+against+multiple+taxation&btnG=Search

***
History and Government > U.S. Government > Government Officials
Cabinet Members Under Reagan

Secretary of State
Alexander M. Haig, Jr., 1981
George P. Shultz, 1982

Secretary of the Treasury
Donald T. Regan, 1981
James A. Baker 3rd, 1985
Nicholas F. Brady, 1988

Secretary of Defense
Caspar W. Weinberger, 1981
Frank C. Carlucci, 1987

Attorney General
William French Smith, 1981
Edwin Meese 3rd, 1985
Richard L. Thornburgh, 1988

Secretary of the Interior
James G. Watt, 1981
William P. Clark, 1983
Donald P. Hodel, 1985

Secretary of Agriculture
John R. Block, 1981
Richard E. Lyng, 1986

Secretary of Commerce
Malcolm Baldrige, 1981
C. William Verity, Jr., 1987

Secretary of Labor
Raymond J. Donovan, 1981
William E. Brock, 1985
Ann Dore McLaughlin, 1987

Secretary of Health and Human Services
Richard S. Schweiker, 1981
Margaret M. Heckler, 1983
Otis R. Bowen, 1985

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Samuel R. Pierce, Jr., 1981

Secretary of Transportation
Andrew L. Lewis, Jr., 1981
Elizabeth H. Dole, 1983
James H. Burnley 4th, 1987

Secretary of Energy
James B. Edwards, 1981
Donald P. Hodel, 1983
John S. Herrington, 1985

Secretary of Education
T. H. Bell, 1981
William J. Bennett, 1985
Lauro F. Cavazos, 1988

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0101271.html

History and Government > U.S. Government > Government Officials
Cabinet Members Under G. H. W. Bush

Secretary of State
James A. Baker 3d, 1989
Lawrence S. Eagleburger, 1992

Secretary of the Treasury
Nicholas F. Brady (Cont.)

Secretary of Defense
Richard Cheney, 1989

Attorney General
Richard L. Thornburgh (Cont.)
William P. Barr, 1992

Secretary of the Interior
Manuel Lujan Jr., 1989

Secretary of Agriculture
Clayton K. Yeutter, 1989
Edward Madigan, 1991

Secretary of Commerce
Robert A. Mosbacher Sr., 1989
Barbara H. Franklin, 1992

Secretary of Labor
Elizabeth H. Dole, 1989
Lynn Martin, 1991

Secretary of Health and Human Services
Louis W. Sullivan, 1989

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Jack F. Kemp, 1989

Secretary of Transportation
Samuel K. Skinner, 1989
Andrew Card, 1992

Secretary of Energy
James D. Watkins, 1989

Secretary of Education
Lauro F. Cavazos (Cont.)
Lamar Alexander, 1991

Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Edward J. Derwinski, 1989

History and Government > U.S. Government > Government Officials
Cabinet Members Under Clinton

Secretary of State
Warren M. Christopher, 1993
Madeleine Albright, 1996

Secretary of the Treasury
Lloyd Bentsen, 1993
Robert E. Rubin, 1995–1999
Lawrence H. Summers, 1999

Secretary of Defense
Les Aspin, 1993
William J. Perry, 1994
William S. Cohen, 1997

Attorney General
Janet Reno, 1993

Secretary of the Interior
Bruce Babbitt, 1993

Secretary of Agriculture
Mike Espy, 1993
Dan Glickman, 1995

Secretary of Commerce
Ronald H. Brown, 1993
Mickey Kantor, 1996
William M. Daley, 1997
Norman Y. Mineta, 2000

Secretary of Labor
Robert B. Reich, 1993
Alexis Herman, 1997

Secretary of Health and Human Services
Donna E. Shalala, 1993

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Henry G. Cisneros, 1993
Andrew M. Cuomo, 1997

Secretary of Transportation
Federico F. Pena, 1993
Rodney Slater, 1997

Secretary of Energy
Hazel R. O’Leary, 1993
Frederico F. Pena, 1997
Bill Richardson, 1998

Secretary of Education
Richard W. Riley, 1993

Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Jesse Brown, 1993
Togo D. West, Jr., 1998

History and Government > U.S. Government > Government Officials
Cabinet Members Under G. W. Bush

Secretary of State
Gen. Colin L. Powell, 2001–2005
Condoleezza Rice, 2005–2008

Secretary of the Treasury
Paul H. O’Neill, 2001–2002
John Snow, 2003–2006
Henry Paulson, 2006–2008

Secretary of Defense
Donald H. Rumsfeld, 2001–2006
Robert Gates, 2006–(cont thru 2009)

Attorney General
John Ashcroft, 2001–2005
Alberto Gonzales, 2005
Michael Mukasey, 2007–2008

Secretary of the Interior
Gale A. Norton, 2001–2006
Dirk Kempthorne, 2006–2008

Secretary of Agriculture
Ann M. Veneman, 2001–2005
Mike Johanns, 2005–2007
Edward T. Schafer, 2008–

Secretary of Commerce
Donald L. Evans, 2001–2005
Carlos Gutierrez, 2005–2008

Secretary of Labor
Elaine L. Chao, 2001–2008

Secretary of Health and Human Services
Tommy G. Thompson, 2001–2005
Mike Leavitt, 2005–2008

Secretary of Homeland Security
Tom Ridge, 2003–2005
Michael Chertoff, 2005–2008

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Melquiades R. Martinez, 2001
Alphonso Jackson, 2003–2008
Steven C. Preston, 2008–2008

Secretary of Transportation
Norman Y. Mineta, 2001–2006
Mary E. Peters, 2006–2008

Secretary of Energy
Spencer Abraham, 2001–2005
Samuel Bodman, 2005–2008

Secretary of Education
Roderick R. Paige, 2001–2005
Margaret Spellings, 2005–2008

Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Anthony Principi, 2001–2005
Jim Nicholson, 2005–2007
James Peake, 2007–2008

***

History and Government > U.S. Government > Executive Departments and Agencies
White House Offices and Agencies

* Office of Administration
* Eisenhower Executive Office Bldg.,
725 17th St., NW (20503)
* Established: Dec. 12, 1977
* Director: John E. Straub
* The Office of Administration provides administrative support to all units in the Executive Office of the President. The services include personnel, financial management, data processing, library services, records maintenance, and general office operations.

* Office of National Drug Control Policy
* Executive Office of the President (20503)
* Established: Jan. 29, 1989
* Acting Director: Patrick M. Ward
* This office sets policies, priorities, and objectives for the nation’s drug-control program, which is intended to reduce illegal drug use, manufacturing, and trafficking, as well cut the rate of drug-related crime and violence.

* Council of Economic Advisers (CEA)
* 1800 G. St., NW (20502)
* Members: 3
* Established: Feb. 20, 1946
* Chair nominee: Christina Romer
* The CEA helps the President devise an economic policy that promotes employment, production, and purchasing power.

* Council on Environmental Quality
* 722 Jackson Place, NW (20503)
* Established: 1969
* Chair nominee: Nancy Sutley
* The council works with the President to formulate programs, strategies, laws, and regulations that help preserve the environment and the country’s natural resources.

* Office of Management and Budget
* Executive Office of the President, 725 17th St., NW (20503)
* Established: July 1, 1939
* Director: Peter Orszag
* The OMB helps the President prepare the Federal budget and makes sure the other executive agencies comply with its provisions.

* Office of Science and Technology Policy
* Executive Office of the President, 725 17th St., NW, Room 5228 (20502)
* Established: May 11, 1976
* Acting Director: Ted Wackler
* The Office of Science and Technology works to ensure that the United States remains a world leader in science and technology.

* National Security Council (NSC)
* Eisenhower Executive Office Bldg. (20504)
* Members: 4
* Established: July 26, 1947
* Chair: The President
* National Security Adviser: Stephen Hadley
* Other members: Vice President; Secretary of State; Secretary of Defense
* The NSC’s primary function is to advise and assist the President on national security and foreign policy.

* Office of the United States Trade Representative
* 600 17th St., NW (20508)
* Established: Jan. 15, 1963
* Trade Representative: Peter F. Allgeier
* The Office of the United States Trade Representative develops and coordinates U.S. international trade, commodity, and direct-investment policy. The office also directs negotiations with other countries on such matters.

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0197404.html

***
History and Government > U.S. Government > Executive Departments and Agencies
Executive Departments

* Department of Agriculture
* 1400 Independence Ave., SW (20250)
* Established: May 15, 1862. Administered by Commissioner of Agriculture until 1889, when it was made executive department.
* Function: Supervises agricultural production to make sure prices are fair; helps farmers financially with subsidies and development programs; helps food producers sell their goods overseas; runs food assistance and nutrition programs. The USDA’s inspection and grading programs make sure food is safe to eat.
* Secretary: Tom Vilsack

* Department of Commerce
* 1401 Constitution Ave., NW (20230)
* Established: Department of Commerce and Labor was created Feb. 14, 1903. On March 4, 1913, all labor activities were transferred out of Department of Commerce and Labor and it was renamed Department of Commerce.
* Function: Promotes international trade, economic growth, and technological advancement; works to keep the U.S. competitive in international markets and to prevent unfair foreign trade practices; gathers statistics for business and government planners.
* Secretary: Otto J. Wolff (acting)

* Department of Defense
* Office of the Secretary, The Pentagon (20301-1155)
* Established: July 26, 1947, as National Military Establishment; name changed to Department of Defense on Aug. 10, 1949. Subordinate to Secretary of Defense are Secretaries of Army, Navy, Air Force.
* Function: Oversees everything related to the nation’s military security; directs the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force, as well as the Joint Chiefs of Staff and several specialized combat commands; nonmilitary responsibilities including flood control, development of oceanographic resources, and management of oil reserves.
* Secretary: Robert Gates
* Deputy Secretary: William Lynn (designate)
* Secretary of Army: Pete Geren
* Secretary of Navy: Donald C. Winter
* Secretary of Air Force: Michael Donley
* Commandant of Marine Corps: James T. Conway
* Joint Chiefs of Staff: Adm. Michael Mullen, Navy, Chairman; Gen. James E. Cartwright, Marine Corps, Vice Chairman; Gen. George W. Casey Jr., Army; Adm. Gary Roughead, Navy; Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, Air Force; Gen. James T. Conway, Marine Corps.

* Department of Education
* 400 Maryland Ave., SW (20202)
* Established: Oct. 17, 1979
* Function: Administers more than 150 federal education programs, including student loans, migrant worker training, vocational education, and special programs for the handicapped. The Department of Education took over many of the education programs previously managed by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and six other agencies.
* Secretary: Arne Duncan

* Department of Energy
* 1000 Independence Ave., SW (20585)
* Established: Oct. 1, 1977
* Function: Responsible for the research and development of energy technology; energy conservation; the civilian and military use of nuclear energy; regulation of energy production and use; pricing and allocation of oil; sets standards to reduce the harmful effects of energy production.
* Secretary: Steven Chu

* Department of Health and Human Services
* 200 Independence Ave., SW (20201)
* Established: Formed April 11, 1953, replacing Federal Security Agency created in 1939. On Oct. 17, 1979, the Department of Education became a separate department.
* Function: Administers Social Security; funds Medicare and Medicaid; offers social services for poor families, Native Americans, children, the elderly, migrants, refugees, and the handicapped; oversees institutes dealing with mental health and substance abuse; works to control preventable and infectious diseases; conducts research on cancer, AIDS, child health, aging, and other issues; ensures the safety of the nation’s food supply and tests and approves all drugs.
* Secretary: Tom Daschle (designate)
* Surgeon General: Dr. Sanjay Gupta (designate)

* Department of Homeland Security
* Washington, DC 20528
* Established: The most significant transformation of the U.S. government since 1947 was formed in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, when 22 separate agencies were combined to become the cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security. It became an official cabinet department Jan. 24, 2003.
* Function: To protect the nation against threats to the homeland.
* Secretary: Janet Napolitano

* Department of Housing and Urban Development
* 451 7th St., SW (20410)
* Established: Nov. 9, 1965, replacing Housing and Home Finance Agency created in 1947
* Function: Promotes community development; administers fair-housing laws; provides affordable housing and rent subsidies.
* Secretary: Shaun Donovan (designate)

* Department of the Interior
* 1849 C St., NW (20240)
* Established: March 3, 1849
* Function: Protects the natural environment; develops the country’s natural resources; manages national parks, monuments, rivers, seashores, lakes, outdoor recreation areas, and historic sites; oversees more than 400 wildlife refuges, research centers, wildfowl production areas, and fish hatcheries; supervises economic development and environmental protection of public land; helps Native Americans living on reservations. The Department of the Interior is also responsible for the following U.S. territories: the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, the Trust Territory of Palau, and the Freely Associated States (Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia).
* Secretary: Ken Salazar

* Department of Justice
* 950 Pennsylvania Ave., NW (20530)
* Established: Office of Attorney General was created Sept. 24, 1789. Although one of the original cabinet members, the attorney general was not an executive department head until June 22, 1870, when the Department of Justice was established.
* Function: Supervises U.S. district attorneys and marshals; supervises federal prisons and other penal institutions; advises the President on petitions for paroles and pardons; represents the U.S. government in legal matters and gives legal advice to the president and other members of the Cabinet; researches violations of federal laws; administers immigration laws.
* Attorney General: Eric Holder (designate)
* Solicitor General: Elena Kagan (designate)
* Director of FBI: Robert S. Mueller, III

* Department of Labor
* 200 Constitution Ave., NW (20210)
* Established: Bureau of Labor was created in 1884 under Department of the Interior; later became independent department without executive rank. Returned to bureau status in Department of Commerce and Labor, but on March 4, 1913, became independent executive department under its present name.
* Function: Protects the rights of workers; helps improve working conditions; promotes good relations between labor and management. The Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks changes in employment, prices, and other national economic statistics.
* Secretary: Hilda Solis (designate)

* Department of State
* 2201 C St., NW (20520)
* Established: 1781 as Department of Foreign Affairs; reconstituted, 1789, following adoption of Constitution; name changed to Department of State Sept. 15, 1789.
* Function: Advises the president on foreign-policy issues; works to carry out the country’s foreign policy; maintains relations between foreign countries and the U.S.; negotiates treaties and agreements with foreign nations; speaks for the U.S. in the United Nations and other major international organizations; supervises embassies, missions, and consulates overseas.
* Secretary: Hillary Rodham Clinton
* UN Ambassador: Susan Rice
* Deputy UN Ambassador: Alejandro Daniel Wolff

* Department of Transportation
* 1200 New Jersey Ave, SE (20590)
* Established: Oct. 15, 1966, as result of Department of Transportation Act, which became effective April 1, 1967.
* Function: Sets the nation’s transportation policy. There are nine administrations within the department whose jurisdictions include highway planning, development, and construction; aviation; urban mass transit; railroads; and the safety of waterways, ports, highways, and oil and gas pipelines. Also supervises the Coast Guard, which is responsible for search and rescue at sea and the enforcement of laws that protect oceans and waterways from oil spills and other pollution.
* Secretary: Ray LaHood

* Department of the Treasury
* 1500 Pennsylvania Ave., NW (20220)
* Established: Sept. 2, 1789
* Function: Reports to Congress and the president on the financial state of the government and the economy; regulates the interstate and foreign sale of alcohol and firearms; supervises the printing of stamps for the U.S. Postal Service; curbs counterfeiting; and operates the Customs Service, which regulates and taxes imports. The Internal Revenue Service, a branch of the Treasury, regulates tax laws and collects Federal taxes.
* Secretary: Timothy Geithner (designate)
* Treasurer of the U.S.: Anna Escobedo Cabral

* Department of Veterans Affairs
* 810 Vermont Ave., NW (20420)
* Established: March 15, 1989, replacing Veterans Administration created in 1930
* Function: Provides benefits and services to veterans and their dependents; offers pensions, education, rehabilitation, home loan guarantees, burial, compensation payments for disabilities or death related to military service, and a medical care program.
* Secretary: Eric Shinseki

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0101303.html

***
History and Government >U.S. Government >Executive Departments and Agencies
Major Independent Agencies

There are several administrative divisions of the government whose job it is to enforce and administer laws and regulations. Because provisions for these agencies were not outlined in the Constitution, they are considered independent extensions of the U.S. government. Here is a list of some of the major agencies.

* Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
Office of Public Affairs (20505)
Established: 1947
Director of Central Intelligence: Leon Panetta
The CIA conducts counterintelligence activities and other functions related to foreign intelligence and national security, as directed by the President and National Security Council. The Director reports to the Director of National Intelligence.
www.cia.gov

* U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
624 9th St., NW (20425)
Established: 1957
Chair: Gerald A. Reynolds
The commission investigates complaints of discrimination and denial of equal protection of laws, evaluates Federal laws concerning discrimination and denial of equal protection, and issues public service messages that discourage discrimination.
www.usccr.gov

* Consumer Product Safety Commission
4330 East-West Highway, Bethesda, Md. 20814
Established: Oct. 27, 1972
Chair: Pamela Gilbert
The CPSC aims to reduce the risk of injuries and deaths from consumer products by developing and enforcing safety standards, recalling defective products, and researching potentially hazardous products.
www.cpsc.gov

* Corporation for National and Community Service
1201 New York Ave., NW (20525)
Established: Sept. 1993
CEO: Nicola O. Goren
www.cns.gov

* Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW (20460)
Established: Dec. 2, 1970
Administrator: Lisa Jackson
The EPA mission is to protect human health and the natural environment—air, water, and land—by making and enforcing environmental laws.
www.epa.gov

* Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
1801 L. St., NW (20507)4
Members: 5
Established: July 2, 1965
Chair: Stuart J. Ishimaru
The EEOC promotes equal opportunity in employment by enforcing federal civil-rights laws and through education and technical assistance.
www.eeoc.gov

* Farm Credit Administration (FCA)
1501 Farm Credit Dr., McLean, Va. 22102-5090
Members: 13
Established: March 27, 1933
Chair: Leland A. “Lee” Strom
www.fca.gov

* Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
445 12th Street, SW (20554)
Established: 1934
Chair: Michael Copps
www.fcc.gov

* Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
550 17th St., NW (20429-9990)
Established: June 16, 1933
Chair: Sheila C. Bair
The FDIC insures banks deposits so that people’s money is protected if a bank fails. The FDIC also supervises 6,000 banks and financial institutions and manages bank failures to minimize complications.
www.fdic.gov

* Federal Election Commission (FEC)
999 E St., NW (20463)
Members: 6
Established: 1975
Chair: Steven T. Walther
The FEC was created uphold the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), which regulates the financing of federal elections.
www.fec.gov

* Federal Maritime Commission
800 North Capitol St., NW (20573-0001)
Members: 5
Established: Aug. 12, 1961
Chair: Steven R. Blust
www.fmc.gov

* Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS)
2100 K St., NW (20427)
Established: 1947
Director: Scot L. Beckenbaugh
www.fmcs.gov

* Federal Reserve System (FRS), Board of Governors of
20th St. & Constitution Ave., NW (20551)
Members: 7
Established: Dec. 23, 1913
Chair: Ben Bernanke
The Federal Reserve System, which includes 12 regional Federal reserve banks that are supervised by a Federal Reserve Board, is the central bank of the United States. Its original mission was to ensure the country’s financial system remained stable. Its role has expanded and now includes regulating credit conditions and loan rates, regulating banks, and advising the government on the country’s payments system.
www.federalreserve.gov

* Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW (20580)
Members: 5
Established: Sept. 26, 1914
Chair: William E. Kovacic
The FTC enforces several federal antitrust and consumer-protection laws. The Commission makes sure the nation’s businesses are competitive, healthy, free of unfair restrictions, and are fair to consumers.
www.ftc.gov

* General Services Administration (GSA)
1800 F St., NW (20405)
Established: July 1, 1949
Administrator: James A. Williams
www.gsa.gov

* U.S. International Trade Commission
500 E St., SW (20436)
Members: 6
Established: Sept. 8, 1916
Chair: Shara L. Aranoff
www.usitc.gov

* National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Public Communications and Inquiries Management Office, NASA Headquarters, Suite 1M32 (20546-0001)
Established: 1958
Administrator: Christopher J. Scolese
NASA conducts research and develops programs in the areas of space exploration, artificial satellites, and rocketry. NASA’s best known projects are the Space Shuttle, the Hubble Space Telescope, the Galileo mission to Jupiter, and the agency’s aeronautics research.
www.nasa.gov

# National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, Md. 20740-6001
Established: Oct. 19, 1984. NARA is the successor agency to the National Archives Establishment, which was created in 1934 and later incorporated into the General Services Administration as the National Archives and Records Service in 1949.
Archivist of the U.S.: Adrienne Thomas
www.nara.gov

# National Endowment for the Arts
1100 Pennsylvania Ave., NW (20506)
Established: 1965
Chair: Dana Gioia
The foundation supports the arts by funding museums, artists, and arts-related programs for schools and communities.
www.arts.gov

# National Endowment for the Humanities
1100 Pennsylvania Ave., NW (20506)
Established: 1965
Chair: Carole Watson
The foundation supports the arts by funding museums, artists, and arts-related programs for schools and communities.
www.neh.gov

# Director of National Intelligence (DNI), Office of
Washington, DC (20511)
Established: Dec. 2004
Director: Dennis C. Blair
The position of Director of National Intelligence was created by Congress in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001. The National Intelligence Reform Act was passed by Congress in Dec. 2004, formally establishing the post. The director oversees the Central Intelligence Agency and 14 smaller intelligence agencies and will determine what information reaches the president. It is a cabinet-level position.
www.dni.gov

# National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
1099 14th St., NW (20570-0001)
Members: 5
Established: July 5, 1935
Chair: Wilma B. Liebman
The NLRB enforces the National Labor Relations Act, which is the law that oversees relations between unions and employers in the private sector. It holds elections to determine if employees want to unionize and investigates and fixes unfair labor practices by employers and unions.
www.nlrb.gov

# National Mediation Board
1301 K St., NW, Suite 250 East (20005-7011)
Established: June 21, 1934
Chair: Read Van de Water
www.nmb.gov

# National Science Foundation (NSF)
4201 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, Va. 22230
Established: 1950
Director: Arden L. Bement
The NSF promotes science and engineering through research and education programs.
www.nsf.gov

# National Transportation Safety Board
490 L’Enfant Plaza, SW (20594)
Members: 5
Established: April 1, 1967, as an independent agency supported by the Dept. of Transportation. Ties with Dept. of Transportation officially ended in 1975.
Chair: Mark V. Rosenker
The NTSB investigates every civil aviation accident in the United States, as well as railroad, highway, and marine accidents. The board also makes safety recommendations aimed at preventing future accidents.
www.ntsb.gov

# Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
Washington, DC 20555
Members: 5
Established: Jan. 19, 1975
Chair: Dale E. Klein
The NRC licenses and regulates the nonmilitary use of nuclear energy to protect the public and the environment.
www.nrc.gov

# Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
1900 E St., NW (20415)
Established: Jan. 1, 1979
Director: Kathie A. Whipple
www.opm.gov

# Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
100 F St., NE (20549)
Members: 5
Established: July 2, 1934
Chair: Mary L. Schapiro
The SEC administers federal securities laws. These laws protect investors in securities markets and ensure that investors have access to information about publicly traded securities. The Commission also regulates firms engaged in the purchase or sale of securities, people who provide investment advice, and investment companies.
www.sec.gov

# Selective Service System (SSS)
National Headquarters, Arlington, Va., 22209-2425
Established: Sept. 16, 1940
Director: William A. Chatfield
www.sss.gov

# Small Business Administration (SBA)
409 3rd St., SW (20416)
Established: July 30, 1953
Administrator: Karen Gordon Mills
The SBA provides financial, technical, and management assistance to help Americans start, run, and grow their businesses.
www.sba.gov

# Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
400 West Summit Hill Drive, Knoxville, Tenn. 37902-1499
Members of Board of Directors: 3
Established: May 18, 1933
Chairman: Tom Kilgore
www.tva.com

# U.S. Postal Service
475 L’Enfant Plaza, SW (20260-0010)
Established: In 1775 with the appointment of Benjamin Franklin as the first postmaster general under the Continental Congress. In 1970 became independent agency headed by 11-member board of governors.
Postmaster General: John E. Potter
www.usps.com

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0101318.html

***
Other Independent Agencies

Find the mailing address and visit the websites of the U.S. governement’s smaller independent agencies.
Major Independent Agencies | Legislative Department | Quasi-Official Agencies

* American Battle Monuments Commission
2300 Clarendon Blvd., Suite 500, Arlington, Va. 22201
www.abmc.gov

* Appalachian Regional Commission
1666 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 700 (20009-1068)
www.arc.gov

* Commission of Fine Arts
401 F St., NW, Ste. 312 (20001)
www.cfa.gov

* Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Three Lafayette Centre, 1155 21st St., NW (20581)
www.cftc.gov

* Export-Import Bank of the United States
811 Vermont Ave., NW (20571)
www.exim.gov

* Federal Housing Finance Board
1625 Eye St., NW (20006-4001)
www.fhfb.gov

* Federal Labor Relations Authority
1400 K St., NW (20005)
www.fmc.gov

* Inter-American Foundation
901 N. Stuart St., 10th Floor, Arlington, Va. 22203
www.iaf.gov

# National Commission on Libraries and Information Science
1800 M St., NW, Suite 350 North Tower (20036-5841)
www.nclis.gov

# National Credit Union Administration
1775 Duke St., Alexandria, Va. 22314-3428
www.ncua.gov

# Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission
1120 20th St., NW (20036-3419)
www.oshrc.gov

# U.S. Parole Commission
Dept. of Justice, 5550 Friendship Blvd., Ste. 420, Chevy Chase, Md. 20815-7286
www.usdoj.gov/uspc/

# Peace Corps
1111 20th St., NW (20526)
www.peacecorps.gov

# Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
1200 K St., NW (20005-4026)
www.pbgc.gov

# Postal Rate Commission
901 New York Ave., NW, Suite 200 (20268-0001)
www.prc.gov

# President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports
Dept. W, 200 Independence Ave., SW, Room 738-H (20201-0004)
www.fitness.gov

# Railroad Retirement Board (RRB)
844 N. Rush St., Ninth Floor, Chicago, Ill. 60611-2092; Office of Legislative Affairs: 1310 G St., N.W, Ste. 500 (20005-3004)
www.rrb.gov

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0101350.html

***
Business and Finance > Economy > U.S. Economy and the Federal Budget
Federal Outlays by Agency, 2004–2007
(in millions of dollars)
Department or agency    2004    2005    2006    2007
(estimate)
Legislative Branch    $ 3,885    $ 4,000    $ 4,128    $ 4,306
The Judiciary    5,392    5,566    5,823    5,845
Agriculture    71,769    85,284    93,534    88,767
Commerce    5,850    6,168    6,373    6,179
Defense—Military    437,116    474,434    499,357    548,915
Education    62,819    72,945    93,429    68,040
Energy    19,972    21,347    19,649    21,988
Health and Human Services    543,389    581,527    614,315    671,254
Homeland Security    26,537    39,302    69,098    50,418
Housing and Urban Development    45,019    42,518    42,435    42,834
Interior    8,936    9,101    9,064    10,877
Justice    28,954    22,723    23,324    23,039
Labor    56,706    46,965    43,138    47,440
State    10,934    12,817    12,962    16,322
Transportation    54,548    56,931    60,139    63,775
Treasury    375,360    408,742    464,712    490,507
Veterans Affairs    59,554    69,995    69,807    72,325
Corps of Engineers    4,838    4,766    6,944    7,557
Other Defense—Civil Programs    41,730    43,483    44,436    47,636
Environmental Protection Agency    8,334    7,920    8,321    8,038
Executive Office of the President    3,308    7,723    5,379    2,677
General Services Administration    –403    55    24    498
International Assistance Programs    13,737    14,954    13,944    17,061
National Aeronautics and Space Administration    $ 15,189    $ 15,613    $ 15,125    $ 16,143
National Science Foundation    5,118    5,435    5,542    5,860
Office of Personnel Management    56,535    59,511    62,400    58,802
Small Business Administration    4,075    2,502    905    675
Social Security Administration (On-budget)    49,005    54,547    53,252    55,740
Social Security Administration (Off-budget)    481,200    506,779    532,491    567,179
Other Independent Agencies (On-budget)    10,256    16,556    14,008    16,066
Other Independent Agencies (Off-budget)    –4,130    –1,791    -1,075    2,642
Allowances    —    —    —    8,002
Undistributed offsetting receipts    –212,526    –226,213    –237,548    –263,140
(On-budget)    (–114,967)    (–123,436)    (–128,201)    (–144,602)
(Off-budget)    (–97,559)    (–102,777)    (–109,347)    (–118,538)
Total outlays    $2,293,006    2,472,205    2,655,435    2,784,267

Source: Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2008.

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0908462.html

***
Receipts and Outlays of the Federal Government, 1789–2008
(in millions of dollars)
Year    Total    On-budget1
Receipts    Outlays    Surplus or
deficit (–)    Receipts    Outlays    Surplus or
deficit (–)
1789–1849    $1,160    $1,090    $70    $1,160    $1,090    $70
1850–1900    14,462    15,453    –991    14,462    15,453    –991
1905    544    567    –23    544    567    –23
1910    676    694    –18    676    694    –18
1915    683    746    –63    683    746    –63
1920    6,649    6,358    291    6,649    6,358    291
1925    3,641    2,924    717    3,641    2,924    717
1930    4,058    3,320    738    4,058    3,320    738
1935    3,609    6,412    –2,803    3,609    6,412    –2,803
1940    6,548    9,468    –2,920    5,998    9,482    –3,484
1945    45,159    92,712    –47,553    43,849    92,569    –48,720
1950    39,443    42,562    –3,119    37,336    42,038    –4,702
1955    65,451    68,444    –2,933    60,370    64,461    –4,091
1960    92,492    92,191    301    81,851    81,341    510
1965    116,817    118,228    –1,411    100,094    101,699    –1,605
1970    192,807    195,649    –2,842    159,348    168,042    –8,694
1975    279,090    332,332    –53,242    216,633    271,892    –55,260
1980    517,112    590,947    –73,835    403,903    476,618    –72,715
1985    734,088    946,423    –212,334    547,918    769,615    –221,698
1990    1,032,094    1,253,130    –221,036    750,439    1,028,065    –277,626
1995    1,351,932    1,515,884    –163,952    1,000,853    1,227,220    –226,367
2000    2,025,457    1,789,216    236,241    1,544,873    1,458,451    86,422
2001    1,991,426    1,863,190    128,236    1,483,907    1,516,352    –32,445
2002    1,853,395    2,011,153    –157,758    1,338,074    1,655,491    –317,417
2003    1,782,532    2,160,117    –377,585    1,258,690    1,797,108    –538,418
2004    1,880,279    2,293,006    –412,727    1,345,534    1,913,495    –567,961
2005    2,153,859    2,472,205    –318,346    1,576,383    2,069,994    –493,611
2006    2,407,254    2,655,435    –248,181    1,798,872    2,233,366    –434,494
20072    2,540,096    2,784,267    –244,171    1,905,966    2,332,984    –427,018
20082    2,662,474    2,901,861    –239,387    1,988,389    2,439,334    –450,945
NOTES: 1789–1842: federal fiscal year ended Dec. 31; 1844–1976: June 30; 1977–present: Sept. 30.
1. Excludes the Social Security surplus. For years prior to 1933, on-budget surplus was not calculated separately.
2. Estimated.
Source: The Budget for Fiscal Year 2008.

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0104753.html

Republicans will undertake an urgent effort to rebuild the intelligence agencies, and to give full support to their knowledgeable and dedicated staffs. We will propose legislation to enable intelligence officers and their agents to operate safely and efficiently abroad.

We will support legislation to invoke criminal sanctions against anyone who discloses the identities of U.S. intelligence officers abroad or who makes unauthorized disclosures of U.S. intelligence sources and methods.

Excerpt from 1980 Republican platform for Ronald Reagan

**My Note -

apparently this only applies if it isn’t a Republican that discloses it.

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=25844

***

As the Party of the open door, while steadfast in our commitment to our ideals, we respect and accept that members of our Party can have deeply held and sometimes differing views. This diversity is a source of strength, not a sign of weakness, and so we welcome into our ranks all who may hold differing positions. We commit to resolve our differences with civility, trust, and mutual respect, and to affirm the common goals and beliefs that unite us.

As the Party of Lincoln, we stand for freedom.

We stand for the freedom of families and individuals to have good schools, good health care, and affordable housing and services.

We stand for the freedom that comes with a good paying job in a growing economy.

We stand for the freedom and dignity of every human life, in every stage of life.

We know that freedom is not America’s gift to the world; freedom is the Almighty’s gift to every man, woman, and child in the world.

George W. Bush has done the hard work and made the hard choices required of an American President in challenging times. Because of his leadership, we are strong. Because of his vision, we will be even stronger. That is the pledge of this platform … and the promise of this convention.

REPORTED BY FULL COMMITTEE August 26, 2004 Jacob K. Javits Convention Center New York, New York

THE PLATFORM COMMITTEE

Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie

Chairman Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D.

Co-Chairs Governor Bill Owens Representative Melissa Hart

SUBCOMMITTEE CHAIRS

Winning the War on Terror

Bill Owens Joe Acinapura

Ushering in an Ownership Era

Janet Creighton Paul Harris

Building an Innovative, Globally Competitive Economy

Phil English

Beth Harwell

Strengthening our Communities

Melissa Hart Eric Tanenblatt

Protecting our Families

Haley Barbour Ann Wagner

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

ALABAMA Linda Maynor

J.T. Jabo Waggoner

ALASKA Jonathon Lack Gloria Shriver

AMERICAN SAMOA Tautai Fa’alevao Sa’eu Scanlan

ARIZONA Michael Andrews Shiree Verdone

ARKANSAS Jonathan Barnett Anne Britton

CALIFORNIA Araceli Gonzalez Timothy LeFever

COLORADO Lilly Nunez Bill Owens

CONNECTICUT John Frey Patricia Longo

DELAWARE Elizabeth Field Patrick Murray

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA William Evans Betsy Werronen

FLORIDA Sharon Day

J. Allison DeFoor GEORGIA Linda Herren Eric Tanenblatt

GUAM Joanne Brown Fred Castro

HAWAII Willes Lee Janice Pechauer IDAHO Thomas Luna Karen McGee

ILLINOIS Maureen Murphy Harold Smith

INDIANA James Bopp Judith Singleton

IOWA Paula Dierenfeld Morris Hurd

KANSAS Stephen Cloud June Cooper

KENTUCKY Karen Engle

G. Hunter Bates

LOUISIANA Russell Pavich Peggy Wilson

MAINE Mark Ellis Janet Staples

MARYLAND Katja Bullock Louis Pope

MASSACHUSETTS William McKinney Amy Speer

MICHIGAN Glenn Clark Cynthia Pine

MINNESOTA Christopher Georgacas Annette Meeks

MISSISSIPPI Haley Barbour Virginia Carlton

MISSOURI Mark “Thor” Hearne Ann Wagner

MONTANA Erik Iverson Shirley Warehime

NEBRASKA Patricia Dorwart Adrian Smith

NEVADA Rew Goodenow Bonnie Weber

NEW HAMPSHIRE Richard Ashooh Ruth Griffin

NEW JERSEY Alex DeCroce Barbara Sobel

NEW MEXICO Joseph Carraro Cecilia Levatino

NEW YORK Mary Donohue Raymond Meier

NORTH CAROLINA Linda Daves Woody White

NORTH DAKOTA Curly Haugland Karen Karls

OHIO Michael Allen Janet Creighton

OKLAHOMA Baren Healey Joy Pittman

OREGON Jeff Grossman June Hartley

PENNSYLVANIA Philip English Melissa Hart

PUERTO RICO Carlos Chardon Miriam Ramirez

RHODE ISLAND Bernard Jackvony Patricia Morgan

SOUTH CAROLINA Mike Fair Kristin Maguire

SOUTH DAKOTA Mary Jean Jensen Ron Schmidt TENNESSEE Bill Frist Beth Harwell

TEXAS Cathie Adams Kelly Shackelford

UTAH Dannie McConkie Gayle Ruzicka

VERMONT Joseph Acinapura Darcie Johnston

VIRGIN ISLANDS Samuel Baptiste April Newland

VIRGINIA Kate Griffin Paul Harris

WASHINGTON Betty Hanes Michael Young

WEST VIRGINIA Cindy Frich

WISCONSIN Crystal Berg Don Taylor

WYOMING William Cubin Diana Vaughan

Platform Staff Anne Phelps, Executive Director Ginny Wolfe, Communications Director Jim Neill, Administrative Director Bob Dove, Parliamentarian Alex Vogel, General Counsel Eric Ueland, Special Counselor

Rebekah Krimmel, Platform Assistant Anne Marie Falk, Platform Assistant Kate Kobiashvili, Platform Assistant

Editorial Staff Ed Walsh

Chairmen’s Staff Eric Ueland, Senator Bill Frist, M.D. Sean Duffy, Governor Bill Owens Bill Ries, Representative Melissa Hart

Subcommittee Staff

Winning the War on Terror Steve Biegun, Clerk

Ushering in an Ownership Era Rohit Kumar, Clerk

Building an Innovative, Globally Competitive Economy Libby Jarvis, Clerk

Strengthening Our Communities Dean Rosen, Clerk

Protecting Our Families

Bill Wichterman, Clerk

Graphic Designer Karen Portik

A special thanks to all our volunteers

Paid for by the Committee on Arrangements for the 2004 Republican National Convention Not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee. www.gopconvention.com
APP Note: The American Presidency Project used the first day of the national nominating convention as the “date” of this platform since the original document is undated. Citation: John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters,The American Presidency Project [online]. Santa Barbara, CA: University of California (hosted), Gerhard Peters (database). Available from World Wide Web: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=25850.
Home P.S. 157 Contact
© 1999-2009 – Gerhard Peters – The American Presidency Project
Locations of visitors to this page

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=25850

***
Edward W. Gillespie is an American Republican political strategist and former Counselor to the President in the George W. Bush White House. Gillespie, along with Jack Quinn, former Chief of Staff to Vice President Al Gore, founded Quinn Gillespie & Associates, a bipartisan lobbying firm.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Gillespie

Biography

Gillespie was born August 1, 1962 in Browns Mills, New Jersey. He is a graduate of The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. While at CUA he began his career on Capitol Hill as a Senate parking lot attendant. He is married to Cathy Gillespie and has three kids.

[edit] Political career

He began his political career as a telephone solicitor for the Republican National Committee in 1985. He later worked for a decade as a top aide to former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX), and was a principal drafter of the GOP’s 1994 “Contract With America.”[citation needed] In 1996, he became Director of Communications and Congressional Affairs for the Republican National Committee under Haley Barbour. In 1997, Gillespie formed Policy Impact Communications, a public affairs communications firm, with Barbour.

From 1999-2008, Gillespie served as a political strategist to several American politicans. In 1999, Gillespie worked as the Press Secretary for the Presidential campaign of John Kasich until his withdrawal from the race. In 2000, Gillespie served as senior communications advisor for the presidential campaign of George W. Bush, organizing the party convention program in Philadelphia for Bush’s nomination and Bush’s inauguration ceremony. He also played an aggressive role as spokesman for the Bush campaign during the vote recount in Florida.

In 2002, he was a strategist for Elizabeth Dole’s 2002 Senate campaign.

In 2003, Gillespie was selected as Chairman of the RNC, serving in that role through the 2004 elections that saw President Bush win re-election and Republicans retain control of the House and Senate. His book “Winning Right” was released in the September of 2006.

Gillespie has been particularly active in his home state of Virginia. He served as Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia from December 2006 to June 2007. He played a visible role in 2006 Virginia Senate elections as a spokesman for defeated Virginia Senator George Allen. He had been tapped by Allen as a political adviser for a possible presidential run in 2008 before that loss. In February 2009, Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell announced that Gillespie will serve as General Chairman of his campaign for Governor.

[edit] Role as White House counselor

In late June 2007, President Bush brought Gillespie into the White House on a full-time basis, to replace the departing Counselor to the President Dan Bartlett with the mandate to help raise Bush’s flagging popularity ratings. When Karl Rove also departed in August, the Washington Post described Gillespie as stepping up to do part of Karl Rove’s job in the White House. Michael A. Fletcher. “As Rove Departs, President Again Turns to Gillespie.” Washington Post. August 16, 2007 A later Post article describes Gillespie’s role orchestrating a PR unit dedicated to “selling the surge to American voters and the media. Peter Baker et. al. “Among Top Officials, ‘Surge’ Has Sparked Dissent, Infighting.” Washington Post. September 9, 2007. According to this article:

From the start of the Bush plan, the White House communications office had been blitzing an e-mail list of as many as 5,000 journalists, lawmakers, lobbyists, conservative bloggers, military groups and others with talking points or rebuttals of criticism…Gillespie arranged several presidential speeches to make strategic arguments, such as comparing Iraq to Vietnam or warning of Iranian interference. When critics assailed Bush for overstating ties between al-Qaeda and the group called al-Qaeda in Iraq, Gillespie organized a Bush speech to make his case. “The whole idea is to take these things on before they become conventional wisdom,” said White House communications director Kevin Sullivan. “We have a very short window.”

** among the external links -

* Jim VandeHei, “Bush Policies Ease Transition For Aides Into Lobbyist Jobs,” Wall Street Journal, March 19, 2001.

* “Ed Gillespie: The Embedded Lobbyist, Public Citizen, June 2003.
* Mike Allen, “Bush Picks Campaign Chief, RNC Chairman,” Washington Post, June 17, 2003.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Gillespie

***

Kenneth Brian Mehlman (born August 21, 1966, Baltimore, Maryland) is an American attorney who is now Managing Director and head of Global Public Affairs for Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co, LLP. Before joining KKR, Mehlman was a Partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. He was chairman of the Republican National Committee from 2005 to 2007. He served as the campaign manager for George W. Bush’s 2004 re-election campaign. In a June 2007 press release by the White House website, Mehlman was nominated by President Bush to be a board member of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial committee.

Personal

Mehlman is the son of Judith A. Mehlman and Arthur S. Mehlman, a director of MuniMae and formerly a partner at KPMG, for which he was the head of the firm’s auditing department in the Baltimore/Washington region.[1] Mehlman’s brother, Bruce Mehlman, works as a lobbyist at Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti. [2][3]

Mehlman is Jewish and lives in Washington, D.C..

[edit] Education

Mehlman received his undergraduate degree in 1988 from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1991. He was a classmate of President Barack Obama. He is a member of Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity’s Xi Chapter at Franklin and Marshall.

[edit] Career

Mehlman practiced environmental law at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in Washington, D.C. (1991–1996) and assisted campaigns in Massachusetts (William Weld’s 1990 gubernatorial campaign), Ohio, Virginia, Texas, and Georgia as well as the 1992 and 1996 Presidential campaigns.

Mehlman was Congresswoman Kay Granger’s (TX-12) Chief of Staff and Congressman Lamar S. Smith’s (TX-21) Legislative Director. Mehlman served George W. Bush as the field director for his 2000 campaign and later became the White House Director of Political Affairs. He managed the Bush presidential re-election campaign in 2004. In January 2005, the American Association of Political Consultants gave Mehlman the “Campaign Manager of the Year” award for his management of the Bush/Cheney presidential ticket. [4]

[edit] Republican Party chair

Mehlman was Bush’s choice to replace Ed Gillespie as the chair of the Republican National Committee and was elected to the post on January 19, 2005.

He announced after the November 2006 general election that he would not seek re-election to another term as Republican National Chairman. One of his top deputies, RNC political Director Michael DuHaime, announced in December that he would become Campaign Manager for Rudy Giuliani’s 2008 presidential campaign.

As head of the RNC, Mehlman played a key role, along with Karl Rove, in executing the Republican Party’s long-term yet ultimately doomed plan for electoral dominance. This is discussed at length in Peter Wallsten and Tom Hamburger’s book, One Party Country.[11]

During his tenure as Chairman of the RNC, Mehlman co-founded the United States Senate Joint Advisory Committee (better known as the USSJAC), a republican federal political committee which advises on domestic and foreign policy and protects at-risk Republican Senate seats. Mehlman stepped down as Chairman of the RNC voluntarily at the end of 2006.[12] He was replaced by Mike Duncan and Mel Martinez.

[edit] Controversies

[edit] Phone jamming scandal
Main article: 2002 New Hampshire Senate election phone jamming scandal

A Democratic analysis of phone records introduced at the 2005 criminal trial of James Tobin, the Northeast political director for the RNC in 2002, show that he made 115 outgoing calls – mostly to the same number in the White House office of political affairs – between September 17 and November 22, 2002. At the time, the office of political affairs was headed by Mehlman. Two dozen of the calls were made from 9:28 a.m. the day before the election through 2:17 a.m. the night after the voting, a three-day period during which the criminal phone jamming operation was finalized, carried out, and then abruptly shut down.

Virtually all the calls to the White House went to the same phone number. In April 2006, Mehlman issued a statement on the matter, noting that his deputy for the Northeast states routinely discussed election business with RNC officials, and categorically stated that “none of my conversations nor the conversations of my staff, involved discussion of the phone-jamming incident.”[13][14]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Mehlman

***

My note – KPGM is the auditor that examines the national budget – interesting that Mehlman worked for them in Washington.

***

USHERING IN AN OWNERSHIP ERA

“The role of government is not to control or dominate the lives of our citizens. The role of government is to help our citizens gain the time and the tools to make their own choices and improve their own lives. That’s why I will continue to work to usher in a new era of ownership and opportunity in America.”

— President George W. Bush

BUILDING AN INNOVATIVE, GLOBALLY COMPETITIVE ECONOMY

“By leading the world when it comes to innovation and change, we’ll make America a hopeful place for those who want to work, and those who want to dream, and those who want to start their own business.”

— President George W. Bush

America’s economy is the strongest in the world, and it is getting stronger thanks to lower taxes, fewer burdensome regulations, and a focus on encouraging investment. Our goal is to make sure America remains the strongest economy in a dynamic world and to make it possible for every American who wants a job to find one. We must ensure that workers are equipped with the education and training to succeed in the best jobs of the 21st century, and we must encourage the strong spirit of innovation that has put America at the forefront of new technology industries.

STRENGTHENING OUR COMMUNITIES

“The measure of compassion is more than good intentions, it is good results. By being involved and by taking responsibility upon ourselves, we gain something…. We contribute to the life of our country. We become more than taxpayers and occasional voters, we become citizens. Citizens, not spectators. Citizens who hear the call of duty, who stand up for their beliefs, who care for their families, who control their lives, and who treat their neighbors with respect and compassion.”

— President George W. Bush

Community is more than just a set of streets and sidewalks and homes. The strength of communities is the people who inhabit them, the American citizens who spend their days working, striving, and caring for their families, and advancing toward the realization of their dreams. To ensure that all Americans have an opportunity to build better lives, we must provide the framework in which communities can flourish.

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=25850

***

[ And from the same document: ]

Under Republican leadership, the United States has fostered an environment of economic openness to capitalize on our country’s greatest asset in the information age: a vital, innovative society that welcomes creative ideas and adapts to them. American companies continue to show the world innovative ways to improve productivity and redraw traditional business models. Upon this extraordinary foundation, President Bush and the Republican Congress have rebuilt an effective American trade policy. Rooted in America’s political and economic ideals, the Republican blueprint they have implemented promotes open markets and open societies, free trade and the free flow of information, and the development of new ideas and private sectors. This self-sustaining economic and commercial progress has nurtured the human spirit, the middle class, law, and liberty.

Republicans applaud the renewal of the executive-Congressional partnership on trade matters under Republican leadership. After a gap of eight years, the Administration reestablished majority support in the Congress for free and fair trade by passing Trade Promotion Authority and the other market-opening measures for developing countries in the Trade Act of 2002.

***

** My note -

apparently. This certainly explains the “innovative financial products” that were sold all over the world which is now bringing world economics to desolation – and ours as well.

****

Principled American Leadership

Republicans have a strategy. It is a strategy that recalls traditional truths about power and ideals and applies them to networked marketplaces, modern diplomacy and the high-tech battlefield. A Republican administration will use power wisely, set priorities, craft needed institutions of openness and freedom, and invest in the future. A Republican president and a Republican Congress can achieve the unity of national governance that has so long been absent. We see a confident America united in the fellowship of freedom with friends and allies throughout the world. We envision the restoration of a respected American leadership firmly grounded in a distinctly American internationalism.
APP Note: The American Presidency Project used the first day of the national nominating convention as the “date” of this platform since the original document is undated. Citation: John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters,The American Presidency Project [online]. Santa Barbara, CA: University of California (hosted), Gerhard Peters (database). Available from World Wide Web: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=25849.
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Locations of visitors to this page

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=25849

***

We must secure America’s competitive advantage in the New Economy by preventing other countries from erecting barriers to innovation. For American producers and consumers alike, the benefits of free trade are already enormous. In the near future, they will be incalculable.

[ from above document - 2000 Republican platform for George Bush, Jr.]

***

John Kenneth Blackwell (born February 28, 1948), is a former secretary of state of the U.S. state of Ohio who made an unsuccessful bid as the Republican nominee for Governor of Ohio in the 2006 election. He was the first African-American to be the candidate for governor of a major party in Ohio. He is currently Vice Chairman of the Republican National Committee’s Platform Committee [1] and was a candidate for chairman of the Republican National Committee.[2]

Blackwell gained national prominence for his dual roles as Chief Elections Official of Ohio and honorary co-chair of the “Committee to re-elect George W. Bush” during the 2004 election. Allegations of conflict of interest and voter disenfranchisement led to the filing of at least sixteen related lawsuits naming Blackwell. Regarding voter disenfranchisement, a federal appellate court ruled, in agreement with Blackwell, that provisional ballots cast in the wrong polling location should not be counted in the election, but the court overturned his directive to poll workers that they refuse to issue provisional ballots unless satisfied as to the voter’s residence. Blackwell was also named in a 2006 lawsuit related to his office’s public disclosure of the Social Security numbers of Ohio residents.

Blackwell served in the administration of President George H.W. Bush as undersecretary in the Department of Housing and Urban Development from 1989 to 1990. He returned to Cincinnati to run for the first district seat in the United States House of Representatives being vacated by Tom Luken. Blackwell lost to Luken’s son, Charlie Luken, by a narrow 51% to 49% margin. Following his close defeat, President Bush appointed Blackwell ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission. Blackwell served in that post from 1992 to 1993.

Blackwell was appointed Ohio State Treasurer by then-Gov. George Voinovich in 1994 to complete the term of Mary Ellen Withrow, who was appointed U.S. treasurer by President Bill Clinton. Blackwell was elected treasurer in 1994 and was elected Ohio Secretary of State in 1998. That year, Blackwell considered a run for governor, but Ohio Republican Party chairman Robert T. Bennett persuaded Blackwell to run for secretary of state instead, leaving the governorship open to Bob Taft. Blackwell was national chairman of longtime friend Steve Forbes’ presidential campaign in 2000. [1] Blackwell was re-elected secretary of state in 2002.

Involvement in the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election

As Secretary of State of a hotly contested swing state, Blackwell played a prominent role in the 2004 national election. As Secretary of State, Blackwell held the position of Chief Elections Officer, overseeing Ohio’s elections process. In Congressional testimony, Blackwell stated that every Republican holder of statewide office in Ohio was named an honorary “co-chair” of the Bush campaign, that the position carried no responsibilities, and that previous Ohio Secretaries of State from both parties had held similar honorary positions.[6]

Blackwell also announced he would enforce an Ohio State election law decreeing that any person who appeared at a polling place to vote but whose registration could not be confirmed would be given only a provisional ballot; if it were later determined that the person had attempted to vote in the wrong precinct, then their provisional ballot would not be counted. He also directed poll workers to refuse to distribute provisional ballots unless they were satisfied as to the voter’s residence. The Democratic party promptly filed a lawsuit claiming that the policy was “intended to disenfranchise minority voters” and in violation of federal election law, specifically section 302 of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).[7]

On October 21, 2004, U.S. District Court Judge James G. Carr issued an order rejecting Blackwell’s policy.[8] Blackwell said that he would go to jail rather than comply.

The Libertarian Party of Ohio’s legal battle started when they appealed Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell’s 2004 decision to deny them access to the ballot.

Democratic members of the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary asked Blackwell to explain irregularities in the Ohio election in two letters, (pdf) (pdf) and requested his presence at a Public Congressional Hearing. (pdf) He did not attend the hearing, but responded to the first letter, refusing to comply with their requests for explanation, noting that he was already responding to requests from the Government Accountability Office and the Department of Justice. (pdf)

On April 16, 2006, the Toledo Blade reported that Blackwell had accepted more than $1 million dollars in campaign contributions from “employees of firms seeking business with the statewide offices he’s held over the past 12 years.” Furthermore, the same organizations donated $1.34 million dollars to the Ohio Republican Party, $1.29 million of which was forwarded directly to Blackwell’s campaign fund. Several of the firms which have been awarded contracts from Blackwell’s office have also been hired on to his gubernatorial campaign. The investigators argue that the suggestion of quid pro quo based on the actions of contributors raise an issue of a serious conflict of interest. Petro has responded by demanding that a law which bans political contributors from being awarded state contracts. Blackwell has stated that no illegal activity took place. In response to Petro’s call for reform, Blackwell stated “If you are asking me … ‘Am I advocating for campaign spending limits?’ No. Never have. Never will.” [49]

Blackwell had been well supported by many religious leaders in Ohio both politically and financially; according to campaign filings, Blackwell has received $25,031 from clergy and more than 27 times as much as Strickland.[51]

However, on January 16, 2006, a group of 31 pastors, led by Rev. Eric Williams, pastor of North Congregational Church (United Church of Christ) in Columbus, wrote a 13-page letter to the IRS alleging that Blackwell has enjoyed “special treatment” by two Ohio “mega-churches,” World Harvest Church and Fairfield Christian Church. In the letter, the pastors accused the two organizations of sponsoring at least nine events with Blackwell as the sole invited politician, “partisan voter-registration drives,” and distribution of biased voting guides. Rev. Russell Johnson, pastor of the Fairfield Christian Church in Lancaster, Ohio defended his actions by saying that the event in question was not a “meet the candidate forum,” but rather he was giving Blackwell “an award for courageous leadership.” [52] Blackwell later called the group of 31 pastors “bullies.” [53]

] Release of Ohio Social Security numbers

On March 1, 2006 Blackwell’s office accidentally published a list of 1.2 million Social Security numbers of Ohio citizens on a website along with their business filings. A Federal class-action lawsuit was filed by Darrell Estep who claimed that the release of the data had caused his Social Security number to appear three times on the website.[24] The lawsuit was settled on March 28, 2006 after the numbers were removed from the website, a registration process was enacted to view the data and Blackwell’s office agreed to make monthly progress reports to the court.[25] The data was part of a centralized voter database, required by Federal law. At that time, Blackwell promised to only retain the last four digits of the Social Security number in the database to prevent future problems.[26]

However, on April 26, 2006, Blackwell’s office disclosed Ohio Social Security numbers again, mailing out computer disks containing the names, addresses, and the Social Security numbers of 5.7 million registered voters in Ohio (80% of all registered voters in the state).[27] The list was released as a standard practice under the Freedom of Information Act and Help America Vote Act. Blackwell’s office apologized, indicating that the release of the Social Security numbers was accidental and attempted to recall all 20 of the disks. At least one recipient of the disks has refused to comply.

Jim Petro, then Republican Attorney General of Ohio, has launched an investigation into the disclosure, citing a legal requirement to “investigate any state entity where there may be a risk of a loss of private data.” Blackwell stated that he considered the issue to be closed, but Petro disagreed, saying that he will use “maximum due diligence” to ensure that the data was not copied before it was returned. Ohio law requires that individuals be notified if their Social Security numbers are compromised.[28][29]

Diebold controversies

Ohio State Senator Jeff Jacobson asked Blackwell in July 2003 to disqualify Diebold Election Systems’ bid to supply voting machines for the state, after security problems were discovered in its software,[30] but was refused. Blackwell had ordered Diebold touch screen voting machines, reversing an earlier decision by the state to purchase only optical scan voting machines which, unlike the touch screen devices, would leave a “paper trail” for recount purposes.[citation needed] The controversy was inflamed the next month when Walden O’Dell, chief executive of Diebold, sent a fund-raising letter to Ohio Republicans, stating that he was “committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year.”[31]

On April 4, 2006, the Columbus Dispatch reported that Blackwell “owned stock [83 shares, down from 178 shares purchased in January 2005] in Diebold, a voting-machine [and ATM] manufacturer, at the same time his office negotiated a deal” with the company. After discovering the stock ownership, Blackwell promptly sold the shares at a loss.[32] He attributed the purchase to an unidentified financial manager at Credit Suisse First Boston who he said had, without his knowledge, violated his instructions to avoid potential conflict of interest.[33]

When Cuyahoga County’s primary was held on May 2, 2006, officials ordered the hand-counting of more than 18,000 paper ballots after Diebold’s new optical scan machines produced inconsistent tabulations, leaving several local races in limbo for days and eventually resulting in a reversal of the outcome of one race for state representative. Blackwell ordered an investigation by the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections; Ohio Democrats demanded that Blackwell, due to his prior role in acquiring the Diebold equipment as well as his status as the Republican gubernatorial candidate in this election, recuse himself from the investigation due to conflicts of interest, but Blackwell did not do so.[34]

RNC Chairman Election

Blackwell announced his intentions to run for the Republican Chairmanship, but withdrew after the 5th round of voting.

RNC Chairman Vote

Source: CQPolitics [59], and Poll Pundit [60]
Candidate    Round 1    Round 2    Round 3    Round 4    Round 5    Round 6
Michael Steele    46    48    51    60    79    91
Katon Dawson    28    29    34    62    69    77
Saul Anuzis    22    24    24    31    20    Withdrew
Ken Blackwell    20    19    15    15    Withdrew
Mike Duncan    52    48    44    Withdrew

Candidate won that Round of voting
Candidate withdrew
Candidate won RNC Chairmanship

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Blackwell

***

The Republican National Committee (RNC) provides national leadership for the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy. It is also responsible for organizing and running the Republican National Convention. Similar committees exist in every U.S. state and most U.S. counties, although in some states party organization is structured by congressional district, allied campaign organizations being governed by a national committee. Michael Steele is the current RNC chairman, and will serve until January 2011.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_National_Committee

***

The second half of the 20th century saw election of Republican presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush. The Republican Party, led by House Republican Minority Whip Newt Gingrich campaigning on a Contract with America, were elected to majorities to both houses of Congress in the Republican Revolution of 1994. Their majorities were generally held until the Democrats regained control in the mid-term election of 2006. In the 21st century the Republican Party is defined by social conservatism, an aggressive foreign policy to defeat terrorism and promote global democracy, a more powerful executive branch, tax cuts, and deregulation and subsidization of industry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_(United_States)

***

Shawn Steel, Republican National Committeeman from California, writes of Duncan:

“Duncan has been the Invisible Chairman, installed in January 2007 by Karl Rove to be unobtrusive — a mission he has carried out brilliantly. Many, if not most, Republican leaders and activists don’t know who he is. For example, when Duncan was a guest recently on the “Hugh Hewitt Show,” the radio host asked Duncan why this was the first time this RNC chairman had ever asked to come on the show and address millions of his fellow Republicans. Duncan couldn’t give an answer other than he’d been busy for the past year. I suppose that’s one way to look at it. Another way is he hasn’t provided the kind of leadership the Republican National Committee needs in this day and age.” Politico: Mike Who?

[edit] RNC Re-election bid

RNC Chairman Vote

The Duncans are the principal owners of two community banks with five offices in eastern Kentucky.[6][7]

After falling behind Michael S. Steele in balloting to determine who would succeed to the next two-year term of RNC chair on January 30, 2009, Duncan reportedly dropped his bid for reelection.[8]

Robert M. (“Mike”) Duncan (born 1951 in Oneida, Tennessee) was the 62nd Chairman of the Republican National Committee. He was elected in January 2007, replacing Ken Mehlman, and served until January 30, 2009, when he withdrew from renomination to the chairmanship.[1] He will become the chairman of the board of directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority[2] effective May 18.[3]

Career

Duncan is active in numerous professional and nonprofit organizations. He served as chairman of a state university[4] and currently serves as chairman of the Board of Trustees at Alice Lloyd College, a private four-year liberal arts college in Pippa Passes, Kentucky.[5] He has served as Chairman for the Center for Rural Development in Somerset, Kentucky, a $30 million state-of-the-art regional center emphasizing telecommunications, training, and development. President George W. Bush appointed him to the President’s Commission on White House Fellows in 2001. Duncan is a trustee of the Christian Appalachian Project, the fifteenth largest private social services agency in America. Duncan is a former chairman and current director of the Kentucky Governor’s Scholars Program. His student-mentoring program, in its 26th year, was featured on CBS News Sunday Morning and in the Los Angeles Times.

Professionally, Duncan was President of the Kentucky Bankers Association and a Director of the Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank Cincinnati Branch. In 1989-91, during a sabbatical, he worked in the Bush White House as Assistant Director of Public Liaison. President George W. Bush appointed him to the President’s Commission on White House Fellows in 2001 and nominated him to the Tennessee Valley Authority Board, a position to which he was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate in March 2006. His public service has been recognized with several distinctions including honorary degrees from Cumberland College and the College of the Ozarks.

Duncan has been equally active in his home state of Kentucky, where he helped in the successful campaign to win back Kentucky’s statehouse for the first time in 36 years. In 1998 he took a leave of absence from his business and chaired Jim Bunning’s successful U.S. Senate race. In addition Duncan is a long-time supporter and fundraiser for Senator Mitch McConnell.

He served as General Counsel of the Republican National Committee (RNC) from July 10, 2002 until his election as Chairman. He previously was elected Treasurer of the RNC in January 2001. Duncan, in his third term as National Committeeman from Kentucky, has served the party at every level from precinct captain, county chairman, state chairman, and national officer. He has been a delegate to the 1972, 1976, 1992, 1996, and 2000 Republican National Conventions and is one of the few persons ever to serve on the four standing convention committees. Mike Duncan and his wife Joanne are 1974 graduates of the University of Kentucky College of Law. Duncan received his undergraduate degree from Cumberland College.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Duncan

***

Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has remarked that “If it was all about the money … then we might as well put the presidency up on eBay.”[61]

***

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Santorum

***

Tiefer, Charles,Congress’s Transformative ‘Republican Revolution’ in 2001-2006 and the Future of One-Party Rule(Summer 2007). Journal of Law and Politics, Vol. 23, p. 233, 2007. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1346060

Contact Information
Charles Tiefer (Contact Author)
University of Baltimore School of Law ( email )
1420 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
United States

Congress’s Transformative ‘Republican Revolution’ in 2001-2006 and the Future of One-Party Rule

Charles Tiefer
University of Baltimore School of Law

Journal of Law and Politics, Vol. 23, p. 233, 2007

Abstract:
In 2001 – 2006, Republican leadership in the legislature circumvented procedural norms to implement an ideological agenda that precluded the minority party from making alternative proposals and voicing criticisms. With the Republican majority in the Senate falling to 50-50 in 2000, President Bush’s assumption of office, despite having lost the popular vote, set the tone for what would become an era of illegitimate procedural reform cloaked in secrecy and deniability. Through closed-door conferences and closed-rules, Republican leadership in the House and Senate turned the clock back on civil liberties, passed unfavorable and convoluted tax cuts, and used transformed health care law.

In this article, the author traces the history of the 2001-2006 “Republican Revolution,” and discusses the numerous factors that allowed the majority party to overcome procedural safeguards and push their ideological agenda in the House, Senate, and Court. Tracing the history of Congressional procedure and analyzing key examples of recent Republican abuse, the author suggests that the Republican 2001 – 2006 control over Congressional procedure resulted in democratic unaccountability, imposing upon the new Democratic majority numerous political challenges – and the incentive to conduct themselves differently.

Keywords: President Bush, Congress, Republican, One-Party, Closed Rules, Tax Reform, Guantanamo, Democrats, Alito, bilibuster, colsture, budged process, conferences

JEL Classifications: K39, K49
Accepted Paper Series
Date posted: February 19, 2009 ; Last revised: February 19, 2009

***
President George W. Bush was a proponent of the unitary executive theory and cited it within his signing statements about legislation passed by Congress.[17] The administration’s interpretation of the unitary executive theory was called seriously into question by Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, where the Supreme Court ruled 5-3 that the President does not have sweeping powers to override or ignore laws through his power as commander in chief,[18] stating “the Executive is bound to comply with the Rule of Law that prevails.”[19] Following the ruling, the Bush administration has sought Congressional authorization for programs started only on executive mandate, as was the case with the Military Commissions Act, or abandoned illegal programs it had previously asserted executive authority to enact, in the case of the National Security Agency domestic wiretapping program.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_(United_States)

Economic policies

Republicans emphasize the role of free market decision making in fostering economic prosperity. They support the idea of individuals being economically responsible for their own actions and decisions. They favor a laissez-faire free market, policies supporting business, economic liberalism, and fiscal conservatism but with higher spending on the military. A leading economic theory advocated by modern Republicans is supply-side economics. Some fiscal policies influenced by this theory were popularly known as “Reaganomics,” a term popularized during the Presidential administrations of Ronald Reagan. This theory holds that reduced income tax rates increase GDP growth and thereby generate the same or more revenue for the government from the smaller tax on the extra growth, although this is disputed by some economists and independent studies.[20] This belief is reflected, in part, by the party’s long-term advocacy of tax cuts. Many Republicans consider the income tax system to be inherently inefficient and oppose graduated tax rates, which they believe are unfairly targeted at those who create jobs and wealth. They believe private spending is usually more efficient than government spending.

Most Republicans agree there should be a “safety net” to assist the less fortunate; however, they tend to believe the private sector is more effective in helping the poor than government is; as a result, Republicans support giving government grants to faith-based and other private charitable organizations to supplant welfare spending. Members of the GOP also believe that limits on eligibility and benefits must be in place to ensure the safety net is not abused. Republicans introduced and strongly supported the welfare reform of 1996, which was signed into law by Democratic President Clinton, and which limited eligibility for welfare, successfully leading to many former welfare recipients finding jobs.[21]

The party opposes a single-payer universal health care system, believing such a system constitutes socialized medicine and is in favor of a personal or employer-based system of insurance, supplemented by Medicare for the elderly and Medicaid, which covers approximately 40% of the poor.[22] The GOP has a mixed record of supporting the historically popular Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid programs, all of which Republicans initially opposed. On the one hand, congressional Republicans and the Bush administration supported a reduction in Medicaid’s growth rate.[23] On the other hand, congressional Republicans expanded Medicare, supporting a new drug plan for seniors starting in 2006.

Yet, libertarians are increasingly dissatisfied with the party’s social policy and support for corporate welfare and national debt, which some believe has grown increasingly restrictive of personal liberties, and with the Bush Administration greatly increasing the federal debt.[60]

***

Santorum has frequently stated that he does not believe a “right to privacy” exists under the Constitution, even within marriage; he has been especially critical of the Supreme Court decision in Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), which held that the Constitution guaranteed the aforementioned right, and on that basis, overturned a law prohibiting the sale and use of contraceptives.[67]

Santorum is also a supporter of partial privatization of Social Security. Since the 2004 presidential election, Santorum has held forums across Pennsylvania on the topic.

In 2005, Santorum sponsored the Iran Freedom and Support Act, which appropriated $10 million aimed at regime change in Iran. The Act passed with overwhelming support. However, Santorum nevertheless voted against the Lautenberg amendment which would have closed the loophole which allows companies like Halliburton to do business with Iran through their foreign affiliates.[68]

Santorum is well known for attracting political enemies on the other side of his aisle. Senator Bob Kerrey of Nebraska, after sharing the floor with Santorum for the first three weeks of his first term in the Senate, remarked, “Santorum — That’s Latin for asshole”.[69]

In reference to the Iraq war in 2006, Santorum drew an analogy with The Lord of the Rings in one of his addresses:

“As the hobbits are going up Mount Doom, the Eye of Mordor is being drawn somewhere else. It’s being drawn to Iraq and it’s not being drawn to the U.S. “You know what? I want to keep it on Iraq. I don’t want the Eye to come back here to the United States.”

[edit] 2006 campaign
Main article: Pennsylvania United States Senate election, 2006

In 2006, Santorum sought re-election to a third term in the U.S. Senate. His Democratic opponent was State Treasurer Bob Casey, Jr., the son of popular former governor Robert Casey, Sr.(D) Santorum’s seat was a prime target of Democratic efforts to gain Senate seats in the 2006 elections. Casey’s candidacy was bolstered by his opposition to abortion, negating one of Santorum’s key issues.[70]

Republican strategists took as a bad omen Santorum’s primary result in 2006, in which he ran unopposed for the Republican nomination. Republican gubernatorial nominee Lynn Swann, also unopposed, garnered 22,000 more votes statewide than Santorum in the primary, meaning thousands of Republican voters abstained from endorsing Santorum for another Senate term. This may have been partly due to Santorum’s support for Arlen Specter, over Congressman Pat Toomey in the 2004 Republican primary for the U.S. Senate. Even though Santorum is only slightly less conservative than Toomey, he joined virtually all of the state and national Republican establishment in supporting the moderate Specter. This led many socially and fiscally conservative Republicans to consider Santorum’s support of Specter to be a betrayal of their cause.[71][72][73]

On May 22, 2006, the polling firm Rasmussen Reports declared that Santorum was the “most vulnerable incumbent” among the Senators running for re-election.[74] However, in August 2006, polling showed Santorum with his highest approval rating in months, 48 percent, a twelve-point jump between July and August. Nearly as many Pennsylvanians, 45 percent, said they had an unfavorable view of the Senator.[75]

For most of the campaign, Santorum was behind by 15 points or more. Most polls during the summer of 2006 showed the race between Casey and Santorum becoming increasingly competitive, but a poll released by Quinnipiac University on September 26 showed Casey’s margin ballooning back to a double-digit lead.[76]

One day before the Quinnipiac poll was released, a Pennsylvania state judge ruled against a potential third-party candidate, Carl Romanelli of the Green Party. Romanelli fell about 8,900 petition signatures shy of the threshold needed to be placed on the statewide ballot in November. On October 4, 2006, the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court also rejected Romanelli’s legal challenge.[77] This was a potential blow to the Santorum campaign, as Romanelli was expected to siphon off some Casey voters.[76]

There is also some question as to whether Romanelli and Pennsylvania’s Green Party violated federal election laws when they accepted tens of thousands of dollars in donations from people also backing Santorum’s campaign.[78][79]

Santorum found himself mired in controversy over his residency. For many years, he has maintained a modest home in Penn Hills, a suburb of Pittsburgh, which he claims as his official residence.[citation needed] However, his family lived in the Virginia suburbs of Washington when the Senate was in session.[citation needed] Since this meant Santorum spent most of the year away from Pennsylvania, critics argued it was not unlike the living arrangements he denounced in his 1990 House race against Walgren.[citation needed] Santorum accused Walgren of being out of touch with his Pittsburgh-area district, symbolized by his home in the Virginia suburbs.[citation needed] On NBC’s Meet the Press on September 3, 2006, Santorum admitted that he only spends “maybe a month a year, something like that” at his Pennsylvania residence.[80] Santorum also pointed out in the debate that Walgren lived in a single Congressional district and that Walgren only spent 28 days of the entire year in his district, while he represents all of Pennsylvania.[citation needed] As such, he spent much of his time in Virginia but would visit every one of the 67 counties in Pennsylvania every year.[citation needed]

Santorum also drew criticism for enrolling five of his six children in an online “cyber school” in Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County (home to Pittsburgh and most of its suburbs), despite the fact the children lived in Virginia. The Penn Hills School District was billed $73,000 in tuition for the cyber classes.[81]

At least one of Santorum’s television ads called into question his campaign’s use of the facts regarding Casey and persons who have donated money to the Casey campaign. According to the ad, some of the persons who have given Casey money are or have been under investigation for various crimes. An editorial in Casey’s hometown newspaper, The Scranton Times-Tribune, points out that all but one of the contributions “[was] made to Casey campaigns when he was running for other offices, at which time none of the contributors were known to be under investigation for anything.”[82] In fact, two of the persons cited in the Santorum campaign ad have actually given contributions to Mr. Santorum’s 2006 Senate campaign. Another died in 2004.[83] However, the Santorum campaign pointed out that the money the Santorum campaign received from those donors was not kept by the campaign, but rather donated to educational institutions.[84]

A heated debate between the candidates occurred on October 11, 2006.[85] There, according to coverage by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the candidates appeared “less statesmanlike than either Gov. Ed Rendell or challenger Lynn Swann, who had debated each other in Pittsburgh the [previous] week”.[85]

In late October, during the Lebanon County Republican Committee’s annual dinner at the Lantern Lodge, Santorum said “If we are not successful here and things don’t go right in the election, there’s a good chance that the course of our country could change.”[citation needed] “We are in the equivalent of the late 1930s, and this election will decide whether we are going to continue to appease or whether we will stand and fight while we have a chance to win without devastating consequences.”[86]

Santorum on August 28 gave to Pennsylvania media at the Pennsylvania Press Club luncheon in Harrisburg, a speech he earlier gave to the National Club, claiming that terrorist attacks on America by “radical Islamists” were part of a more than three-century-old plot to restore Shia clerics to power and bring “the 12th Imam” out of hiding.[citation needed] He said, according to the online news service, Capitolwire: “They believe, as all Shias do, in the Hidden Imam, the 12th Imam,” the 12th descendant in a straight line from Mohammed the Prophet, who disappeared in 874, at the age of 5. “The Shia believe that he is the Messiah and he is in hiding and that he will return. … They believe … he will return with radical Islam, when Shia dominates the world. Well, for over 1,000 years, … the East and West fought, up until 1683 … In 1683, not that long ago, the Islamists had surrounded the gates of Vienna and were on the verge of toppling it after a siege; … but the West united, and led by the Poles, [King] John Sobieski and the Polish Hussars defeated [the Arab forces] in a one-day battle on the plains outside Vienna. “What was the high-water mark of this 1,000-year war? It was the day before. What was the date the day before? Sept. 11, 1683.”

This speech eventually led to Santorum launching a tour called “The Gathering Storm,” comparing himself to the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who alerted his nation and the world to the Nazi menace in the 1930s, and then fought with America, Russia and others to defeat the Germans, Italians and Japan in World War II in the 1940s.[87] The Associated Press’ Jennifer Yates wrote on Oct. 27 that Santorum said: “This is a moment, a critical crossroads in American history,” as she noted that “Santorum, who invoked Winston Churchill’s memoir – “The Gathering Storm” – about the causes of World War II” then told her and audiences: “The parallel is so profound.”[citation needed]

Days before, Yates reported, Santorum said: Casey’s election and that of other Democrats trying to take over the U.S. House and Senate would be “a disaster for the future of the world.”[citation needed]

On the Sunday before the election, Casey responded to the comment, telling Capitolwire: “Who runs a campaign like that? No one believes terrorists are going to be more likely to attack us, because I defeat Rick Santorum. Does even he believe that?”[citation needed]

In that same Harrisburg, Pennsylvania speech, Santorum had to deal with a charge that polls showed hurt him badly with women voters.[citation needed] In his book, “It Takes A Family: “In far too many families with young children, both parents are working, when, if they really took an honest look at the budget, they might find they don’t both need to.”[citation needed]

Santorum wrote that many women have disclosed to him that it is more “socially affirming to work outside the home than to give up their careers to take care of their children…. What happened in America so that mothers and fathers who leave their children in the care of someone else – or worse yet, home alone after school between three and six in the afternoon – find themselves more affirmed by society? Here, we can thank the influence of radical feminism.”[citation needed] Polls showed many female voters resented this description of why they worked, especially Republican and independent women whose abandonment of Santorum doomed his campaign, reported the online news service Capitolwire, based in Harrisburg.[citation needed] In a question-and-answer session on Aug. 28 at the Pennsylvania speech, Santorum tried again to address the issue and said his problem was that federal taxes now consumed 27 percent of family wages, and the second wage earner in most families made only 25 percent of the first’s wages.[citation needed]

“First, I would say, read the book and I think if you read the book, you can answer the question yourself. Because anyone who has read the book instead of the comments pulled out by the Democratic National Committee about the book, which was four sentences, by the way, in a 430-page book, … would tell you I am supportive of families in a variety of different ways. … What does the average second-earner in the family make? Twenty five percent of the first earner. … Because of our tax code, we make it virtually impossible to maintain a standard of living and at the same time, be home with your children. … Number two, look, I believe that women should have choices when it comes to the workforce. And they should be real choices. “And look, I came from a family where my mother worked, all her life, made more money than my dad (N.B.: his mother and father were a registered nurse and psychiatrist, respectively). I have more people working in my office who are women, in senior policy positions, than men. So I don’t have a hang-up with women working. I do have a hang-up with the government and others in society not nurturing, supporting and encouraging parents to be home with their kids when they need to be home. And I think we need to do more as a society to help them.”[citation needed]

In the November election, Santorum lost, with 41% of the vote to Casey’s 59%,[88][89] statistically the worst defeat ever for an incumbent Republican Senator in Pennsylvania[90] and the largest margin of defeat for an incumbent Senator since George McGovern lost his reelection bid to James Abdnor in 1980.[citation needed]

[edit] Post-Senate career

Before failing to win reelection in 2006, Santorum had frequently been mentioned as a possible 2008 presidential candidate. Such speculation faded when, during the course of the campaign and in light of unimpressive poll numbers, he declared that, if re-elected, he would serve a full term. After he lost, Santorum once again ruled out a presidential run.[91]

In March 2007 Santorum joined Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC. He will primarily practice law in the firm’s Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C. offices, where he will provide business and strategic counseling services to the firm’s clients. He also joined the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a D.C.-based conservative think tank.[92] Santorum will also be a contributor on the Fox News Channel.[93] Santorum also writes an Op/Ed piece titled “The Elephant in the Room” for the Commentary Page of the Philadelphia Inquirer.[94] Santorum told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that he would address many geopolitical issues, and then joked, “I don’t do Anna Nicole Smith, that’s all.”[95]

Santorum has been mentioned as a candidate for Governor of Pennsylvania in 2010.[96] On February 1, 2008, Santorum announced that he would vote for Mitt Romney in the 2008 Presidential Republican primary race, stating: “If you’re a Republican, if you’re a Republican in the broadest sense, there is only one place to go right now and that’s Mitt Romney.”[97]. He has come out as a strong critic of John McCain, questioning his pro-life voting record and whether Sen. McCain holds true conservative values. However, in September 2008, Santorum expressed support for McCain after all, citing Sarah Palin as a step in the right direction: “Knowing McCain, he’s choosing someone in whom he sees a lot of himself…He tries to find people who have a similar head as he does, and if he sees him in [Palin]…that gives me a better feel for him and a little more confidence in him.”[98]

On April 12, 2007, political action committee America’s Foundation, Highmark and a former Highmark vice president were fined by the Federal Election Committee for sponsoring Santorum with corporate money.[99] The problem had been reported by Highmark, which uncovered the matter during an internal review.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Santorum

Early life, education, and legal career

Santorum was born in Winchester, Virginia, and raised in Berkeley County West Virginia and Butler County, Pennsylvania, the son of Aldo Santorum (born 1923) and Catherine Dughi (born 1918). Both his father and maternal grandfather were from Italy.[4]

Both of Santorum’s parents worked at the Veteran’s Administration Hospital in Butler, and the family lived on the VA hospital post. His father, Aldo, was an immigrant from Italy[5], and became licensed as a psychologist in August 1974. After attending schools in the Butler Area School District [6] where he gained the nickname “Rooster”,[7] allegedly because he “always had a few errant hairs on the back of his head that refused to stay down” (because of an orthodontic head brace), and he was “dogged and determined like a rooster and never backed down”.

Santorum graduated from Carmel High School in Mundelein, Illinois in 1976.[8], where his father transferred with in the VA hospital system. He lists his residency as Penn Hills, Pennsylvania, and maintains a home in Leesburg, Virginia, for his work in Washington, D.C. Santorum earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in Political Science, from Pennsylvania State University in 1980, and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1981. He is a member of Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity.

In 1986, Santorum earned a law degree from the Penn State Dickinson School of Law, was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar, and began practicing law in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. While working at the law firm of Kirkpatrick & Lockhart, he represented the World Wrestling Federation, arguing that professional wrestling should be exempt from federal anabolic steroid regulations because it was not a sport.[9] Santorum left private practice after first being elected to the House in November 1990.

Santorum and his wife, Karen Garver Santorum, have six children: Elizabeth Anne (born 1991); Richard John (“Johnny”), Jr. (born 1993); Daniel James (born 1995); Sarah Maria (born 1998); Peter Kenneth (born 1999); and Patrick Francis (born 2001). In 1996, their son Gabriel Michael was born prematurely and lived for only two hours (a sonogram taken before Gabriel was born revealed that his posterior urethral valve was closed and that the prognosis for his survival was therefore poor). Karen Santorum wrote a book about the experience: Letters to Gabriel: The True Story of Gabriel Michael Santorum.[10] In it, she writes that the couple brought the deceased infant home from the hospital and introduced the dead child to their living children as “your brother Gabriel” and slept with the body overnight before returning it to the hospital. The anecdote was also written about by Michael Sokolove in a 2005 New York Times Magazine story on Santorum.[11] Karen is also the author of a book on etiquette for children.[12]

Santorum and his family attend Latin Mass at a Roman Catholic Church near Washington, D.C. Occasionally, when not attending Latin Mass, they attend mass at St. Francis De Sales Church in Purcellville, Virginia. On November 12, 2004, Santorum and his wife were invested as Knight and Dame of Magistral Grace of the Knights of Malta in a ceremony at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York.[13]

[edit] Political career

Santorum first became actively involved in politics volunteering for the late Senator John Heinz.

After getting his MBA in 1981, Santorum became an administrative assistant to Republican State Senator J. Doyle Corman (until 1986). He was director of the Pennsylvania Senate’s local government committee from 1981 to 1984, then-director of the Pennsylvania Senate’s Transportation Committee until 1986.

In 1990, at age 32, Santorum was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania’s 18th District, located in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. He scored a significant upset, defeating a seven-term Democratic incumbent, Doug Walgren. Although the 18th was heavily Democratic, Santorum attacked Walgren for living outside the district for most of the year. He was reelected in 1992, in part because the district lost its share of Pittsburgh as a result of redistricting. In Congress, as a member of the Gang of Seven, Santorum worked to expose congressional corruption by outing the guilty parties in the House banking scandal.
A barn painted with Santorum’s logo and slogan. The barn was used in a 1994 political ad.

In 1994, at the age of 36, Santorum was elected to the U.S. Senate, defeating the incumbent Democrat, Harris Wofford, who was 32 years his senior. The theme of Santorum’s 1994 campaign, as portrayed on his campaign’s signs, was “Join the Fight!”[citation needed] Santorum was re-elected in 2000 defeating Congressman Ron Klink by a 52.4% to 45.5% margin.

As Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, Santorum directed the communications operations of Senate Republicans and was a frequent party spokesperson. He was the youngest member of the Senate leadership and the first Pennsylvanian to hold such a prominent position since Senator Hugh Scott was Republican leader in the 1970s. In addition, Santorum served on the Senate Agriculture Committee; the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; the Senate Special Committee on Aging; and the Senate Finance Committee, of which he was the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Social Security and Family Policy.

In January 2005, Santorum announced his intention to run for United States Senate Republican Whip, the second highest post in the Republican caucus after the 2006 election.[14] The move came because it was presumed the incumbent whip, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, was viewed as having the inside track to succeeding Bill Frist of Tennessee as Senate Republican leader.

During the lame-duck session of the 109th Congress, Santorum was one of only two senators who voted against Robert Gates to become Secretary of Defense. He cited his opposition to Gates’ advocacy of engaging Iran and Syria to solve the problem, claiming that talking to “radical Islam” would be a grievous error.

During his third term re-election campaign for his Senate seat against Bob Casey, Jr., Santorum introduced the term “Islamic fascism”, while “his opponent’s ability to make the right decisions on national security at a time when ‘our enemies are fully committed to our destruction.’”[15]

[edit] Political ideology

In September 2005, in an effort to publicly re-align himself with the conservative legacy, Santorum gave a speech that outlined the successes and failures — but, more centrally, the future — of conservatism, at the Heritage Foundation’s First International Conservative Conference on Social Justice. In November 2005, he adapted his speech into an op-ed piece for the political website Townhall.com outlining his vision for “Compassionate Conservatism”.

***

Blackwater Worldwide
Main
Businesses • Blackwater Security Consulting
Executives
Erik Prince • Cofer Black • Joseph E. Schmitz • Gary Jackson
Controversies
Baghdad shootings • Arms smuggling allegations • Andrew J. Moonen
Legal issues
Helvenston et al. v. Blackwater Security • Scott Helvenston • Ayham al-Samarie • Blackwater Watch
Related media
Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army • Shadow Company
Retrieved from “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Prince”
Categories: 1969 births | Living people | American aviators | American businesspeople | American chief executives | American Roman Catholics | Blackwater Worldwide | Converts to Roman Catholicism | Dutch Americans | Republicans (United States) | People from Holland, Michigan | People from McLean, Virginia | United States Navy officers | United States Navy SEALs | Hillsdale College alumni

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Prince

***
United States Senator
from Pennsylvania
In office
January 4, 1995 – January 3, 2007
Preceded by    Harris Wofford
Succeeded by    Bob Casey, Jr.
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania’s 18th district
In office
January 3, 1991 – January 3, 1995
Preceded by    Doug Walgren
Succeeded by    Michael F. Doyle
Born    May 10, 1958 (1958-05-10) (age 50)
Winchester, Virginia
Political party    Republican
Spouse    Karen Garver Santorum
Residence    Penn Hills, Pennsylvania
Alma mater    Penn State University
Occupation    attorney
Religion    Roman Catholic

Richard John Santorum, KSMOM (born May 10, 1958) is a former United States Senator from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Santorum is a member of the Republican Party and was the chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, the number-three job in the party leadership of the Senate.

Santorum is usually considered a strong social and fiscal conservative[citation needed] but paleoconservatives and paleolibertarians have accused him of being too reliant upon the federal government.[1] He also holds strong neoconservative stances in regard to foreign policy, which has further alienated many paleoconservatives.[2] He is particularly known for his stances on the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Social Security, intelligent design, homosexuality, and the Terri Schiavo case.[3] Santorum was defeated 59% to 41% in the 2006 U.S. Senate election by Democratic candidate Bob Casey, Jr. This was the largest margin of defeat for an incumbent Senator since 1980.

In March 2007, Santorum joined the law firm Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC. He will primarily practice law in the firm’s Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C. offices, where he will provide business and strategic counseling services to the firm’s clients. In addition to his work with the firm, Santorum also serves as a Senior Fellow with the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., and is a contributor to Fox News Channel.

Future trends

Republican Karl Rove and other commentators had speculated about a permanent political realignment in favor of the GOP along the lines of the presidential election of 1896, in which William McKinley constructed a Republican majority that lasted for the next 36 years. While the American political sphere is relatively evenly divided in terms of ideology,[57] the Republican Party trails the Democrats by 17 million registered voters.[1]

Conservatives and Moderates. The Republican coalition is quite diverse, and numerous factions compete to frame platforms and select candidates. The “conservatives” are strongest in the South, where they draw support from religious conservatives. The “moderates” tend to dominate the party in New England, and used to be well represented in all states. From the 1940s to the 1970s under such leaders as Thomas E. Dewey, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Nelson Rockefeller, and Richard Nixon, they usually dominated the presidential wing of the party. Since the 1970s they have been less powerful, though they are always represented in the cabinets of Republican presidents. New Hampshire’s two Republican congressmen lost to their Democratic opponents. In Vermont, Jim Jeffords, a Republican Senator became an independent in 2001 due to growing disagreement with President Bush and the party leadership. In addition, Moderate Republicans hold the governorships in three of the six New England States; M. Jodi Rell in Connecticut, Donald Carcieri in Rhode Island, and Jim Douglas in Vermont.

Since the 1980s, talk radio audiences and hosts have tended to be conservative, and typically favor the Republicans. Some well known radio hosts include Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Neal Boortz, Laura Ingraham, Michael Reagan, Howie Carr, and Mark Levin.

The Bush administration supported the position that the Geneva Conventions do not apply to unlawful combatants, using the premise that they apply to soldiers serving in the armies of nation states and not terrorist organizations such as Al-Qaeda. The Supreme Court overruled this position in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, which held that the Geneva Conventions were legally binding and must be followed in regards to all enemy combatants.

Republicans support attempts for the democratization of Middle Eastern countries currently under the rule of dictatorships.

The party, through former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, has advocated reforms in the United Nations to halt corruption such as that which afflicted the Oil-for-Food Programme. As previously stated, some Republicans including Bush oppose the Kyoto Protocol (although there is a section that supports it within the party). The party strongly promotes free trade agreements, most notably NAFTA, CAFTA and now an effort to go further south to Brazil, Peru and Colombia.

Today, the Republican Party supports unilateralism in issues of national security, believing in the ability and right of the United States to act without external or international support in its own self-interest. In general, Republican defense and international thinking is heavily influenced by the theories of neorealism and realism, characterizing the conflicts between nations as great struggles between faceless forces of international structure, as opposed to the result of individual leaders, their ideas, and their actions. The realist school’s influence shows in Reagan’s Evil Empire stance on the Soviet Union and George W. Bush’s Axis of evil.

They are generally against affirmative action for women and minorities often describing it as a quota system, believing that it is not meritocratic and that is counter-productive socially by only further promoting discrimination.[34][35] Most of the GOP’s membership favors capital punishment and stricter punishments as a means to prevent crime. Republicans in rural areas generally support gun ownership rights and oppose laws regulating guns, although Republicans in urban areas sometimes favor limited restrictions on the grounds that they are necessary to protect safety in large cities.

Most Republicans support school choice through charter schools and school vouchers for private schools; many have denounced the performance of the public school system and the teachers’ unions. The party has insisted on a system of greater accountability for public schools, most prominently in recent years with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Many Republicans, however, opposed the creation of the United States Department of Education when it was initially created in 1979.
McCain supports the cap-and-trade policy, a policy that is quite popular among Democrats but much less so among other Republicans. Most Republicans support increased oil drilling in currently protected areas such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a position that has drawn sharp criticism from many environmental activists.
In 2000, the Republican Party adopted as part of its platform support for the development of market-based solutions to environmental problems. According to the platform, “economic prosperity and environmental protection must advance together, environmental regulations should be based on science, the government’s role should be to provide market-based incentives to develop the technologies to meet environmental standards, we should ensure that environmental policy meets the needs of localities, and environmental policy should focus on achieving results processes.”[28] Although this platform was created for the Republican National Convention, emphasis on these issues within the Republican Party has diminished in the past few years.[29]

Some Republicans are skeptical of anthropogenic global warming and question scientific studies on the impact of human activity on climate change, instead asserting that global warming is part of “natural” cyclical phenomenon, or caused by a number of other alternative theories.[citation needed] This is slowly changing due to more scientific research and increasing pressure from the international community, and in July 2008 the Bush administration acknowledged, at least in principle, the need to act on the issue of climate change.[citation needed] John McCain, the Republican nominee for president in 2008, is a strong advocate of legislation to regulate the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Republicans are generally opposed by labor union management and members, and have supported various legislation on the state and federal levels, including right to work legislation and the Taft-Hartley Act, which gives workers the right not to participate in unions, as opposed to a closed shop, which prohibits workers from choosing not to join unions in workplaces. Republicans generally oppose increases in the minimum wage, believing that minimum wage increases hurt many businesses by forcing them to cut jobs and services as well as raise the prices of goods to compensate for the decrease in profit.

***

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Prince

Prince announced his resignation as CEO of Blackwater (now called Xe) on March 2, 2009. Prince will remain as chairman of the board but will no longer be involved in day-to-day operations. Joseph Yorio was named as the new president, replacing Gary Jackson. Danielle Esposito was named the new chief operating officer and executive vice president.[37]
***
Erik Prince
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Erik D. Prince

Erik D. Prince
Born    June 6, 1969 (1969-06-06) (age 39)
Holland, Michigan
Residence    McLean, Virginia, USA
Nationality    American of Dutch heritage.
Education    graduate of Hillsdale College
Occupation    private military company executive
Known for    founder of Blackwater Worldwide
Title    chairman and CEO of the Prince Group and Blackwater Worldwide
Political party    Republican
Board member of    Christian Freedom International
Religious beliefs    Christian; a convert to the Roman Catholic Church, raised in the Calvinist Dutch Reformed Church[1]
Spouse(s)    Joan Nicole Prince (deceased); Joanna Ruth Prince, neé Houck
Children    6; 4 from his first marriage and 2 from his second
Parents    Edgar D. Prince and Elsa Prince-Broekhuizen
Relatives    Betsy DeVos (sister)
Website

http://www.blackwaterusa.com

Erik D. Prince (b. June 6, 1969, Holland, Michigan) is the founder and sole owner of the private military company Xe, formerly Blackwater Worldwide.[2] Testifying before the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on October 2, 2007, he gave his title as chairman and CEO of the Prince Group and Blackwater Worldwide, then named Blackwater USA.[3]. On March 2, 2009, Prince announced that he was stepping down as CEO of Xe.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Early life and career
* 2 Family
* 3 Philanthropy and political donations
* 4 Relations with the media
* 5 Blackwater controversies
o 5.1 Congressional investigation
* 6 Resignation
* 7 See also
* 8 References
* 9 External links
* 10 Further reading

[edit] Early life and career

Erik Prince was born into a wealthy family, the youngest child of Edgar D. Prince, founder of the Prince Corporation (an automobile-parts company that introduced lighted vanity mirrors for cars), and Elsa Broekhuizen.[4] He has three older sisters.[5] Erik Prince’s mother is of Dutch heritage.

Prince earned an airplane pilot’s license at age 17 and graduated from Holland Christian High School.[6] He attended the United States Naval Academy after high school,[7] but left the academy after three semesters, and ultimately graduated from Hillsdale College in 1992. During his time at Hillsdale, Prince served as a volunteer firefighter and as a diver for the Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Department.[1].

He was an intern in the White House under President George H. W. Bush[8] and subsequently criticized that administration’s policies to the Grand Rapids Press, saying: “I saw a lot of things I didn’t agree with—homosexual groups being invited in, the budget agreement, the Clean Air Act, those kinds of bills.”[5] He also served as an intern to California Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher. While at Hillsdale, Prince campaigned for presidential candidate Pat Buchanan, and interned at Gary Bauer’s Family Research Council.[5]

After college, he earned a commission in the United States Navy after joining in 1992 via Officer Candidate School. He served as a Navy SEAL officer on deployments to Haiti, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean, including Bosnia. When his father, Edgar, unexpectedly died in 1995, Prince ended his Navy service prematurely. Prince’s mother, Elsa, sold the Prince Corporation for $1.3 billion to Johnson Controls, Inc. Prince moved to Virginia Beach and personally financed the formation of Blackwater Worldwide in 1997.[7][9] He bought 6,000 acres (24 km2) of the Great Dismal Swamp of North Carolina and set up a school for special operations operators.[10] The name “Blackwater” comes from the peat-colored bogs in which the school is located.

[edit] Family

Prince’s father co-founded the Family Research Council with Gary Bauer.[11] Prince is the brother of Betsy DeVos, a former chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party and wife of former Alticor (Amway) president and Gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos[9], son of Richard DeVos, Sr. (listed by Forbes in 2007 as one of the world’s richest men, with a net worth of $2.4 billion).[12]

Prince’s first wife, Joan Nicole Prince, died of cancer in 2003, and he has since remarried. He has six children.[13]

[edit] Philanthropy and political donations

Prince serves as vice president of the Edgar and Elsa Prince Foundation. Salon reports that “between July 2003 and July 2006, the foundation gave at least $670,000 to the Family Research Council and $531,000 to Focus on the Family”[14] headed by James Dobson. The foundation is also a major donor to Calvin College[15], a Christian institution in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Prince also serves as a board member of Christian Freedom International, a non-profit group with a mission of helping “Christians who are persecuted for their faith in Jesus Christ.”

Since 1998, Prince has personally donated over $200,000 to Republican causes.[16][17][18]Prince is a donor, along with beverage company Bolthouse Farms through the Bolthouse foundation, to the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative Christian legal group.[19] Prince had also contributed money to the Green Party of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, though this has been interpreted as an unsuccessful attempt to help Republican candidate Rick Santorum in his race against Democratic challenger Bob Casey.[20]

Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards has characterized Prince as one of George W. Bush’s “political cronies.”[21] Prince has denied using family clout to obtain contracts for Blackwater.[22]

[edit] Relations with the media

Confidentiality agreements prohibit former Blackwater executives from talking about Prince.[23] He has been described by the press as “reclusive”[24] and “secretive”.[25] Prince is noted for disliking having his photo taken and distributed; often using his hands to shield himself from photographers. While attending a technology conference in North Carolina, he was visibly uncomfortable when photographed on stage and officials asked that the images not be published.[16] He also frequently turns down interview requests.[2]

According to the head of a competing contractor, “Realistically, there’s ongoing projects by (terrorist groups) to collect data on private contractors. I appreciate and understand his efforts to protect his family. The guy needs his privacy.”[16]

However, in response to controversy surrounding the September 16, 2007 Blackwater Baghdad shootings and its subsequent FBI investigation, Prince has emerged from media seclusion to grant more on-camera interviews. Some noteworthy appearances where he discusses the incident include:

* Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer October 14, 2007
* 60 Minutes October 14, 2007
* Charlie Rose October 15, 2007

[edit] Blackwater controversies
See also: Blackwater Baghdad shootings and Blackwater Worldwide arms smuggling allegations

Prince’s company, Blackwater Worldwide, has been involved in several international controversies during 2007, leading to his being asked to testify before the United States Congress. Seventeen Iraqi fatalities occurred while a Blackwater private security detail (PSD) was escorting a convoy of US State Department vehicles en route to a meeting in western Baghdad with United States Agency for International Development officials on September 16, 2007.[26]On September 22, 2007, Federal prosecutors announced an investigation into whether Blackwater employees illegally smuggled weapons into Iraq that were later possibly transferred to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a Kurdish nationalist group designated a terrorist organization by the US, North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union.[27][28][29]

[edit] Congressional investigation

On October 2, 2007 Prince was subject to a congressional hearing conducted by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform following the controversy related to Blackwater’s conduct in Iraq and Afghanistan.[30] Public relations powerhouse Burson-Marsteller was brought in briefly, but at a critical moment, to help Prince, prepare for the Oct 2 hearing.[31]

* When testifying before Congress on October 2, 2007, about Blackwater Worldwide’s activities in Iraq, Prince complained about the lack of remedies his company has to deal with employee misdeeds. When asked why an employee involved in a fatal incident had been “whisked out of the country” he replied, “We can’t flog him, we can’t incarcerate him.” [32]

* When asked by a member of Congress for financial information about his company, he declined to provide it. “We’re a private company, and there’s a key word there — private,” Prince answered.[33] Later he stated that the company could provide it at a future date if questions were submitted in writing.[34][35]

* When the term “mercenaries” was used to describe Blackwater employees, Prince objected, characterizing them instead as “loyal Americans,” notwithstanding the fact that Blackwater employees comprise many nationalities.[36]

[edit] Resignation

***
***

The National Economic Council (NEC) is a United States government agency in the Executive Office of the President. Created by President Bill Clinton in 1993 by Executive Order, its functions are to coordinate policy-making for domestic and international economic issues, coordinate economic policy advice for the President, ensure that policy decisions and programs are consistent with the President’s economic goals, and monitor implementation of the President’s economic policy agenda. The Director of the NEC is also Assistant to the President for Economic Policy.

The current Director is Lawrence Summers, appointed by President Obama in 2009.
Organization

[edit] Directors

[edit] Deputy Directors

In the Obama Administration [2]:

* Diana Farrell
* Jason Furman

Deputy Directors for Domestic Affairs
This article may need to be updated. Please update the article to reflect recent events or newly available information, and remove this template when finished.

* Daniel Tarullo (1993-1998)
* Lael Brainard (1998-2000)
* Gary Edson (2001- )

[edit] Membership
Structure of the United States National Economic Council (2009)
Chair Barack Obama (President of the United States)
Director

Lawrence Summers (Assistant to the President for Economic Policy)
Regular Attendees

[edit] Further reading

[edit] References

1. ^ http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/nec/
2. ^ http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/ObamaAnnouncesDeputyDirectorsfortheNationalEconomicCouncil/

[edit] External links

* NEC page at whitehouse.gov

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Economic_Council

***
United States Government Policy and Supporting Positions (more commonly, the Plum Book) is a publication of, alternately, the United States Senate’s Committee on Governmental Affairs and the House of Representatives’ Committee on Government Reform. Published after each Presidential election, the register lists over 7,000 Federal civil service leadership and support positions in the legislative and executive branches of the Federal Government that may be subject to noncompetitive appointment, nationwide. Data covers positions such as agency heads and their immediate subordinates, policy executives and advisors, and aides who report to these officials. The duties of many such positions may involve advocacy of Administration policies and programs and the incumbents usually have a close and confidential working relationship with the agency or other key officials.

[edit] History

The Plum Book is used to identify presidentially appointed positions within the Federal Government. The list originated in 1952 during the Eisenhower administration. For twenty years prior, the Democratic Party controlled the Federal Government. When President Eisenhower took office, the Republican Party requested a list of government positions that President Eisenhower could fill. The next edition of the Plum Book appeared in 1960 and has since been published every four years, just after the Presidential election. Older editions of the Plum Book are held by any Federal depository library.[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Government_Policy_and_Supporting_Positions

***
Plum Book – appointments – 7000 positions
November 12, 2008

COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY
AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut, Chairman
CARL LEVIN, Michigan
DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware
MARK L. PRYOR, Arkansas
MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana
BARACK OBAMA, Illinois
CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri
JON TESTER, Montana
SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine
TED STEVENS, Alaska
GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio
NORM COLEMAN, Minnesota
TOM COBURN, Oklahoma
PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico
JOHN WARNER, Virginia
JOHN E. SUNUNU, New Hampshire
MICHAEL L. ALEXANDER, Staff Director
BRANDON L. MILHORN, Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel
TRINA DRIESSNACK TYRER, Chief Clerk
PATRICIA R. HOGAN, GPO Detailee and Publications Clerk

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/plumbook/2008/2008_plum_book.pdf

***

Every four years, just after the Presidential election, the ‘‘United States
Government Policy and Supporting Positions,’’ commonly known as the
Plum Book, is published, alternately, by the Senate Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs and the House Committee on Oversight
and Government Reform.
This publication contains data (as of September 1, 2008) on over 7,000
Federal civil service leadership and support positions in the legislative
and executive branches of the Federal Government that may be subject
to noncompetitive appointment (e.g., positions such as agency heads and
their immediate subordinates, policy executives and advisors, and aides
who report to these officials). The duties of many such positions may involve
advocacy of Administration policies and programs and the incumbents usually
have a close and confidential working relationship with the agency
head or other key officials.

The information for this committee print was provided by the
U.S. Office of Personnel Management [OPM].

***

Fred Fisher Fielding (born March 21, 1939) is an American lawyer, and held the office of White House Counsel for U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_F._Fielding

Career

Fielding was a senior partner at Wiley Rein LLP (formerly Wiley Rein & Fielding), a Washington, D.C. law firm. He has served the American government in a number of roles throughout his career.[citation needed]

Fielding served as Associate Counsel for President Richard Nixon from 1970 to 1972, where he was the deputy to John Dean during the Watergate scandal. He was the Counsel to the President for President Ronald Reagan from 1981 to 1986. Fielding has also served on the Tribunal on the U.S.-UK Air Treaty Dispute (1989-1994), as a member of the president’s Commission on Federal Ethics Law Reform (1989), as a member of the Secretary of Transportation’s Task Force on Aviation Disasters (1997-1998) and as a member of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also known as the 9/11 Commission).

In 2007 he represented, along with a great many others, Blackwater Worldwide, a private military company. Following the Blackwater Baghdad shootings, Henry Waxman’s House Oversight Committee subpoenaed its Chief Executive Officer Erik Prince to testify. The climate of opinion among politcians and the public at large jeopardized its contracts to provide security for State Department personnel in Iraq. He also represented the firm in Helvenston et al. v. Blackwater Security, a lawsuit arising from the 31 March 2004 Fallujah ambush.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]

He was selected on January 8, 2007 by President George W. Bush to replace outgoing White House Counsel Harriet Miers.[8]

Fielding has reportedly maintained close ties to Vice President Dick Cheney, whom he has known for decades and occasionally served as an informal adviser. J. Michael Luttig, a former federal judge who worked with Fielding in the Reagan administration and remains close to him, said: “He has a firm, clear view of executive prerogative, but he also understands as well as anyone in Washington the constitutional need for compromise. He is not someone that takes an absolutist position and then drives the presidency and the branches together off the brink. He has judgment.” [9]

Fielding was responsible for approving the pardon issued by President Bush to convicted real estate fraudster Isaac Toussie.

Fielding is the chairman of the National Legal Center for the Public Interest.[citation needed]

[edit] Deep Throat connection

In April 2003, a team of journalism students taught by William Gaines conducted a detailed review of source materials, leading them to conclude that Fielding was Deep Throat, the unnamed source for articles written by Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.[10] Many years previously, former White House Chief of Staff for Richard Nixon, H. R. Haldeman, also concluded that Fielding was Deep Throat.[citation needed]

That speculation ended after former top Federal Bureau of Investigation official W. Mark Felt announced in May 2005 that he was the mysterious Watergate informant, as later confirmed by Woodward, Bernstein and Executive Editor Ben Bradlee in a statement released through The Washington Post.[citation needed]

[edit] References

1. ^ [1][dead link]
2. ^ Van Heuvelen, Ben (2007-10-02). “The Bush administration’s ties to Blackwater”. Salon.com.
3. ^ Neff, Joseph (2008-03-11). “Blackwater faces more scrutiny”. News and Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina: The McClatchy Company). “Fred Fielding is now White House counsel for President Bush, but in 2005 he represented Blackwater in a lawsuit filed by the families of four Blackwater workers killed in a massacre in Fallujah in 2004.”
4. ^ Waxman, Henry A. (2008-03-10). “Employment Practices of Blackwater Worldwide”. Memorandum to Members of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20080310101306.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-01-20.
5. ^ Broder, John M.; James Risen (2007-11-01). “Blackwater Mounts a Defense With Top Talent”. New York Times.
6. ^ Scahill, Jeremy; Amy Goodman (2007-01-27). “Our Mercenaries in Iraq: Blackwater Inc and Bush’s Undeclared Surge”. Democracy Now. http://www.democracynow.org/about. Retrieved on 2008-10-20.
7. ^ Broder, John M.; James Risen (2007-09-27). “Blackwater Tops Firms in Iraq in Shooting Rate”.
8. ^ Allen, Mike (January 8, 2007). “Exclusive: Bush Picks a Replacement for Harriet Miers”. Time. http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1575066,00.html. Retrieved on 2007-01-08.
9. ^ Jim Rutenberg (2007-01-09). “Reagan Lawyer Ready to Return to White House”. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/09/washington/09counsel.html?pagewanted=print. Retrieved on 2007-11-19.
10. ^ Noah, Timothy (April 8, 2003). “Was Fred Fielding Deep Throat?”. Slate. http://www.slate.com/id/2082179/. Retrieved on 2007-01-09.

[edit] See also

* 9/11 Commission
* Fred Fielding’s federal campaign contribution report
* Listing on Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP
* Spartacus Educational Biography

Legal offices
Preceded by
Lloyd Cutler    White House Counsel
1981-1986    Succeeded by
Peter J. Wallison
Preceded by
Harriet Miers    White House Counsel
2007-2009    Succeeded by
Greg Craig
[show]
v • d • e
Members of the 9/11 Commission
Kean (Chair) • Hamilton (Vice chair)
Ben-Veniste • Fielding • Gorelick • Gorton • Kerrey • Lehman • Roemer • Thompson

Logo of the 9-11 Commission
[show]
v • d • e
White House Counsels

Members of the 9/11 Commission
Kean (Chair) • Hamilton (Vice chair)
Ben-Veniste • Fielding • Gorelick • Gorton • Kerrey • Lehman • Roemer • Thompson

White House Counsels
Rosenman • Clifford • Murphy • Stephens • Shanley • Morgan • Kendall • Sorensen • Feldman • Serner • Temple • Colson • Dean • Garment • Casselman • Buchen • Lipshutz • Cutler • Fielding • Wallison • Culvahouse • Gray • Nussbaum • Cutler • Mikva • Quinn • Davis • Ruff • Nolan • Gonzales • Miers • Fielding • Craig

***
J. Michael Luttig (June 13, 1954) is an American lawyer and a former federal judge.

Education and early work

Born in Tyler, Texas, Luttig graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1976. He then attended the University of Virginia School of Law, where he received his Juris Doctor degree in 1981. After graduation, he clerked for Chief Justice Warren Burger. He served briefly in the Reagan administration, where his duties included reviewing potential judicial appointments and vetting them for ideological consistency with the administration’s policies. From 1982 to 1984 he clerked for then-Judge Antonin Scalia of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, one of the potential judges he had vetted in his prior job, and for Warren Burger, his former employer.[1] Luttig continued to work for Burger as a special assistant until 1985, when he entered private practice at the Washington office of Davis Polk & Wardwell. In 1989, Luttig returned to government service, holding various positions within the Department of Justice until 1991 under George H.W. Bush.[1] His duties in the Justice Department included assisting Supreme Court nominees David Souter and Clarence Thomas with their Senate confirmation proceedings. His assistance of Thomas proved somewhat controversial[citation needed] because he assisted Thomas in his highly contested hearing after his own appointment to the federal bench had been approved by the Senate, although he did not take office as a judge until after the Thomas hearings had concluded.

[edit] Federal judgeship

On April 23, 1991, President George H. W. Bush nominated Luttig to fill a newly created seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Confirmed by the United States Senate on July 26, 1991 and receiving his commission on August 2, 1991, he became the youngest judge (at age 37) on a federal appeals court.

On the bench, Luttig was compared to Justice Scalia for his analytical rigor and for criticizing his colleagues for inconsistencies or embellishments in their judicial opinions.[2] He was also similar to Scalia in that his judicial philosophy sometimes led to what were seen as anti-conservative opinions.[1]

Luttig was mentioned frequently as being near the top of George W. Bush’s list of potential nominees to the Supreme Court of the United States despite opposition from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a dispute between Luttig and the Bush administration over the handling of the case of alleged “dirty bomber” Jose Padilla (see below).[3][4] Bush interviewed but ultimately did not choose Luttig to fill two Supreme Court vacancies in 2005.

Luttig was the leading “feeder” judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals, with virtually all of his law clerks having gone on to clerk with conservative justices on the Supreme Court.[5] Luttig’s clerks have nicknamed themselves “Luttigators”.

[edit] John Luttig’s murder

Luttig’s father, John Luttig, was fatally shot in 1994 in a carjacking by juvenile offender Napoleon Beazley. Beazley was eventually executed after twice appealing to the Supreme Court, where Justices Antonin Scalia, David Souter, and Clarence Thomas recused themselves because of past associations with Luttig. Scalia recused himself because Luttig had clerked for him, and Justices David Souter and Clarence Thomas recused themselves because Luttig led the George H. W. Bush Administration’s efforts to gain the Senate’s confirmation for them.

Some have speculated whether this tragedy influenced Luttig’s judging.[1]

[edit] Cases

[edit] Jose Padilla and clash with Bush administration

In September 2005, Luttig wrote an opinion for a three-judge panel of his court, which upheld the government’s power to designate Jose Padilla — the alleged “dirty bomber” captured at a Chicago airport — as an “enemy combatant” and detain him in a military brig without charge.[6] In December the Bush administration, apparently anticipating a reversal in the Supreme Court, petitioned Luttig’s court for approval to transfer Padilla to civilian custody for a criminal trial. This move set off a dispute between the Bush administration and Luttig.[7] Luttig’s panel refused to grant the transfer, castigating the government for potentially harming its “credibility before the courts.”[8] The government petitioned the Supreme Court to allow the transfer, arguing that the lower court’s refusal encroached on the power of the President. The Supreme Court granted the government’s request.[9]

[edit] Hamdi v. Rumsfeld

In the case of Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, Luttig disagreed with the majority opinion that Yaser Esam Hamdi, an American citizen captured in Afghanistan and held as an enemy combatant, did not deserve a “meaningful judicial review” of his case.[1]

[edit] Resignation

In 2006 Luttig resigned to become general counsel and senior vice president for The Boeing Company.[10][11] In his resignation letter, Luttig wrote “Boeing may well be the only company in America for which I would have ever considered leaving the court.”[12] He also mentioned his two children’s upcoming college education; The position at Boeing promised more pay than the federal judgeship. At the time of his resignation, federal appellate judges were paid $175,100 annually.[13]

[edit] See also

* List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States
* George W. Bush Supreme Court candidates

[edit] References

1. ^ a b c d e Bazelon, Emily (July 1, 2005). “The Supreme Court Shortlist”. Slate. http://www.slate.com/id/2121270/. Retrieved on 2008-10-22.
2. ^ Deborah Sontag, “The Power of the Fourth,” The New York Times Magazine, March 9, 2003
3. ^ Bazelon, Emily; David Newman (July 1, 2005). “The Supreme Court Shortlist”. Slate. http://www.slate.com/id/2121270. Retrieved on 2006-08-06.
4. ^ Woellert, Lorraine (July 18, 2005). “Full Court Press”. Businessweek Online. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_29/b3943042_mz011.htm. Retrieved on 2006-08-06.
5. ^ CNN.com – Appeals court judge a rising star among conservatives – August 22, 2001
6. ^ http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/4th/056396p.pdf
7. ^ McGough, Michael (January 2, 2006). “How do you solve a problem like Padilla?”. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06002/631159-108.stm. Retrieved on 2006-08-06.
8. ^ http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/4th/056396r1p.pdf
9. ^ Bravin, Jess; J. Lynn Lunsford (May 11 2006). “Breakdown of Trust Led Judge Luttig To Clash With Bush”. Wall Street Journal: A1. http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB114727449814548996-lMyQjAxMDE2NDE3MTIxNzE0Wj.html. Retrieved on 2006-05-11.
10. ^ Markon, Jerry (May 11 2006). “Appeals Court Judge Leaves Life Appointment for Boeing”. Washington Post: A11. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/10/AR2006051000929.html. Retrieved on 2006-05-11.
11. ^ Markon, Jerry (May 11, 2006). “Appeals Court Judge Leaves Life Appointment for Boeing”. Washington Post. pp. A11. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/10/AR2006051000929.html. Retrieved on 2006-08-06.
12. ^ http://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/pdf/ltpres.pdf
13. ^ http://www.actl.com/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=2729

[edit] External links

* J. Michael Luttig at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
* US News profile
* Luttig’s resignation letter

Preceded by
Newly created seat Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
August 2, 1991 – May 10, 2006 Succeeded by
G. Steven Agee

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Michael_Luttig

***

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0101350.html

Source: Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2008.

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0908462.html

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0104753.html

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0873746.html

***
Federal Government Receipts and Expenditures, 1978–2008
Current dollars (billions)    Percent distribution
1978    1988    1998    20081    1978    1988    1998    20081
Receipts    $446.5    $997.2    $1,844.2    $2,651.0    100.0%    100.0%    100.0%    100.0%
Personal tax and nontax payments    193.8    414.4    858.0    1,205.5    43.4    41.6    46.5    45.5
Corporate profits tax    71.4    111.0    204.9    260.3    16.0    11.1    11.1    9.8
Contributions for social insurance    152.4    410.9    685.5    1,057.6    34.1    41.2    37.2    39.9
Indirect business tax    28.9    60.9    95.9    127.6    6.5    6.1    5.2    4.8
Expenditures    $478.1    $1,118.5    $1,771.4    $2,537.9    100.0%    100.0%    100.0%    100.0%
Defense consumption    118.4    297.9    301.5    389.3    24.8    26.6    17.0    15.3
Nondefense consumption    50.4    89.9    159.6    232.1    10.5    8.0    9.0    9.1
Transfer payments    186.2    437.2    816.6    1,351.6    38.9    39.1    46.1    53.3
To persons    182.4    425.8    803.4    1,332.4    38.2    38.1    45.4    52.5
Social Security    91.4    213.9    369.6    587.3    19.1    19.1    20.9    23.1
Medicare    24.9    86.5    217.0    431.1    5.2    7.7    12.2    17.0
Federal retirement    20.7    48.1    75.2    111.5    4.3    4.3    4.2    4.4
Other    13.7    21.3    28.1    36.2    2.9    1.9    1.6    1.4
To foreigners    3.8    11.4    13.2    19.3    0.8    1.0    .7    .8
Grants-in-aid    77.3    111.2    231.1    380.3    16.2    9.9    13.0    15.0
Medicaid    11.0    31.5    101.8    189.2    2.3    2.8    5.7    7.5
Other    66.3    79.7    129.3    191.0    13.9    7.1    7.3    7.5
Net interest paid    34.6    148.4    226.1    149.7    7.2    13.3    12.8    5.9
Net subsidies    11.4    33.9    36.6    34.9    2.4    3.0    2.1    1.4
Wage accruals less disbursements    .1    .0    .0    .0    .0    .0    .0    .0
Surplus/deficit    –31.6    –121.3    72.8    113.2    —    —    —    —
Surplus/deficit as percentage of gross domestic product    –1.4%    –2.4%    .9%    .9%    —    —    —    —
1. Projected.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics; Monthly Labor Review.

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0104655.html

***
Summary of Federal Government Expenditure,
by State and Territory, Fiscal Year 2006
(in millions of dollars)
State and outlying area    Total    Retirement
and disability    Other
direct
payments    Grants    Procurement    Salaries
and wages
United States total    $2,454,998    $739,328    $569,380    $494,148    $408,665    $243,478
Alabama    43,928    14,490    9,913    7,510    8,329    3,686
Alaska    9,250    1,237    673    3,077    2,172    2,092
Arizona    46,355    14,644    8,392    8,779    10,625    3,914
Arkansas    21,500    8,323    5,608    4,639    1,333    1,598
California    253,906    70,007    62,300    54,947    43,271    23,382
Colorado    34,423    9,948    6,074    6,035    7,522    4,844
Connecticut    30,617    8,470    6,592    5,438    8,368    1,749
Delaware    5,853    2,382    1,322    1,371    250    528
District of Columbia    40,358    2,037    2,760    4,175    14,225    17,161
Florida    142,705    52,698    41,457    22,452    14,830    11,269
Georgia    64,551    20,059    13,315    11,802    10,103    9,271
Hawaii    13,491    3,534    1,790    2,308    2,148    3,711
Idaho    9,950    3,502    1,764    2,005    1,715    964
Illinois    82,221    28,267    24,010    16,070    6,805    7,068
Indiana    43,766    15,645    12,067    8,088    5,355    2,612
Iowa    21,835    7,674    6,919    3,957    1,972    1,312
Kansas    21,523    7,007    5,796    3,358    2,755    2,607
Kentucky    37,605    11,861    7,656    6,927    7,298    3,863
Louisiana    69,731    10,551    23,978    22,833    9,534    2,836
Maine    10,979    3,977    2,102    2,683    1,249    969
Maryland    75,498    15,624    11,149    15,674    21,804    11,247
Massachusetts    57,222    15,456    13,910    13,171    10,930    3,755
Michigan    67,352    25,750    18,992    12,927    5,853    3,830
Minnesota    31,908    11,276    8,383    7,055    2,681    2,513
Mississippi    42,250    8,061    9,118    15,986    7,020    2,066
Missouri    52,266    15,612    12,387    8,601    11,112    4,555
Montana    8,011    2,681    1,800    2,026    531    973
Nebraska    13,927    4,403    4,567    2,528    1,034    1,395
Nevada    14,603    5,689    2,573    2,573    2,274    1,495
New Hampshire    8,875    3,390    1,646    1,743    1,411    686
New Jersey    61,267    20,778    16,306    11,295    8,403    4,483
New Mexico    20,938    5,252    2,796    4,652    6,030    2,209
New York    152,934    45,302    40,674    45,276    11,872    9,810
North Carolina    62,011    22,957    13,295    13,009    4,669    8,082
North Dakota    6,313    1,611    2,051    1,415    429    806
Ohio    80,774    28,832    20,785    16,518    8,875    5,764
Oklahoma    29,077    10,184    6,717    5,598    2,876    3,703
Oregon    23,586    9,542    5,250    5,455    1,332    2,007
Pennsylvania    103,265    36,416    28,899    20,197    10,849    6,904
Rhode Island    8,766    2,836    2,247    2,238    601    844
South Carolina    33,833    12,268    6,813    6,261    4,997    3,494
South Dakota    7,991    2,044    3,072    1,483    623    769
Tennessee    50,596    16,470    12,106    9,556    8,851    3,614
Texas    166,618    47,034    36,942    30,483    35,618    16,543
Utah    15,714    4,674    2,411    3,179    3,150    2,301
Vermont    5,274    1,593    974    1,368    870    470
Virginia    103,062    22,921    13,388    7,590    41,915    17,248
Washington    48,177    16,180    8,362    8,975    8,134    6,525
West Virginia    16,209    6,519    3,525    3,549    1,158    1,458
Wisconsin    34,561    13,459    8,550    7,155    3,323    2,074
Wyoming    5,170    1,324    794    2,069    431    552
American Samoa    246    48    10    152    31    5
Micronesia    100    1    8    91    —    —
Guam    1,380    250    92    289    401    348
Marshall Islands    191    1    2    78    110    —
Northern Marianas    177    27    14    126    2    8
Palau    37    1    3    34    —    —
Puerto Rico    16,232    6,355    3,402    4,789    673    1,013
Virgin Islands    621    182    84    285    11    58
Undistributed    23,418    18    794    244    17,925    4,437
NOTE: Detail may not add to total due to rounding.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Consolidated Federal Funds Report for Fiscal Year 2006. Web: www.census.gov .

Information Please® Database, © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Federal Government Receipts and Expenditures, 1978–2008 U.S. Economy and the Federal Budget Summary of Federal Government Expenditure, by State and Territory,
Fiscal Year 2004

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0104772.html

***
U.S. Direct Investment in Other Countries, 2006
(in millions of dollars)
All
indus–
tries    Mining    Manu–
facturing    Computers and electronic products    Whole–
sale
trade    Infor–
mation    Banks    Finance,
insur–
ance    Other
indus–
tries
All countries    $216,614    $15,419    $60,022    $13,803    $22,703    $4,797    $-4,214    $24,847    $12,298
Canada    14,793    1,869    10,656    6,343    1,116    1,472    309    -1,506    544
Europe    127,375    4,109    23,823    2,940    14,426    2,230    1,891    17,752    7,274
Austria    1,363    (*)    186    (D)    100    -1,168    (D)    (D)    31
Belgium    4,524    –2    1,143    -11    941    8    220    1,297    242
Czech Republic    323    (*)    222    6    –2    22    138    (D)    (D)
Denmark    139    -18    305    79    -156    47    0    (D)    (D)
Finland    473    0    132    25    323    –10    0    -5    -7
France    4,886    11    1,522    339    1,381    -34    103    119    1,138
Germany    8,275    16    3,689    -134    2,878    26    –20    354    -72
Greece    175    –1    6    (D)    133    7    -22    48    3
Hungary    578    (D)    203    -73    118    -3    (D)    91    (D)
Ireland    13,264    (D)    2,107    611    2,276    120    (D)    5,459    (D)
Italy    3,184    19    895    443    886    827    (*)    160    -98
Luxembourg    15,127    0    592    (D)    (D)    (D)    157    1,881    (D)
Netherlands    32,896    515    3,392    288    281    975    (D)    423    (D)
Norway    1,021    674    379    -21    19    -26    9    8    -100
Poland    908    (D)    686    23    85    (D)    –171    131    (D)
Portugal    654    1    -31    -15    196    74    (*)    50    186
Russia    1,804    1,170    394    (D)    64    22    (D)    3    (D)
Spain    2,712    5    499    -143    205    919    -391    312    585
Sweden    2,954    0    127    (D)    205    27    (*)    (D)    (D)
Switzerland    10,441    51    2,727    227    2,960    –76    497    -382    -3
Turkey    7    -34    -140    (*)    27    –1    75    (D)    (D)
United Kingdom    19,382    1,115    3,884    1,154    1,077    920    1,033    7,059    1,901
Other    2,284    (D)    904    12    (D)    (D)    (D)    21    (D)
Latin America and Other
Western Hemisphere    22,273    3,585    10,789    -2,091    3,679    5    –6,283    -4,749    1,603
South America    7,537    1,256    3,853    310    449    –179    -120    -870    543
Argentina    2,099    56    543    10    -92    -162    261    454    103
Brazil    1,166    733    1,779    301    484    -172    –660    -1,548    -191
Chile    689    -158    125    (D)    25    -47    85    113    541
Colombia    790    423    258    (*)    25    9    (D)    30    (D)
Ecuador    41    –24    45    0    19    2    (D)    (D)    -6
Peru    700    616    39    0    21    -8    (D)    32    12
Venezuela    2,045    –320    1,063    (D)    -44    165    (D)    99    (D)
Other    8    -70    3    0    12    34    90    (D)    (D)
Central America    11,036    1,311    5,588    (D)    77    4    (D)    1,225    (D)
Costa Rica    171    (*)    112    (D)    74    -1    0    1    (D)
Honduras    25    0    27    0    (D)    (*)    (D)    1    (D)
Mexico    10,645    1,338    5,371    1,376    -35    (D)    (D)    1,235    (D)
Panama    152    -27    7    0    33    (*)    10    -12    4
Other    43    (*)    71    (D)    (D)    (D)    (D)    (*)    (D)
Other Western Hemisphere    3,699    1,019    1,348    (D)    3,153    180    (D)    -5,104    (D)
Barbados    972    0    353    (D)    42    (D)    (*)    877    (D)
Bermuda    5,685    (D)    524    (D)    719    3    7    750    (D)
Dominican Republic    96    0    122    (D)    (D)    -1    (D)    1    (D)
United Kingdom Islands,
Caribbean    -4,635    –131    300    (D)    2,266    (D)    –6,311    -6,584    (D)
Other    1,581    (D)    50    (*)    (D)    (D)    (D)    -149    (D)
Africa    2,176    2,044    533    11    106    5    –152    84    -379
Egypt    630    570    75    0    4    (D)    (D)    (D)    (D)
Nigeria    –832    –805    15    0    1    0    (D)    (D)    23
South Africa    287    115    434    (D)    75    8    (D)    -14    (D)
Other    2,091    2,163    8    (D)    25    (D)    –65    (D)    (D)
Middle East    4,956    1,417    2,843    2,624    187    256    81    179    -80
Israel    2,815    (D)    2,795    (D)    –13    225    48    20    (D)
Saudi Arabia    593    86    13    (D)    40    (D)    0    9    (D)
United Arab Emirates    1,211    974    (D)    -1    165    (D)    (D)    (D)    -83
Other    337    (D)    (D)    0    –4    (*)    (D)    (D)    (D)
Asia and Pacific    45,041    2,395    11,378    4,418    3,189    828    -61    13,087    3,337
Australia    6,460    2,093    208    58    181    85    -487    1,309    (D)
China    4,656    -973    2,507    737    423    223    883    (D)    (D)
Hong Kong    4,817    0    550    469    1,763    129    -1,001    1,928    321
India    2,074    –143    348    102    293    260    102    651    20
Indonesia    1,167    678    -33    -37    37    -14    74    213    194
Japan    12,241    2    2,953    1,160    203    -406    –106    7,562    983
Korea, Republic of    2,402    (*)    1,503    391    57    200    444    469    -448
Malaysia    1,935    528    486    412    -107    2    (D)    (D)    (D)
New Zealand    801    39    147    97    122    15    (D)    61    (D)
Philippines    232    3    172    77    -51    3    (D)    -26    22
Singapore    5,363    70    1,315    660    -437    237    -31    221    (D)
Taiwan    1,251    (*)    316    50    459    96    –112    491    –46
Thailand    661    -308    865    193    -7    -1    54    –187    169
Other    982    406    40    (D)    253    (*)    (D)    -82    (D)
Addenda:
European Union (25)1    111,867    1,645    19,800    2,726    11,267    2,252    1,173    18,023    7,136
OPEC2    5,392    2,094    1,094    (D)    193    183    (D)    425    (D)
* Less than $500,000 (+/–). (D) Suppressed to avoid disclosure of data of individual companies.
1. The European Union (25) comprises Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
2. OPEC is the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Its members are Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela.
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis. Web: http://www.bea.gov .

Information Please® Database, © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Summary of Federal Government Expenditure, by State and Territory,
Fiscal Year 2006 U.S. Economy and the Federal Budget U.S. Direct Investment in Other Countries, 2004

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0104803.html

***
U.S. Direct Investment in Other Countries, 2004
(in millions of dollars)
All
indus–
tries    Mining    Util–
ities    Manu–
facturing    Whole–
sale
trade    Infor–
mation    Banks    Finance,
insur–
ance    Services    Other
indus–
tries
All countries    $229,294    $11,103    $–1,138    $54,202    $13,803    $5,343    $285    $29,130    $6,568    $109,997

http://www.infoplease.com/business/economy/us-direct-investment-countries-2004.html

***
History and Government > U.S. Government > Executive Departments and Agencies > Other Independent Agencies
Legislative Department

* Architect of the Capitol—U.S. Capitol Building (20515)
* Government Accountability Office (GAO)—441 G St., NW (20548)
* Government Printing Office (GPO)—732 North Capitol St., NW (20401)
* Library of Congress—101 Independence Ave., SE (20540)
* United States Botanic Garden—245 1st St., SW (20024)

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0101352.html

***
Quasi-Official Agencies

* American Red Cross—2025 E St., NW (20006)
* Legal Services Corporation—3333 K St., NW 3rd Fl. (20007-3522)
* National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, National Research Council, Institute of Medicine—500 Fifth St., NW (20001)
* National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak)—60 Massachusetts Ave., NE (20002)
* Smithsonian Institution—PO Box 37012 SI Bldg., Rm. 153, MRC 010 (20013-7012)

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0101354.html

***
Council of Economic Advisers

The Council of Economic Advisers was established by the Employment Act of 1946 to provide the President with objective economic analysis and advice on the development and implementation of a wide range of domestic and international economic policy issues.

The Council consists of one Chairman and two members. Christina Romer, Austan Goolsbee, and Cecilia Rouse are President Barack Obama’s nominees to the Council.

The Council has five main duties and functions:

* To gather timely and authoritative information concerning economic developments and economic trends, both current and prospective; to analyze and interpret such information for the purpose of determining whether such developments and trends are interfering, or are likely to interfere, with the achievement of such policy; and to compile and submit to the President studies relating to such developments and trends
* To develop and recommend to the President national economic policies to foster and promote free competitive enterprise, to avoid economic fluctuations or to diminish the effects thereof, and to maintain employment
* To make and furnish such studies, reports thereon, and recommendations with respect to matters of Federal economic policy and legislation as the President may request
* To appraise the various programs and activities of the Federal Government for the purpose of determining the extent to which such programs and activities are contributing, and the extent to which they are not contributing, to the achievement of such policy, and to make recommendations to the President with respect thereto
* To assist and advise the President in the preparation of the Economic Report

Each month, the Council of Economic Advisers prepares a report for the Joint Economic Committee that includes economic information on prices, wages, production, business activity, purchasing power, credit, money and Federal finance. To view the report, otherwise known as the Council’s monthly Economic Indicators publication, click here.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/cea/

***
Organization

The current Chair of the CEA is Christina Romer.

The current nominees for the CEA are Austan Goolsbee and Cecilia Rouse. Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell and his spokesman have refused to comment on why these two nominees are being blocked from confirmation. A growing number of people are expressing concern over the fact that McConnell is blocking the confirmation during a time of severe recession and continues to remain silent. [2]

The council’s three members are nominated by the president and approved by the United States Senate. The staff of the council includes about 20 academic economists, plus three permanent economic statisticians.

***

During the 1953-54 recession, the CEA, headed by Arthur Burns deployed traditional Republican rhetoric. However it supported an activist contracyclical approach that helped to establish Keynesianism as a bipartisan economic policy for the nation. Especially important in formulating the CEA response to the recession – accelerating public works programs, easing credit, and reducing taxes – were Arthur F. Burns and Neil H. Jacoby. [5]

The 1978 Humphrey-Hawkins Act required each administration to move toward full employment and reasonable price stability within a specific time period. It has had the effect of making the CEA’s annual economic report highly political in nature, as well as highly unreliable and inaccurate over the standard two or five year projection periods. [6]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Economic_Advisers

Past Chairs and Members

Past chairs include:

* Edward Lazear 2006-2009
* Ben S. Bernanke 2005-2006
* Harvey S. Rosen 2005
* N. Gregory Mankiw 2003-2005
* R. Glenn Hubbard 2001-2003
* Martin Neil Baily 1999-2001
* Janet Yellen 1997-1999
* Joseph E. Stiglitz 1995-1997 (member since 1993)
* Laura D’Andrea Tyson 1993-1995
* Michael J. Boskin 1989-1993
* Beryl W. Sprinkel 1985-1989
* Martin Feldstein 1982-1984
* Murray L. Weidenbaum 1981-1982
* Charles L. Schultze 1977-1981
* Alan Greenspan 1974-1977
* Herbert Stein 1972-1974
* Paul W. McCracken 1956-1959 (member); 1969-1971
* Arthur M. Okun 1968-1969
* Gardner Ackley 1964-1968
* Walter W. Heller 1961-1964
* Raymond J. Saulnier 1956-1961
* Arthur F. Burns 1953-1956
* Leon H. Keyserling 1949-1950 (acting chair); 1950-1953
* Edwin G. Nourse 1946-1949

Other influential past members include:

* Karl M. Arndt[7]
* John D. Clark 1946-1953
* Otto Eckstein 1964-1966
* Aaron Edlin, 1997-1998
* Hendrik S. Houthakker 1969-1971
* William D. Nordhaus 1977-1979
* James Tobin 1961-1962

[edit] References

1. ^ Sullivan, arthur; Steven M. Sheffrin (2003). Economics: Principles in action. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458: Pearson Prentice Hall. pp. 400. ISBN 0-13-063085-3. http://www.pearsonschool.com/index.cfm?locator=PSZ3R9&PMDbSiteId=2781&PMDbSolutionId=6724&PMDbCategoryId=&PMDbProgramId=12881&level=4.
2. ^ http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=washingtonstory&sid=aAoTZlvoV0fU

# ^ [Engelbourg 1980]
# ^ [Cimbala and Stout 1983]
# ^ “Karl M. Arndt, 54″. Associated Press in New York Times. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10F12FD3D5510728FDDAA0A94DA405B8689F1D3. Retrieved on 2008-06-17. “Karl M. Arndt, former top staff man of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, died in Taipei yesterday after a brief illness. His age was 54.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Economic_Advisers

***
Agencies under the Executive Office of the President
Council of Economic Advisers  Council on Environmental Quality  Domestic Policy Council  National Economic Council  National Security Council  Office of Administration  Office of Management and Budget  United States Office of National AIDS Policy  Office of National Drug Control Policy  Office of Science and Technology Policy  Office of the United States Trade Representative  President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board  Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board  USA Freedom Corps  White House Military Office  White House Office

***
The Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) is a group of three respected economists who advise the President of the United States on economic policy.[1] It is a part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, and provides much of the economic policy of the White House. The council prepares the annual Economic Report of the President.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Economic_Advisers

***
Career

Lazear graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in economics in 1971. He received his doctorate in economics from Harvard University in 1974.

From 1985 to 1992, he was a professor of Urban and Labor Economics at the University of Chicago. Since 1992, he has been an economics professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Lazear has served as a research assistant at the National Bureau of Economic Research, as well as a research fellow at the Centre for Economic Policy Research and the Institute for the Study of Labor. He is a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. In 1996, he founded the Society of Labor Economists. Prior to his nomination and confirmation as chief economic advisor to the President, Lazear was a member of Bush’s tax reform advisory panel in 2005.

[edit] Research

Lazear is the founding editor of the Journal of Labor Economics. He has published over 100 scholarly articles. [1]

Most of his work has to do with motivating and compensating workers. One of his most famous papers, “Rank-Order Tournaments as Optimum Labor Contracts,” argues that in certain circumstances, it is in a firm’s best interest to rank its employees and pay particularly high wages to the top-ranked employees. This helps explain why the highest jobs, like chief executive officer, often draw paychecks that are much higher than the next-highest jobs, even though the skill differences between those employees are not very high. It also helps explain the partnership structure of law firms, in which associate lawyers compete to become partners and earn a much higher salary. He has also analyzed how peer pressure and mandatory retirement can help reduce principal-agent problems in companies.

Edward Paul “Ed” Lazear (born 1948) is an award-winning American economist, considered the founder of personnel economics, and was the chief economic advisor to President George W. Bush.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Lazear

Patents

Edward Lazear is listed as a coinventor on 5 pending US patent applications.[1] Some of these pending patent applications are considered to be tax patents.[2] This has led to criticism of Lazear by organizations opposed to tax patents, such as Citizens for Tax Justice. Lazear, however, no longer has any ownership rights in these pending applications and cannot receive any royalties from them should they ever issue as valid patents. The full ownership rights to these applications are owned by Liquid Engines.

[edit] References

1. ^ Pending US patent applications listing Edward Lazear as a coinventor and their corresponding international counterparts
2. ^ Stamper, Dustin “Bush Economist Listed as Inventor on Tax Strategy Patent Application”, Tax Notes, September 17, 2001

Books

* Lazear, Edward (1995). Personnel Economics. MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-12188-3.
* Edward Lazear, ed (1996). Culture Wars in America. Hoover Institution Press. ISBN 0-8179-5762-6.
* Lazear, Edward (1995). Economic Transition in Eastern Europe and Russia: Realities of Reform. Hoover Institution Press. ISBN 0-8179-9332-0.
* Lazear, Edward (2002). Education in the Twenty-first Century. Hoover Institution Press. ISBN 0-8179-2892-8.
* Lazear, Edward (2008). Personnel Economics in Practice. Wiley. ISBN 0-471-67592-1.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Lazear

Republicans support the President’s goal to help unleash the productive potential of individuals in all nations. Sustained growth and poverty reduction are impossible without the right national policies. Where governments have implemented real policy changes, we will provide significant new levels of assistance. The United States and other developed countries should set an ambitious and specific target: to double the size of the world’s poorest economies within a decade.

We endorse the strategies that the United States is pursuing to achieve this goal, including:

* providing resources through the Millennium Challenge Account to aid countries that have met the challenge of reform;
* improving the effectiveness of the World Bank and other development banks in raising living standards;
* insisting upon measurable results to ensure that development assistance is actually making a difference in the lives of the world’s poor;
* increasing the amount of development assistance that is provided in the form of grants instead of loans; • opening societies to commerce and investment;
* enhancing public health in countries afflicted by epidemics and pandemics like HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis;
* emphasizing education, literacy, and learning as the foundation of democracy and development; and
* continuing to aid agricultural development.

Republicans know that a strong world economy enhances our national security by advancing prosperity and freedom in the rest of the world. Economic growth supported by free trade and free markets creates new jobs and higher incomes. It allows people to lift their lives out of poverty, spurs economic and legal reform, enhances the fight against corruption, and reinforces the habits of liberty.

We commend the strong record of President Bush and the Republican Congress in using their authority to promote economic growth and economic freedom beyond America’s shores, especially through free trade initiatives. We support the Administration’s comprehensive strategy to promote free trade, exemplified by the launch of the Doha negotiation of the World Trade Organization (WTO), regional and sub-regional initiatives such as the Central American Free Trade Agreement, the Free Trade Area of the Americas, and the Middle East Free Trade Area, extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, and the conclusion of bilateral free trade agreements with nations such as Australia, Morocco, Chile, and Singapore.

We hail the strong record of President Bush and the Republican Congress in:

* completing agreements with 12 countries, and currently negotiating with 10 other nations, to reduce trade barriers – together, these 22 nations represent America’s third largest export market, with economies totaling $2.5 trillion in purchasing power;
* enforcing trade agreements and laws against unfair practices, including staunch opposition to regulations that impede farm exports and improved agriculture; • opposing unfair manipulation of currency rates by U.S. trading partners; and
* taking timely action to help domestic industries and workers adjust to foreign competition, including through safeguard actions in support of America’s manufacturing sector and trade adjustment assistance for workers;
* incorporating appropriate labor and environmental concerns into U.S. trade negotiations, promoting mutually supportive trade and environmental policies and agreements; and
* using the International Labor Organization, trade preference programs, and trade talks to improve working conditions in conjunction with freer trade.

We recognize that there is a fundamental connection between trade and development. Trade policies can help developing countries strengthen property rights, competition, the rule of law, investment, the spread of knowledge, open societies, the efficient allocation of resources, and regional integration – all leading to growth, opportunity, and confidence in developing countries. We therefore welcome the Republican-led reauthorization in the Trade Act of 2002 of preference programs with the nations of the Caribbean and Andean regions.
Steady American Leadership in the World

We affirm America’s role in leading the world toward greater freedom, opportunity, and prosperity. Our efforts to expand the reach of economic and political freedom are complemented by our work in fostering religious liberty. Republicans will continue to make the protection and promotion of religious freedom abroad a cardinal principle of our foreign policy. This reflects our national values and protects our national interests, and renders our actions in the world consistent with our ideals as a people. America is a working example of religious liberty, home to millions of Christians, Jews, Muslims, and people of many other faiths who live in harmony and contribute to our culture. In the President’s words, “It is not an accident that freedom of religion is one of the central freedoms in our Bill of Rights. It is the first freedom of the human soul.… We must stand for that freedom in our country. We must speak for that freedom in the world.” We applaud President Bush’s record of accomplishment in broadening the realm of liberty and promoting prosperity and opportunity in the world, and we endorse his vision for the future.

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=25850

Edward W. Gillespie is an American Republican political strategist and former Counselor to the President in the George W. Bush White House. Gillespie, along with Jack Quinn, former Chief of Staff to Vice President Al Gore, founded Quinn Gillespie & Associates, a bipartisan lobbying firm.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Gillespie

Biography

[edit] Political career

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Gillespie

Fred Fisher Fielding (born March 21, 1939) is an American lawyer, and held the office of White House Counsel for U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.

In 2007 he represented, along with a great many others, Blackwater Worldwide, a private military company. Following the Blackwater Baghdad shootings, Henry Waxman‘s House Oversight Committee subpoenaed its Chief Executive Officer Erik Prince to testify. The climate of opinion among politcians and the public at large jeopardized its contracts to provide security for State Department personnel in Iraq. He also represented the firm in Helvenston et al. v. Blackwater Security, a lawsuit arising from the 31 March 2004 Fallujah ambush.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]

He was selected on January 8, 2007 by President George W. Bush to replace outgoing White House Counsel Harriet Miers.^[8]

Fielding was responsible for approving the pardon issued by President Bush to convicted real estate fraudster Isaac Toussie.

Fielding is the chairman of the National Legal Center for the Public Interest.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Deep Throat connection

In April 2003, a team of journalism students taught by William Gaines conducted a detailed review of source materials, leading them to conclude that Fielding was Deep Throat, the unnamed source for articles written by Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.^[10] Many years previously, former White House Chief of Staff for Richard Nixon, H. R. Haldeman, also concluded that Fielding was Deep Throat.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] References

^ [1]^{[dead link]}
^ Van Heuvelen, Ben (2007-10-02). “The Bush administration’s ties to Blackwater”. Salon.com.
^ Neff, Joseph (2008-03-11). “Blackwater faces more scrutiny”. News and Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina: The McClatchy Company). “Fred Fielding is now White House counsel for President Bush, but in 2005 he represented Blackwater in a lawsuit filed by the families of four Blackwater workers killed in a massacre in Fallujah in 2004.”
^ Waxman, Henry A. (2008-03-10). “Employment Practices of Blackwater Worldwide”. Memorandum to Members of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20080310101306.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-01-20.
^ Broder, John M.; James Risen (2007-11-01). “Blackwater Mounts a Defense With Top Talent”. New York Times.
^ Scahill, Jeremy; Amy Goodman (2007-01-27). “Our Mercenaries in Iraq: Blackwater Inc and Bush’s Undeclared Surge”. Democracy Now. http://www.democracynow.org/about. Retrieved on 2008-10-20.
^ Broder, John M.; James Risen (2007-09-27). “Blackwater Tops Firms in Iraq in Shooting Rate”.
^ Allen, Mike (January 8, 2007). “Exclusive: Bush Picks a Replacement for Harriet Miers”. Time. http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1575066,00.html. Retrieved on 2007-01-08.
^ Jim Rutenberg (2007-01-09). “Reagan Lawyer Ready to Return to White House”. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/09/washington/09counsel.html?pagewanted=print. Retrieved on 2007-11-19.
^ Noah, Timothy (April 8, 2003). “Was Fred Fielding Deep Throat?”. Slate. http://www.slate.com/id/2082179/. Retrieved on 2007-01-09.

[edit] See also

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_F._Fielding

**
double taxation
Taxation of the same income twice by the same taxing authority. It is generally used to refer to the taxation of dividends that are taxed once at the corporate level (as income before dividends are declared) and again at the personal level (when the dividends are received).

http://financial-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Dual+taxation

Double taxation is the imposition of two or more taxes on the same income (in the case of income taxes), asset (in the case of capital taxes), or financial transaction (in the case of sales taxes).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_taxation

***
A conventional or retail sales tax is charged only on the final end user. To achieve this, a purchaser who is not an end user is usually required to produce to the seller a “resale certificate”. The tax is charged on each item sold to purchasers who do not produce such a certificate.

There are several other types of sales taxes[1]

* Seller or Vendor Taxes, for example a gross receipts tax levied on all sales of a business. This produces so-called tax “cascading” or “pyramiding,” in which an item is taxed more than once as it makes its way from production to final retail sale.
* Consumer Excise Taxes, often on high value items like gasoline or alcohol, and often imposed on the producer rather than the seller
* Retail Transaction Taxes
* Value Added Taxes, in which tax is charged on all sales, thus avoiding the need for a system of resale certificates. Tax cascading is avoided by permitting the seller to remit to the government only the difference between the tax charged to the purchaser and the tax paid by the seller to its suppliers (the “value added”).
* Use tax, imposed directly on the purchaser on goods purchased without sales tax, for example purchases made in another state or purchases over the internet. Use taxes are commonly imposed by states in the United States, but are difficult to enforce except on large items such as automobiles and boats.

Most countries in the world have sales taxes or value-added taxes at all or several of the national, state, county or city government levels. Countries in western Europe, especially in Scandinavia have some of the world’s highest valued-added taxes. Norway, Denmark and Sweden have the highest VATs at 25%[2], although reduced rates are used in some cases, as for groceries and newspaper.[3] In some countries, there are multiple levels of government which each impose a sales tax. For example, sales tax in Chicago (Cook County), IL is 10.25%–the highest among major cities in the United States–consisting of 6.25% state, 1.25% city, 1.75% county and 1% regional transportation authority, Chicago also has The Metropolitan Pier and Exhibition Authority tax on food and beverage of 1% (which means eating out is taxed at 11.25%). And in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the tax is 9%, consisting of 4% state and 5% local rate.[4] Combined sales taxes in the town of Arab, Alabama were highest in the US at 12% in 2008 according to a study by tax firm Vertex, Inc. In Tennessee the sales tax is 9.25%, due to the lack of a state income tax. However, there is no general nationwide sales tax in the United States.

The trend has been for conventional sales taxes to be replaced by more broadly based value added taxes, and the United States is now one of the few countries to retain conventional sales taxes. VAT has been adopted by the European Union, Mexico, Australia, Canada (Goods and Services Tax) and many other countries. Most provinces in Canada impose a sales tax alongside the federal GST.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sales_tax

***
* 99 percent of estates pay no estate tax at all, primarily because the first $1.5 million of any estate’s value ($3 million for a couple) is entirely exempt from the estate tax. Thus, 99 percent of estates cannot face “double taxation” under the estate tax for the simple reason that they owe no estate tax.

* For those few, large estates that do owe estate taxes, a substantial proportion of their assets have never been taxed. Indeed, the majority of assets in estates valued over $10 million consist of untaxed capital gains — that is, property, stocks, and bonds that have appreciated in value since they were first purchased by the decedent but have never been subject to tax.

* Given that untaxed capital gains make up a major part of large estates, some have suggested that it would be appropriate to slash the estate tax’s top tax rate to 15 percent, the current capital gains tax rate. That, however, would reduce the share of an estate that is paid in estate taxes — that is, the effective tax rate — to an average of just 6 percent, a mere fraction of the capital gains rate, because of the large exemptions and deductions available for the estate tax.

Much of the Value of Taxable Estates Has Never Been Taxed

Without the estate tax, capital gains included in an estate would never be taxed. Under current law, the gain from appreciation of an asset is subject to the income tax only when the asset is sold. Upon the sale of an asset, the difference between the purchase price and the sale price is taxed as a capital gain. If a person holds on to an asset until he or she dies, however, his or her heirs inherit the asset at its value at the time of the decedent’s death. The gain on the asset from the time of purchase to the time of death is never taxed under the income tax.

Some of the capital gains income that escapes taxation under the income tax may be taxed under the estate tax. The appreciated value of the asset is included in the estate and, if the estate is large enough, subject to taxation.

Unrealized capital gains make up about 36 percent of the value of all estates and about 56 percent of estates worth more than $10 million, according to estimates by economists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Federal Reserve Board, using Federal Reserve data.[1]

http://www.cbpp.org/6-17-05tax.htm

Center on Budget Policy and Priorities

To ask questions, or send comments, write to bazie@cbpp.org
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
820 First Street, NE, Suite 510
Washington, DC 20002
Ph: (202) 408-1080
Fax: (202) 408-1056

http://www.cbpp.org/board.html

***
***
International tax law has two parts. One consists of the provisions of internal tax law whereby national taxes are made applicable to nonresidents and to facts or situations located outside the frontiers. The other part has its source in the growing number of international agreements designed to prevent double taxation, either by defining the field of application of the tax laws of each of the contracting states or, without limiting the field of application, by providing for the granting of credits in each of the contracting states for taxes paid under the legislation of the other.

Nearly all the agreements aimed at preventing international double taxation are bilateral; that is, between two countries. Many bilateral conventions are intended not only to prevent double taxation but also to enable cooperation between the fiscal administrations of the contracting states in combating tax evasion.

Potential problems of internal double taxation exist in federal countries (including the United States, Switzerland, and Germany). A state legislature may, for example, tax all income arising in the state, whether received by residents or nonresidents, or all income received by residents, even when the source of income is located outside the state borders. Therefore, arrangements for interstate tax coordination may be made, similar to international conventions. Alternatively, a credit for the state tax may be allowed in calculating the federal tax paid on the same object. During the 1980s the “unitary” system used by some U.S. states to tax the whole income of multistate corporations created considerable animosity in other countries. These states employed a formula to apportion between themselves and the rest of the world the entire worldwide income of affiliated firms—one of which did business in the state—that as a group were deemed to be engaged in a unitary business. This system departed radically from standard international practice, which is based on separate accounting for the corporations chartered in each country. Bowing to pressure from foreign governments, the U.S. federal government, and the international business community, most states have abolished or restricted use of this method.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/584564/tax-law/71935/Double-taxation

***

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China Income Taxes and Tax Laws

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Last partial update , March 2008

Income Tax Rates in China

* The tax on an individual’s income is progressive. As at 2008, an individual’s income is taxed progressively at 5% – 45%.
* The 2008 corporate tax rate for domestic and foreign companies is 25%.
* Companies which started operating before 2008 can enjoy the previous 15% tax rate or tax holidays for a period defined.
* Small companies pay 20% corporate tax in certain cases.

Capital Gains

* An individual’s capital gains are taxable in China at the rate of 20%.
* Capital gains tax for a Chinese company is added to the regular tax.
* A 10% deduction at source is made from the capital gains of a foreign company in China.
* On taxing capital gains from the sale of real estate, when calculating the capital gain the purchase cost is deducted from the sale price at the 20% rate. When the capital gains are in excess of 50% of the purchase price, the rate of capital gains tax fluctuates between 30% – 60%. (It is 60% when the capital gain is over 200% when compared to the cost).

Table of Income Tax Rates in China for an Individual in 2008

Tax %    Monthly Income (CNY)
5%    1 – 500
10%    501 – 2,000
15%    2,001 – 5,000
20%    5,001 – 20,000
25%    20,001 – 40,000
30%    40,001 – 60,000
35%    60,001 – 80,000
40%    80,001 – 100,000
45%    100,001 and above

# The table relates to income from a salary. Income from a wage is taxable at 5% – 35%.
# Passive income such as interest and royalties is taxable at a standard rate of 20%.

Overseas Income

* An individual and company who are Chinese residents are also taxed on their income outside China and receive a credit for overseas taxes.
* Qualification for residence for an individual:
Permanent residence in China while an individual who has no permanent residence in China but has lived in China for less than 5 years is taxed on his income in China, or overseas income that has its origins in China.

Reporting Dates and Payment

* The tax year in China ends on December 31. It is compulsory to file a report and pay advances monthly or quarterly (monthly for individuals).
* The date for submitting an annual report and arranging payments is up until May 31. There are fines on arrears. Foreign companies in China are obligated to submit an interim report every three months (advance payments should be paid within 15 days of the end of the quarter).
* An individual whose entire income in China is from a salary or whose income is subject to a deduction of tax at source is exempt from submitting an annual report.
* An employer is obligated to submit a monthly report on his employees’ wages and to pay the tax deducted within 7 days of the end of the previous month.

DEDUCTION OF TAX AT SOURCE

Taxation of Employees

* An employer is obligated to deduct tax at source on a monthly basis from a salaried employee and to make additional contributions to social security.
* Social security in China consists of 3 parts, basic pension, personal accounts and additional payment.
* The rates for the basic pension are,employer – around 20%, employee – 7%.

Other deductions
The following payments are subject to a deduction of tax at source:

* Dividend – 10%.
* Interest – 10%
* Royalties -10%.
* Capital gains -10%

Comments:

* Deductions at source for payments to foreign residents is subject to the Double Taxation Prevention Treaty.

http://www.worldwide-tax.com/china/china_tax.asp

***
Nexus.—Nexus is a requirement that flows from both the commerce clause and the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.1009 What is required is “some definite link, some minimum connection, between a state and the person, property or transaction it seeks to tax.”1010 In its commerce-clause setting, the nexus requirement serves to effectuate the “structural concerns about the effects of state regulation on the national economy.”1011 That is, “the ‘substantial-nexus’ requirement . . . limit[s] the reach of State taxing authority so as to ensure that State taxation does not unduly burden interstate commerce.”1012

Often surfacing in cases having to do with the imposition of an obligation by a State on an out-of-state vendor to collect use taxes on goods sold to purchasers in the taxing State, the test is a “physical presence” standard. The Court has sustained the imposition on mail order sellers with retail outlets, solicitors, or property within the taxing State,1013 but it has denied the power to a State when the only connection is that the company communicates with customers in the State by mail or common carrier as part of a general interstate business.1014 The validity of general business taxes on interstate enterprises may also be determined by the nexus standard. However, again, only a minimal contact is necessary.1015 Thus, maintenance of one full-time employee within the State (plus occasional visits by non-resident engineers) to make possible the realization and continuance of contractual relations seemed to the Court to make almost frivolous a claim of lack of sufficient nexus.1016 The application of a state business-and-occupation tax on the gross receipts from a large wholesale volume of pipe and drainage products in the State was sustained, even though the company maintained no office, owned no property, and had no employees in the State, its marketing activities being carried out by an in-state independent contractor.1017 Also, the Court upheld a State’s application of a use tax to aviation fuel stored temporarily in the State prior to loading on aircraft for consumption in interstate flights.1018

1009 It had been thought that the tests of nexus under the commerce clause and the due process clause were identical, but, controversially, in Quill Corp. v. North Dakota ex rel. Heitkamp, 504 U.S. 298, 306-08 (1992), but compare id. at 319 (Justice White concurring in part and dissenting in part), the Court, stating that the two “are closely related,” (citing National Bellas Hess, Inc. v. Department of Revenue of Illinois, 386 U.S. 753, 756 (1967)), held that the two constitutional requirements “differ fundamentally” and it found a state tax met the due process test while violating the commerce clause.

1010 National Bellas Hess, Inc. v. Dept. of Revenue of Illinois, 386 U.S. 753, 756 (1967). The phraseology is quoted from a due process case, Miller Bros. v. Maryland, 347 U.S. 340, 344–345 (1954), but as a statement it probably survives the bifurcation of the tests in Quill.

1011 Quill Corp. v. North Dakota ex rel. Heitkamp, 504 U.S. 298, 312 (1992).

1012 504 U.S. at 313.

1013 Scripto v. Carson, 362 U.S. 207 (1960); National Geographic Society v. California Bd. of Equalization,, 430 U.S. 551 (1977). The agents in the State in Scripto were independent contractors, rather than employees, but this distinction was irrelevant. See also Tyler Pipe Indus. v. Washington State Dept. of Revenue, 483 U.S. 232, 249–250 (1987) (reaffirming Scripto on this point). See also D. H. Holmes Co. v. McNamara, 486 U.S. 24 (1988) (imposition of use tax on catalogs, printed outside State at direction of an in-state corporation and shipped to prospective customers within the State, upheld).

1014 National Bellas Hess, Inc. v. Department of Revenue of Illinois, 386 U.S. 753 (1967), reaffirmed with respect to the commerce clause in Quill Corp. v. North Dakota ex rel. Heitkamp, 504 U.S. 298 (1992).

1015 Some in-state contact is necessary in many instances by statutory compulson, Reacting to Northwestern States, Congress enacted P.L. 86–272, 15 U.S.C. § 381, providing that mere solicitation by a company acting outside the State did not support imposition of a state income tax on a company’s proceeds. See Heublein, Inc. v. South Carolina Tax Comm’n, 409 U.S. 275 (1972).

1016 Standard Pressed Steel Co. v. Department of Revenue, 419 U.S. 560 (1975). See also General Motors Corp. v. Washington, 377 U.S. 436 (1964).

1017 Tyler Pipe Industries v. Dept. of Revenue, 483 U.S. 232, 249–251 (1987). The Court noted its agreement with the state court holding that “‘the crucial factor governing nexus is whether the activities performed in this state on behalf of the taxpayer are significantly associated with the taxpayer’s ability to establish and maintain a market in this state for the sales.’” Id. at 250.

1018 United Air Lines v. Mahin, 410 U.S. 623 (1973).

Given the complexity of modern corporations and their frequent diversification and control of subsidiaries, state treatment of businesses operating within and without their borders requires an appropriate definition of the scope of business operations. Thus, States may impose a tax in accordance with a “unitary business” apportionment formula on concerns carrying on part of their business within the taxing State based upon the company’s entire proceeds. But there must be a nexus, or minimal connection, between the interstate activities and the taxing State and a rational relationship between the income attributed to the State and the intrastate values of the enterprise.1019

Apportionment.—This requirement is of long standing,1020 but its importance has broadened as the scope of the States’ taxing powers has enlarged. It is concerned with what formulas the States must use to claim a share of a multistate business’ tax base for the taxing State, when the business carries on a single integrated enterprise both within and without the State. A State may not exact from interstate commerce more than the State’s fair share. Avoidance of multiple taxation, or the risk of multiple taxation, is the test of an apportionment formula. Generally speaking, this factor is both a commerce clause and a due process requisite, and it necessitates a rational relationship between the income attributed to the State and the intrastate values of the enterprise.1021 The Court has declined to impose any particular formula on the States, reasoning that to do so would be to require the Court to engage in “extensive judicial lawmaking,” for which it was ill-suited and for which Congress had ample power and ability to legislate.1022
Obviously, the test requires “even-handedness.” Discrimination in regulation is another matter altogether. When on its face or in its effect a regulation betrays “economic protectionism,” an intent to benefit in-state economic interests at the expense of out-of-state interests, no balancing is required. “When a state statute clearly discriminates against interstate commerce, it will be struck down . . . unless the discrimination is demonstrably justified by a valid factor unrelated to economic protectionism, … Indeed, when the state statute amounts to simple economic protectionism, a ‘virtually per se rule of invalidity’ has applied.”1045 Thus, an Oklahoma law that required coal-fired electric utilities in the State, producing power for sale in the State, to burn a mixture of coal containing at least 10% Oklahoma-mined coal was invalidated at the behest of a State that had previously provided virtually 100% of the coal used by the Oklahoma utilities.1046 Similarly, the Court invalidated a state law that permitted interdiction of export of hydroelectric power from the State to neighboring States, when in the opinion of regulatory authorities the energy was required for use in the State; a State may not prefer its own citizens over out-of-state residents in access to resources within the State.1047

1043 325 U.S. at 770–71.

1044 397 U.S. 137, 142 (1970).

1045 Wyoming v. Oklahoma, 502 U.S. 437, 454 (1992) (quoting City of Philadelphia v. New Jersey, 437 U.S. 617, 624 (1978)). See also Brown-Forman Distillers Corp. v. New York State Liquor Auth., 476 U.S. 573, 579 (1986). In Maine v. Taylor, 477 U.S. 131 (1986), the Court did uphold a protectionist law, finding a valid justification aside from economic protectionism. The State barred the importation of out-of-state baitfish, and the Court credited lower-court findings that legitimate ecological concerns existed about the possible presence of parasites and nonnative species in baitfish shipments.

1046 Wyoming v. Oklahoma, 502 U.S. 437 (1992). See also Maryland v. Louisiana, 451 U.S. 725 (1981) (a tax case, invalidating a state first-use tax, which, because of exceptions and credits, imposed a tax only on natural gas moving out-of-state, because of impermissible discrimination).

1047 New England Power Co. v. New Hampshire, 455 U.S. 331 (1982). See also Hughes v. Oklahoma, 441 U.S. 322 (1979) (voiding a ban on transporting minnows caught in the State for sale outside the State); Sporhase v. Nebraska, 458 U.S. 941 (1982) (invalidating a ban on the withdrawal of ground water from any well in the State intended for use in another State). These cases largely eviscerated a line of older cases recognizing a strong state interest in protection of animals and resources. See Geer v. Connecticut, 161 U.S. 519 (1896). New England Power had rather old antecedents. E.g., West v. Kansas Gas Co., 221 U.S. 229 (1911); Pennsylvania v. West Virginia, 262 U.S. 553 (1923).

States may certainly promote local economic interests and favor local consumers, but they may not do so by adversely regulating out-of-state producers or consumers.

States may certainly promote local economic interests and favor local consumers, but they may not do so by adversely regulating out-of-state producers or consumers. In Hunt v. Washington State Apple Advertising Comm’n,1048 the Court confronted a state requirement that closed containers of apples offered for sale or shipped into North Carolina carry no grade other than the applicable U. S. grade. Washington State mandated that all apples produced in and shipped in interstate commerce pass a much more rigorous inspection than that mandated by the United States. The inability to display the recognized state grade in North Carolina impeded marketing of Washington apples. The Court obviously suspected the impact was intended, but, rather than strike the state requirement down as purposeful, it held that the regulation had the practical effect of discriminating, and, inasmuch as no defense based on possible consumer protection could be presented, the state law was invalidated.1049 State actions to promote local products and producers, of everything from milk1050 to alcohol,1051 may not be achieved through protectionism.

1048 432 U.S. 333 (1977). Other cases in which the State was attempting to promote and enhance local products and businesses include Pike v. Bruce Church, Inc., 397 U.S. 137 (1970) (State required producer of high-quality cantaloupes to pack them in the State, rather than in an adjacent State at considerably less expense, in order that the produce be identified with the producing State); Foster-Fountain Packing Co. v. Haydel, 278 U.S. 1 (1928) (State banned export of shrimp from State until hulls and heads were removed and processed, in order to favor canning and manufacture within the State).

1049 That discriminatory effects will result in invalidation, as well as purposeful discrimination, is also drawn from Dean Milk Co. v. City of Madison, 340 U.S. 349 (1951)

States may not interdict the movement of persons into the State, whatever the motive to protect themselves from economic or similar difficulties.1056

Drawing the line between discriminatory regulations that are almost per se invalid and regulations that necessitate balancing is not an easy task. Not every claim of protectionism is sustained. Thus, in Minnesota v. Clover Leaf Creamery Co.,1057 there was attacked a state law banning the retail sale of milk products in plastic, nonreturnable containers but permitting sales in other non-returnable, nonrefillable containers, such as paperboard cartons. The Court found no discrimination against interstate commerce, because both in-state and out-of-state interests could not use plastic containers, and it refused to credit a lower, state-court finding that the measure was intended to benefit the local pulpwood industry. In Exxon Corp. v. Governor of Maryland,1058 the Court upheld a statute that prohibited producers or refiners of petroleum products from operating retail service stations in Maryland. No discrimination was found, first, because there were no local producers or refiners within Maryland and therefore since the State’s entire gasoline supply flowed in interstate commerce there was no favoritism, and, second, although the bar on operating fell entirely on out-of-state concerns, there were out-of-state concerns that did not produce or refine gasoline and they were able to continue operating in the State, so that there was some distinction between all in-state operators and some out-of-state operators as against some other out-of-state operators.

1056 Edwards v. California, 314 U.S. 160 (1941) (California effort to bar “Okies,” persons fleeing the Great Plains dust bowl in the Depression). Cf. the notable case of Crandall v. Nevada, 73 U.S. (6 Wall.) 35 (1867) (without tying it to any particular provision of Constitution, Court finds a protected right of interstate movement). The right of travel is now an aspect of equal protection jurisprudence.

1057 449 U.S. 456, 470–474 (1981).

1058 437 U.S. 117 (1978).

Still a model example of balancing is Chief Justice Stone’s opinion in Southern Pacific Co. v. Arizona.1059 At issue was the validity of Arizona’s law barring the operation within the State of trains of more than 14 passenger cars, no other State had a figure this low, or 70 freight cars, only one other State had a cap this low. First, the Court observed that the law substantially burdened interstate commerce. Enforcement of the law in Arizona, while train lengths went unregulated or were regulated by varying standards in other States, meant that interstate trains of a length lawful in other States had to be broken up before entering the State; inasmuch as it was not practicable to break up trains at the border, that act had to be accomplished at yards quite removed, with the result that the Arizona limitation controlled train lengths as far east as El Paso, Texas, and as far west as Los Angeles. Nearly 95% of the rail traffic in Arizona was interstate. The other alternative was to operate in other States with the lowest cap, Arizona’s, with the result that that State’s law controlled the railroads’ operations over a wide area.1060 If other States began regulating at different lengths, as they would be permitted to do, the burden on the railroads would burgeon. Moreover, the additional number of trains needed to comply with the cap just within Arizona was costly, and delays were occasioned by the need to break up and remake lengthy trains.1061

Conversely, the Court found that as a safety measure the state cap had “at most slight and dubious advantage, if any, over unregulated train lengths.” That is, while there were safety problems with longer trains, the shorter trains mandated by state law required increases in the numbers of trains and train operations and a consequent increase in accidents generally more severe than those attributable to longer trains. In short, the evidence did not show that the cap lessened rather than increased the danger of accidents.1062

1059 325 U.S. 761 (1945). Interestingly, Justice Stone had written the opinion for the Court in South Carolina State Highway Dept. v. Barnwell Bros., 303 U.S. 177 (1938), in which, in a similar case involving regulation of interstate transportation and proffered safety reasons, he had eschewed balancing and deferred overwhelmingly to the state legislature. Barnwell Bros. involved a state law that prohibited use on state highways of trucks that were over 90 inches wide or that had a gross weight over 20,000 pounds, with from 85% to 90% of the Nation’s trucks exceeding these limits. This deference and refusal to evaluate evidence resurfaced in a case involving an attack on railroad “full-crew” laws. Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen & Enginemen v. Chicago, R.I. & P. Railroad Co., 393 U.S. 129 (1968).

1060 The concern about the impact of one State’s regulation upon the laws of other States is in part a reflection of the Cooley national uniformity interest and partly a hesitation about the autonomy of other States, E.g., CTS Corp. v. Dynamics Corp. of America, 481 U.S. 69, 88–89 (1987); Brown-Forman Distillers Corp. v. New York State Liquor Auth., 476 U.S. 573, 583–584 (1986).

1061 Southern Pacific Co. v. Arizona, 325 U.S. 761, 771–75 (1945
Conflicting state regulations appeared in Bibb v. Navajo Freight Lines.1063 There, Illinois required the use of contour mud-guards on trucks and trailers operating on the State’s highways, while adjacent Arkansas required the use of straight mudguards and banned contoured ones. At least 45 States authorized straight mudguards. The Court sifted the evidence and found it conflicting on the comparative safety advantages of contoured and straight mudguards. But, admitting that if that were all that was involved the Court would have to sustain the costs and burdens of outfitting with the required mudguards, the Court invalidated the Illinois law, because of the massive burden on interstate commerce occasioned by the necessity of truckers to shift cargoes to differently designed vehicles at the State’s borders.

Arguably, the Court in more recent years has continued to stiffen the scrutiny with which it reviews state regulation of interstate carriers purportedly for safety reasons.1064 Difficulty attends any evaluation of the possible developing approach, inasmuch as the Court has spoken with several voices. A close reading, however, indicates that while the Court is most reluctant to invalidate regulations that touch upon safety and that if safety justifications are not illusory it will not second-guess legislative judgment, nonetheless, the Court will not accept, without more, state assertions of safety motivations. “Regulations designed for that salutary purpose nevertheless may further the purpose so marginally, and interfere with commerce so substantially, as to be invalid under the Commerce Clause.” Rather, the asserted safety purpose must be weighed against the degree of interference with interstate commerce. “This ‘weighing’ . . . requires . . . a sensitive consideration of the weight and nature of the state regulatory concern in light of the extent of the burden imposed on the course of interstate commerce.”1065

Balancing has been used in other than transportation-industry cases. Indeed, the modern restatement of the standard was in such a case.1066 There, the State required cantaloupes grown in the State to be packed there, rather than in an adjacent State, so that in-state packers’ names would be associated with a superior product. Promotion of a local industry was legitimate, the Court, said, but it did not justify the substantial expense the company would have to incur to comply. State efforts to protect local markets, concerns, or consumers against outside companies have largely been unsuccessful. Thus, a state law that prohibited ownership of local investment-advisory businesses by out-of-state banks, bank-holding companies, and trust companies was invalidated.1067 The Court plainly thought the statute was protectionist, but instead of voiding it for that reason it held that the legitimate interests the State might have did not justify the burdens placed on out-of-state companies and that the State could pursue the accomplishment of legitimate ends through some intermediate form of regulation

Last modified: October 31, 2005

http://law.onecle.com/constitution/article-1/31-state-taxation-and-regulation-modern.html

***
***
United States Government Policy and Supporting Positions (more commonly, the Plum Book) is a publication of, alternately, the United States Senate’s Committee on Governmental Affairs and the House of Representatives’ Committee on Government Reform. Published after each Presidential election, the register lists over 7,000 Federal civil service leadership and support positions in the legislative and executive branches of the Federal Government that may be subject to noncompetitive appointment, nationwide. Data covers positions such as agency heads and their immediate subordinates, policy executives and advisors, and aides who report to these officials. The duties of many such positions may involve advocacy of Administration policies and programs and the incumbents usually have a close and confidential working relationship with the agency or other key officials.

[edit] History

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Government_Policy_and_Supporting_Positions

***
Plum Book – appointments – 7000 positions
November 12, 2008

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/plumbook/2008/2008_plum_book.pdf

***

The information for this committee print was provided by the
U.S. Office of Personnel Management [OPM].

***

Fred Fisher Fielding (born March 21, 1939) is an American lawyer, and held the office of White House Counsel for U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_F._Fielding

Environmental Law Deskbook

By Environmental Law Institute, Environmental Law Institute

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explains Super Fund for environmental cleanup – its budget, legislations and how it is used.

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Republican the party of aristocracy that spread dire poverty across the US – destroyed individual rights and freedoms – brought down the economies of the world and destroyed the Greatest US prosperity and its foundation

[edit] Deep Throat connection

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Environmental Law Deskbook

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[edit] Deep Throat connection

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