Executive Privilege=Divine Right

It is always pretty astonishing just how much this White House sees itself as ordained rulers with unchecked power. If anyone has served or been near the president, their actions are guarded executive privilege. The mechanisms of government only function on the will of the president. Of course this is something we've come to expect from the Bush Administration who simply just do not care. The question is, will there be anybody in congress, and enough of these people, who have the courage to see the rights of our popularly elected legislative body preserved?

So now the Bush Administration tells Congress it can't do its job, that is of providing a check to their own power, and bring in people who ignore congressional subpeonas for contempt. Just as the Bush Admnistration once ran roughshod over the Democrats during elections, they are moving the same way over a Democratic Congress. The Democrats for their part are indignant but ineffective (so far.)

More from the WP:

Under federal law, a statutory contempt citation by the House or Senate must be submitted to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, "whose duty it shall be to bring the matter before the grand jury for its action."

But administration officials argued yesterday that Congress has no power to force a U.S. attorney to pursue contempt charges in cases, such as the prosecutor firings, in which the president has declared that testimony or documents are protected from release by executive privilege. Officials pointed to a Justice Department legal opinion during the Reagan administration, which made the same argument in a case that was never resolved by the courts.

"A U.S. attorney would not be permitted to bring contempt charges or convene a grand jury in an executive privilege case," said a senior official, who said his remarks reflect a consensus within the administration. "And a U.S. attorney wouldn't be permitted to argue against the reasoned legal opinion that the Justice Department provided. No one should expect that to happen."

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly, added: "It has long been understood that, in circumstances like these, the constitutional prerogatives of the president would make it a futile and purely political act for Congress to refer contempt citations to U.S. attorneys."

Good Lord. Sigh.

What are the options? More:

Under long-established procedures and laws, the House and Senate can each pursue two kinds of criminal contempt proceedings, and the Senate also has a civil contempt option. The first, called statutory contempt, has been the avenue most frequently pursued in modern times, and is the one that requires a referral to the U.S. attorney in the District.

Both chambers also have an "inherent contempt" power, allowing either body to hold its own trials and even jail those found in defiance of Congress. Although widely used during the 19th century, the power has not been invoked since 1934 and Democratic lawmakers have not displayed an appetite for reviving the practice.

In defending its argument, administration officials point to a 1984 opinion by the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, headed at the time by Theodore B. Olson, a prominent conservative lawyer who was solicitor general from 2001 to 2004. The opinion centered on a contempt citation issued by the House for Anne Gorsuch Burford, then administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

It concluded: "The President, through a United States Attorney, need not, indeed may not, prosecute criminally a subordinate for asserting on his behalf a claim of executive privilege. Nor could the Legislative Branch or the courts require or implement the prosecution of such an individual."

So Congress will have to do this on their own. It kinda makes you long for the days of the Roman Republic when the Senate would take up arms against such Tyranny.

We got 'em!

So the U.S. got the top Al-Qaeda leader in Iraq. Or so the military claims. Of course this apparently isn't the first time we got 'em. I probably couldn't count on one hand how many times we nabbed number 1 or number 2. Of course this time, the leader some timely information to fess up.

More from AP:

BAGHDAD - The U.S. command said Wednesday the highest-ranking Iraqi in the leadership of al-Qaida in Iraq has been arrested, adding that information from him indicates the group's foreign-based leadership wields considerable influence over the Iraqi chapter.

Khaled Abdul-Fattah Dawoud Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, also known as Abu Shahid, was captured in Mosul on July 4, said Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner, a military spokesman.

"Al-Mashhadani is believed to be the most senior Iraqi in the al-Qaida in Iraq network," Bergner said. He said al-Mashhadani was a close associate of Abu Ayub al-Masri, the Egyptian-born head of al-Qaida in Iraq.

Bergner said al-Mashhadani served as an intermediary between al-Masri and Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri.

Well isn't that special? As soon as there is a new National Intelligence Estimate that says that Al-Qaeda wants to attack in the U.S. again and President Bush says there we are indeed fighting the same people in Iraq who attacked on 9/11, the military produces a #1 leader who confirms it. The president has been saying that we are fighting al-Qaeda in Iraq for years now. Nothing about this is new. Any attempt to make that the issue is fear-mongering and rallying for the 'cause of staying the (new) course in Iraq. It doesn't change our disastrous position in the country and doesn't change the risk if we leave or stay. If we stay Al-Qaeda will continue to seek attacks in our country, if we leave, it will remain the same, except our country can divert more of its resources that would go to this treacherous conflict to actually stopping attacks in our homeland.

Hillary Stongest in WV?

So Hillary Clinton in ahead in Fundraising in West Virginia. No doubt a legacy of the Clinton years. But really is she doing that much better than other candidates?? More from the AP:

Clinton, D-N.Y., led the field of 19 hopefuls during the three-month filing period that ended June 30, collecting just over $28,000 in the state.

Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, followed closely behind and also topped the GOP contenders in West Virginia, raising $25,520.

But John Edwards, the 2004 Democratic running mate, remains the overall money leader in the state. West Virginians have given the former North Carolina senator $88,754 so far this year. Edwards' total includes $16,654 from the April-June reporting period.

Oh good, I thought that had to be wrong. It was for the second quarter. Edwards is the obvious candidate to beat in WV and already one presidential campaign under his belt through here. Poverty is also his issue, something that West Virginian politicos are or should be concerned about.

Clinton is in Charleston on July 27 btw.

Hip-Hop Feature: Immortal Technique

On Business Friendliness

This is nothing new. IN fact, it will continue as long as West Virginians keep refusing to give in to corporate ideologues like the Chamber of Commerce and their allies. I mean is anyone surprised that Forbes magazine judges West Virginia as a place not to
do business?

Forbes Lists mean nothing. There are many more business magazines to pay attention to than the the millionaire's club digest.


Here are the Real Reasons:

1. Forbes Magazine rankings mean nothing to honest-to-goodness business. Look who this magazine is written for really. To be ranked last in business-friendly means simply to be last on Wall Street's list. Which looking historically back means we were always last

2. Don't confuse Corporate-friendly with business-friendly. Sorry Republicans but your friends don't count. We want honest small-businesses to create a solid foundation of wealth in this state. Outside business interests take their money and go home once the resources are dried up or too costly to remove. Oh that's right, the only real concern corporations have shown this state have been in energy and timber. After decimating those resources and the land around it they left.

3. Today's corporate world has no big gains to find in West Virginia other than minimal investment. It is safe to say that we only returns we offer wall street continue to be resource or primary economic investments. Simply put opportunity for investors is not here because of reliance on traditional industries which long-ago lost competitiveness and that has nothing to do with taxes or



Finally here is something for everyone from the article that will strike everyone as strange:

Expansion Management Magazine conducted surveys of 19 million companies over eight years and found West Virginia had three cities in the top 20 small metro areas attracting businesses, Burdette said, adding Charleston ranked eighth, Parkersburg ranked 14th and Wheeling ranking 17th on that list.

The lists compiled showed the cities that were "magnets for business," he said.

"These are the places where people are locating," Burdette said. "I think that speaks volumes."

I guess Economic Expansion Magazine doesn't know what it is talking about. Or maybe it's just not communicating the desires of Wall Street to pressure states into making uniform changes to benefit corporations and investors.


Update: Just an afterthought of my post. More from the EconomicExpansion Magazine:

Tourists know West Virginia for its scenic views, but businesses are finding it a location that supports world-class manufacturing.

The state has added 18,000 jobs since 2003, said George Hammond, research associate professor in the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at West Virginia University. There has been job growth in the headquarters, professional and business services, and manufacturing sectors.

"One of the things we hear a lot is that the work force quality is high," Hammond said. "We have low rates of turnover and high rates of loyalty."

The quality of life is also an asset for the Mountaineer State.

"West Virginia is really a great place to live," Hammond said. "We are a state of small towns. That small town atmosphere, with a low crime rate and a high level of social cohesiveness, makes it very attractive."

The draw is apparent even to international firms like Intelli-Spray, which announced in September that it would relocate its U.S. headquarters from California to the Kanawha Valley, north of Charleston. The company is a subsidiary of Australia-based Quik Corp.

....


One big thing here too:

The state is a prime location for distributors because it is within overnight trucking distance of more than 60 percent of the U.S. population and more than one-third of the Canadian population.

WV GOP: Fat Lady Already Sang

Things just aren't trending so red in WV and the GOP isn't feeling so bullish. From the Daily Mail in Charleston:

The GOP learned just days earlier that Secretary of State Betty Ireland, its only executive branch officeholder, had decided against seeking another term. One of the party's most promising campaigners, Ireland plans to sit out the upcoming election entirely.

Another of its star players, U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, announced in May that she would stay in the 2nd Congressional District. Republicans had hoped she would instead challenge U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., next year.

Other factors signal tough sledding for the GOP, from the uphill road it faces in challenging a popular Gov. Joe Manchin next year, to the looming fight to keep the state Senate seat being vacated by former Minority Leader Vic Sprouse, R-Kanawha.

The party is also looking to rebound after a rough 2006. With the midterm ballot dominated by Legislative races, the GOP lost ground in both the Senate and House of Delegates after several successive elections of gains.

Not only is leadership continuing to fade, so too is the party's ability to run elections. The WVGOP is in debt and the national party is almost completely ignoring it. But the national party is tending to its own suffering, no time to think about the poor folk of WV.

Callaghan has new life...

Just not in politics (yet). News from Charleston: former WV State Democratic Party Chairman and Congressional Candidate Mike Callaghan is starting a law firm with former WV State Supreme Court justice Richard Neely.