August 6, 2007 – Capitol Hill Blue

Hillary’s pesky ‘Bill’ problem

August 6, 2007

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is running for president on her husband’s White House record, and it’s a strategy that cuts both ways.

The New York senator and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, constantly remind voters of the nation’s economic prosperity in the 1990s and his record on the environment, college aid and family medial leave. Press releases from the campaign often include sentences that start , “Under the Clinton administration …”

“Yesterday’s news was pretty good,” Bill Clinton said last month in Iowa while campaigning with his wife.

GOP wannabes keep distance from Bush

August 6, 2007

The Republican presidential candidates walked a delicate line in their latest campaign debate, seeking some distance from President Bush and an unpopular war in Iraq while offering assurances of change in a new Republican administration.

“I can tell you I’m not a carbon copy of George Bush,” former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said Sunday, even as he called for a “surge of support” for troops fighting in Iraq.

Rules? We don’t obey rules

August 6, 2007

Americans rightly admire our troops for their bravery, dedication and integrity.

The Marines, for instance, are renowned for abiding by an honorable code — as warriors and as individuals in civilian life.

They epitomize the rectitude of America’s soldiers.

But a recently disclosed Pentagon study — little noted in the media — has seemingly cast a shadow over our troops. The study of U.S. combat troops in Iraq finds that less than half of the soldiers and Marines surveyed would report a team member for breaches of the military’s ethics rules.

More hype than actual reform

August 6, 2007

Amidst much self-congratulation, Congress after several false starts has succeeded in passing a bill tightening its ethics regulations. And if the new regs won’t terribly diminish the role of cash and lobbyists’ clout in the legislative process, they will make it a lot more transparent.

A retreat from the border

August 6, 2007

It’s occurring largely under the nation’s radar screen, but the National Guard is well on the way to pulling thousands of its troops back from the border with Mexico, even though there are not enough civilian officers to replace them.

At its height, Operation Jump Start — as the effort was named when it began in June 2006 — deployed about 6,000 citizen-soldiers from around the country to New Mexico, Arizona, Texas and California to bolster the border against illegal immigrants and drug smugglers attempting to enter.

Day: August 6, 2007

Hillary’s pesky ‘Bill’ problem

GOP wannabes keep distance from Bush

Rules? We don’t obey rules

More hype than actual reform

A retreat from the border