Prosecutors drop tantalizing hints about an even bigger, ongoing investigation. Wade was debriefed in 2006 and provided “moderately useful” background information in another “large and important corruption investigation” that also has not yet resulted in any charges.

At a “First Amendment awards dinner,” former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) said yesterday “the country will be forced to reexamine freedom of speech to meet the threat of terrorism.” He said a “different set of rules” may be needed to limit “terrorists’ ability to use the Internet and free speech.”

The president-elect of the Christian Coalition of America “has stepped down, saying the group resisted his efforts to broaden its agenda to include reducing poverty and fighting global warming.” Rev. Joel Hunter said of the split, “When we really got down to it, they said: ‘This just isn’t for us. It won’t speak to our base, so we just can’t go there.’”

A classified Marine Corps intelligence report concludes that in Western Iraq, “the social and political situation has deteriorated to a point” that U.S. and Iraqi troops “are no longer capable of militarily defeating the insurgency in al-Anbar.”

“The Bush administration pleased farmers and frustrated environmentalists Monday by declaring that pesticides can be sprayed into and over waters without first obtaining special permits.”

The “stakes in Afghanistan are much larger in the near term than they are in Iraq,” former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said in a speech yesterday, predicting that Iraq’s troubles would remain internal for some time while Afghanistan’s could have “enormous repercussions” on Pakistan and India.

Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer (D-NY) yesterday “hit out at efforts by figures in the Bush administration and business to roll back corporate accountability reforms imposed in the wake of financial scandals such as Enron.” Spitzer argued businesses are failing to compete not due to over-regulation, but because of “failed business models and the lack of smart investment in technology.”

A decade ago, “researchers had assumed the number of AIDS cases would be declining. Instead, it’s on the rise.” A new report by the Public Library of Science’s Medicine Journal finds AIDS “is set to join heart disease and stroke as the top three causes of death worldwide” within the next 25 years.

The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) called for an official investigation into whether House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) broke the law “by pushing for federal funding of a highway project near land he owned west of Chicago.” Hastert turned a 500 percent profit by selling the land last year.

And finally: Put away your tissues, she’s back. “Rumors are floating in Florida GOP political circles that outgoing Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL), one of the most disastrous Senate candidates in a very long time, is secretly plotting an ‘08 House campaign,” Roll Call reports.

What did we miss? Let us know in the comments section.

Meanwhile, “Rumsfeld’s abrupt resignation from the Pentagon the day after Republicans lost both chambers of Congress has infuriated some GOP officials on and off Capitol Hill,” the Hill reports.

Twenty-three U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq in the first ten days of November.

During his press conference yesterday, President Bush “made it clear that, for now, his idea of how to ‘put the elections behind us’ is to use the Republicans’ last two months in control of Congress to try to push through one of [his administration's] worst ideas…: a bill that would legalize his illegal wiretapping program and gut the law that limits a president’s ability to abuse his power in this way.”

The election “only spells more trouble for politicians under federal investigation” who were voted out of office — including Sen. Condrad Burns (R-MT) and Reps. Curt Weldon (R-PA) and Katherine Harris (R-FL) — since it prompts prosecutors “to pursue more aggressively a case since the potential defendant no longer has the institution of Congress defending him or her.”

“Massachusetts’ lawmakers on Thursday took a giant step toward killing a proposal to ban gay marriage in the only U.S. state where it is legal,” delaying a decision “on whether to back a constitutional amendment that would have given voters a chance to ban gay marriage.”

Speaking to Democratic House leaders Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Steny Hoyer (D-MD), President Bush said yesterday that “all three of us recognize that when you win, you have a responsibility to do the best you can for the country.” Except, as the New York Times notes, there was a fourth person in the room: Vice President Dick Cheney.

In a “closely watched race” for the Ohio School Board, pro-science candidate Tom Sawyer “handily defeated incumbent Deborah Owens-Fink,” who had “consistently supported antievolution measures” and described the idea that there is a scientific consensus on evolution as “laughable.”

And finally: Someone call Will Smith. Former British Ministry of Defense chief Nick Pope has warned that Earth “could be attacked by extraterrestrials at any time.”

What did we miss? Let us know in the comments section.

– 1:34 AM ET: “MO SEN: Bill Kristol, on McCaskill’s new lead in MO: ‘It’s hard to believe that that lead’s not going to increase. I believe now that Missouri is going to go Democratic. … If you had to bet right now, you’d have to bet on a Democratic Senate’ (FNC).”

– 1:33 AM ET: California’s clean energy initiative was defeated.

– 12:38 AM ET: Races to watch — TN-Sen CNN projects Corker (R) over Ford Jr. (D).

– 12:06 AM ET: Races to watch — MT-Sen Jon Tester (D) leading Sen. Conrad Burns 56%-44% in early returns.

– 11:52 PM ET: Race to watch — VA-Sen CNN: Webb (D) takes lead over Allen (R).

– 11:50 PM ET: The end of Speaker Hastert — coming soon. National Review:

Hastert Seems to Be Conceding [Ramesh Ponnuru]
Scratch that–just preparing to concede later.

– 11:45 PM ET: Race to watch — AZ-5 “Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ) appears headed for defeat. He’s trailing ex-Tempe Mayor Harry Mitchell (D) 52-45% with 79% of precincts reporting.”

– 11:44 PM ET: “CNN projects that a proposed law in South Dakota to ban nearly all abortions will be defeated.”

– 11:36 PM ET: NYT reports: “Eliot Spitzer, the reform-minded state attorney general who crusaded against Wall Street corruption, was elected governor of New York tonight in a historic Democratic sweep of statewide offices.”

– 11:34 PM ET: Race to watch — NY-20 Rep. John Sweeney (R) has lost re-election.

– 11:31 PM ET: “MSNBC changes House prediction to 234 Dems and 201 GOPers (adding yet another seat for the Dems).”

– 11:28 PM ET: “This is shaping up as the Year of the Woman. Nancy Pelosi is poised to become the first female Speaker of the House and a record number of women will be in the U.S. Senate.”

– 11:26 PM ET: South Dakota’s extreme abortion ban headed for defeat.

– 11:22 PM ET: “Almost overlooked in the focus on Congress was the election of Deval Patrick (D) as governor of Massachusetts — only the second African-American to be elected as a governor in the nation’s history.”

– 11:19 PM ET: Race to watch — TN-Sen Bob Corker (R) maintains a slight lead over Harold Ford (D). Hotline notes:

While East TN GOP strongholds Hamilton (Chattanooga) and Knox Co have largely reported, Dem bulwarks Davidson (Nashville) and Shelby (Memphis) have still reported less than 50% of their precincts. Hamilton is Corker’s base (he was Mayor of Chattanooga) and Shelby is home to Ford, as well as the the biggest trove of black votes in the state.

– 11:16 PM ET: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) has been reelected in California.

– 11:13 PM ET: Race to watch — AZ-Sen NBC News projects that Arizona Republican Jon Kyl will be re-elected to his U.S. Senate seat.

– 11:09 PM ET: “Ken Mehlman, speaking in third person about the war in Iraq: ‘The chairman is not out there saying I understand the nuance of policy’ (MSNBC).”

– 11:07 PM ET: Michael Steele (R) goes down fighting in the Maryland Senate race. “Steele spokesman Doug Heye tells NRO: ‘The Steele campaign is not conceding. Every vote must be counted.’”

– 11:01 PM ET: “CNN and MSNBC call NC 11 for Heath Shuler (D) over Rep. Charles Taylor (R).”

– 10:58 PM ET: The Missouri stem cell ballot initiative is trailing 47% to 53%.

– 10:55 PM ET: Tim Mahoney (D-FL) has won Mark Foley’s former district.

– 10:45 PM ET: Race to watch — TX-22 Nick Lampson (D) is leading Sheila Sekula-Gibbs (R) in the ex-Rep. Tom DeLay’s former district.

– 10:42 PM ET: Minnesota voters elected Keith Ellison, a black Democrat, as the first Muslim in Congress on Tuesday.

– 10:39 PM ET: “With about 10 percent of the vote in, Tom Reynolds, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, holds an eight-point edge over Democrat Jack Davis in the 26th District, where the results figure to say something about the locals’ response to Reynolds’ role in the Mark Foley affair.”

– 10:38 PM ET: Another minimum wage ballot initiative passes in Nevada.

– 10:35 PM ET: Race to watch — MO-Sen Sen. Jim Talent (R) currently has a 12% lead over Claire McCaskill (D). Results here.

– 10:30 PM ET: Fox News has called that Zack Space (D) has won in OH 18, the district formally occupied by ex-Rep. Bob Ney (R). Also, Reps. Don Sherwood (R-PA) and Curt Weldon (R-PA) have lost re-election.

– 10:27 PM ET: Current balance of power: Democrats 3 seats away from controlling Senate, need 7 to take House.

– 10:22 PM ET: “Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA), who saw the homes of friends and family raided in October, and Rep. Don Sherwood (R-PA), whose affair became public when his ex-mistress filed a lawsuit alleging abuse,” are both trailing their Democratic opponents in early returns.

– 10:18 PM ET: Race to watch — FL-16 Tim Mahoney (D) has pulled ahead of Joe Negron (R) in Mark Foley’s former district.

– 10:13 PM ET: CBS’s Bob Schieffer: “We knew this was going to be a bad night for the Republicans, but it may turn out to be their worst nightmare.”

– 10:11 PM ET: South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia have all approved gay marriage bans.

– 10:08 PM ET: Race to watch — CT-5 Chris Murphy (D) has defeated Rep. Nancy Johnson (R).

– 10:05 PM ET: Race to watch — NH-2 “UnionLeader.com has learned that Republican U.S. Rep. Charles Bass is preparing to call Paul Hodes and congratulate the Democrat on his victory.”

– 10:01 PM ET: FNC’s Baier reports the senior White House staff “just ordered chicken tenders,” anticipating a long night.

– 9:57 PM ET: NBC News projects that Republican (and President Bush-dodger) Charlie Crist will be elected Florida governor, taking the place of fellow Republican Jeb Bush.

– 9:50 PM ET: CNN has predicted that ballot measures to raise the minimum wage have passed in Missouri and Ohio.

– 9:45 PM ET: RNC Chair Ken Mehlman says “the mood is good” inside the White House.

– 9:42 PM ET: National Review’s K-Lo gives her Santorum eulogy: “Shame on Pennsylvania. … What a depressingly bad choice.”

– 9:41 PM ET: NBC News projects that Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley, a Democrat, will win the Maryland governorship – unseating Republican incumbent Robert Ehrlich.

– 9:39 PM ET: Race to watch — RI-Sen CNN projects Democratic win in Rhode Island, beating incumbent Lincoln Chafee, giving the Democrats three of the six pickups they need to take control of the Senate.

– 9:23 PM ET: Race to watch — IN-2 CNN projects Joseph Donnelly (D) defeats the incumbent Chris Chocola (R).

– 9:19 PM ET: Race to watch — MD-Sen CNN has called Maryland’s Senate race for Cardin (D) over Steele (R).

– 9:12 PM ET: CBS News and CNN have called Connecticut’s Senate race for Joe Lieberman (I).

– 9:01 PM ET: NBC projects Democrat Senate wins: Stabenow, Mich.; Klobuchar, Minn.

– 8:56 PM ET: With 66% precincts reporting, Sen. Allen (R) moves ahead of Webb (D) 50.35% to 48.44% in Virginia.

— 8:53 PM ET: Race to watch — CT-SEN Results here. Lieberman and Lamont dead even.

– 8:27 PM ET: CBS News has called New Jersey’s Senate race for Sen. Bob Menendez (D) over Tom Kean Jr. (R).

– 8:24 PM ET: CBS News has called Ohio’s Senate race for Rep. Sherrod Brown (D) over Sen. Mike DeWine (R).

– 8:21 PM ET: ABC News has called Pennsylvania’s Senate race for Bob Casey Jr. (D) over Rick Santorum (R).

– 8:17 PM ET: AP: “It could be a sign of a long night for the GOP if Democrats knock off Reps. John Hostettler, Chris Chocola and Mike Sodrel in Indiana and Ron Lewis, Anne Northup and Geoff Davis in Kentucky.”

– 8:11 PM ET: Race to watch — FL-16 Negron (R) currently leading Mahoney (D) 49.2% v. 48.2% in Mark Foley’s former district. Results here.

– 8:07 PM ET: Katherine Harris (R) has lost her intrepid bid for Florida’s Senate seat. Sen. Nelson (D) retains.

– 8:05 PM ET: Kennedy (D-Mass.), Lott (R-Miss.), Snow (R-Maine) re-elected to Senate, Fox News reports.

– 8:03 PM ET: Race to watch — VA-Sen Results are here. With 27% precincts reporting, Webb (D) at 49.54% and Sen. Allen (R) at 49.23%.

– 7:59 PM ET: Fox News calls Ellsworth (D) over Rep. Hostettler (R) in IN-2.

– 7:56 PM ET: Race to watch — IN-8 Ellsworth (D) currently leading incumbent Rep. Hostettler (R) 64%-36% with 26% precincts reporting.

– 7:52 PM ET: Race to watch — IN-2 Donnely (D) currently leading incumbent Rep. Chocola (R) 59%-41% with 26% precincts reporting.

– 7:40 PM ET: “CNN projects Democratic wins for incumbent West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd and Ted Strickland in the Ohio gubernatorial race.” Also, a ballot measure banning gay marriage has passed in Virginia.

– 7:36 PM ET: Criminally indicted ex-Rep. Tom DeLay to 110th Congress: “Make my day.”

– 7:29 PM ET: “Voters got an extra hour to vote in four precincts in South Carolina’s 5th Congressional District on Tuesday because of glitches with the electronic voting machines, a judge ruled.”

– 7:22 PM ET: Jim Webb (D-VA) picked up 56 percent of women, according to CNN exit polls. Apparently George Allen’s sexist charge fell flat among the target audience.

– 7:18 PM ET: US News reports, “Fifty-seven percent of late deciders, the Fox exit polls show, are breaking for the Democrats, and 39 percent for Republicans. This is a very important harbinger.”

– 7:09 PM ET: Roll Call reports, “In automated and live calls, Democrats allege, Latinos have been told that their ethnicity makes them ineligible to vote in today’s elections. The calls also threatened that Latinos would be arrested at polling places if they did attempt to vote, party sources said.”

– 7:06 PM ET: CNN predicts Senate victories for Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Richard Lugar (R-IN).

– 7:04 PM ET: Associated Press exit polls find that “most white evangelicals said corruption was very important to their vote,” and that 1/3 of white evangelicals voted for Democrats.

– 6:59 PM ET: A federal judge has ordered 16 Ohio precincts to remain open late because of long lines and other voting delays, according to CNN’s Lou Dobbs.

Tomorrow is Election Day. Find your polling place HERE. Digg this post HERE

We need a new Congress — here’s why:

1. Congress set a record for the fewest number of days worked — 218 between the House and Senate combined. [Link]

2. The Senate voted down a measure that urged the administration to start a phased redeployment of U.S. forces out of Iraq by the end of 2006. [Link]

3. Congress failed to raise the minimum wage, leaving it at its lowest inflation-adjusted level since 1955. [Link]

4. Congress gave itself a two percent pay raise. [Link]

5. There were 15,832 earmarks totaling $71 billion in 2006. (In 1994, there were 4,155 earmarks totaling $29 billion.) [Link]

6. Congress turned the tragic Terri Schiavo affair into a national spectacle because, according to one memo, it was “a great political issue” that got “the pro-life base…excited.” [Link]

7. The chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works thinks global warming is the “greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people.” [Link]

8. The House leadership held open a vote for 50 minutes to twist arms and pass a bill that helped line the pockets of energy company executives. [Link]

9. Congress fired the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, the lone effective federal watchdog for Iraq spending, effective Oct. 1, 2007. [Link]

10. The Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee thinks the Internet is “a series of tubes.” [Link]

11. Congress established the pay-to-play K Street corruption system which rewarded lobbyists who made campaign contributions in return for political favors doled out by conservatives. [Link]

12. The lobbying reform bill Congress passed was a total sham. [Link]

13. Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-OH) shamefully attacked Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) on the House floor, telling him that “cowards cut and run, Marines never do.” [Link]

14. Congress passed budgets that resulted in deficits of $318 billion and $250 billion. [Link]

15. House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) said Donald Rumsfeld “is the best thing that’s happened to the Pentagon in 25 years.” [Link]

16. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) baselessly announced that “we have found the WMD in Iraq.” [Link]

17. Congress passed a special-interest, corporate-friendly Central American trade deal (CAFTA) after holding the vote open for one hour and 45 minutes to switch the vote of Rep. Robin Hayes (R-NC). [Link]

18. Senate conservatives threatened to use the “nuclear option” to block members of the Senate from filibustering President Bush’s judicial nominees. [Link]

19. Congress stuck in $750 million in appropriations bills “for projects championed by lobbyists whose relatives were involved in writing the spending bills.” [Link]

20. The typical Congressional work week is late Tuesday to noon on Thursday. [Link]

21. Congress has issued zero subpoenas to the Bush administration. [Link]

22. Congress eliminated the Perkins college loan program and cut Pell Grants by $4.6 billion. [Link]

23. Rep. Don Sherwood (R-PA) paid $500,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging that he strangled his 29-year-old mistress. [Link]

24. Congress decreased the number of cops on the streets by cutting nearly $300 million in funding for the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program. [Link]

25. In a debate last year over the reauthorization of the Patriot Act, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee abruptly cut off the microphones when Democrats began discussing the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. [Link]

26. Just two out of 11 spending bills have made it out of Congress this year. [Link]

27. 1,502 U.S. troops have died in Iraq since Congress convened. [Link]

28. The House Ethics Committee is “broken,” according to the Justice Department. [Link]

29. The FBI continues to investigate Rep. Curt Weldon’s (R-PA) willingness to trade his political influence for lucrative lobbying and consulting contracts for his daughter. [Link]

30. Congress failed to protect 58.5 million acres of roadless areas to logging and road building by repealing the Roadless Rule. [Link]

31. Congress spent weeks debating a repeal of the estate tax (aka the Paris Hilton Tax), which affects a miniscule fraction of the wealthiest Americans. [Link]

32. The percentage of Americans without health insurance hit a record-high, as Congress did nothing to address the health care crisis. [Link]

33. Both the House and Senate voted to open up our coasts to more oil drilling, “by far the slowest, dirtiest, most expensive way to meet our energy needs.” [Link]

34. Congress stripped detainees of the right of habeas corpus. [Link]

35. The House fell 51 votes short of overriding President Bush’s veto on expanding federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. [Link]

36. Only 16 percent of Americans think Congress is doing a good job. [Link]

37. Congress confirmed far-right activist Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. [Link]

38. Congress spent days debating a constitutional amendment that would criminalize desecration of the U.S. flag, the first time in 214 years that the Bill of Rights would have been restricted by a constitutional amendment. [Link]

39. Congress raised the debt limit by $800 billion, to $9 trillion. [Link]

40. Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) hid bribe money in his freezer. [Link]

41. Congress passed an energy bill that showered $6 billion in subsidies on polluting oil and gas firms while doing little to curb energy demand or invest in renewable energy industries. [Link]

42. Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA) used his seat on the House Appropriations Committee to steer earmarks towards to one of his closest friends and major campaign contributor. [Link]

43. Congress passed a strict bankruptcy bill making it harder for average people to recover from financial misfortune by declaring bankruptcy, even if they are victims of identity theft, suffering from debilitating illness, or serving in the military. [Link]

44. The House passed a bill through committee that that would “essentially replace” the 1973 Endangered Species Act with something “far friendlier to mining, lumber and other big extraction interests that find the original act annoying.” [Link]

45. Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) earmarked funds to increase the property value of lands that he later sold for a profit. [Link]

46. House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) distributed a memo urging colleagues to exploit 9/11 to defend Bush’s Iraq policy. [Link]

47. Congress repeatedly failed to pass port security provisions that would require 100 percent scanning of containers bound for the United States. [Link]

48. Ex-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) declared an “ongoing victory” in his effort to cut spending, and said “there is simply no fat left to cut in the federal budget.” [Link]

49. Congress allowed Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) stay in Congress for a month after pleading guilty in the Jack Abramoff investigation. [Link]

50. Congress didn’t investigate Tom DeLay and let him stay in Congress as long as he wanted. [Link]

51. The Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating the Senate Majority Leader’s sale of HCA stock a month before its value fell by nine percent. [Link]

52. Congressional conservatives pressured the Director of National Intelligence to make public documents found in Iraq that included instructions to build a nuclear bomb. [Link]

53. Conservatives repeatedly tried to privatize Social Security, a change that would lead to sharp cuts in guaranteed benefits. [Link]

54. Congress is trying to destroy net neutrality. [Link]

55. Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL) accepted contributions from disgraced lobbyist Mitchell Wade and MZM, Inc., her largest campaign contributor, in return for a defense earmark. [Link]

56. Former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-CA) was sentenced to eight years federal prison for taking $2.4 million in bribes in exchange for lucrative defense contracts, among other crimes. [Link]

57. Congress passed a $286 billion highway bill in 2005 stuffed with 6,000 pork projects. [Link]

58. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Peter Hoekstra (R-MI) abused his power and suspended a Democratic staffer in an act of retribution. [Link]

59. Congress failed to offer legal protections to states that divest from the Sudan. [Link]

60. The Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-AK) tried to earmark $223 million to build a bridge to nowhere. [Link]

61. Congress spent days debating an anti-gay constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. [Link]

62. Congress isn’t doing anything significant to reverse catastrophic climate change. [Link]

63. House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) secured a federal earmark to increase the property value of his land and reap at least $1.5 million in profits. [Link]

64. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) used a video tape “diagnosis” to declare that Terri Schiavo, who was later found to be blind, “certainly seems to respond to visual stimuli.” [Link]

65. Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) resigned in disgrace after ABC News revealed explicit instant messages exchanges between Foley and former congressional pages. [Link]

66. Half of all Americans believe most members of Congress are corrupt. [Link]

67. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO) said that gay marriage “is the most important issue that we face today.” [Link]

68. The House voted against issuing a subpoena seeking all reconstruction contract communications between Cheney’s office and Halliburton. [Link]

69. Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) told a Virginia-based volunteer firefighting team they had done a “piss-poor job” in fighting wildfires in Montana. [Link]

70. The House voted against amendments prohibiting monopoly contracts and requiring congressional notification for Department of Defense contracts worth more than $1 million. [Link]

71. Congress failed to pass comprehensive immigration reform. [Link]

72. During a floor debate on embryonic stem cell research, Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) held up a picture of an embryo drawn by a 7-year-old girl. Brownback explained that one of the embryos in the picture was asking, “Are you going to kill me?” [Link]

73. Sen. George Allen (R-VA) used the slur “macaca” to describe an opposing campaign staffer of Indian descent, and has been repeatedly accused by former associates of using racial epithets to refer to African-Americans. [Link]

74. Congress refused to swear in oil executives testifying about high prices. [Link]

75. Against congressional rules, ex-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) accepted expensive foreign trips funded by Jack Abramoff. [Link]

76. Rep. Steve King (R-IA) went on the House floor to unveil a fence that he “designed” for the southern border. King constructed a model of the fence as he said, “We do this with livestock all the time.” [Link]

77. Ex-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) threatened the judges who ruled in the Terri Schiavo case, saying the “time will come” for them “to answer for their behavior.” [Link]

78. Congressional conservatives wanted to investigate Sandy Berger, but not the Iraq war. [Link]

79. Rolling Stone called the past six years “the most shameful, corrupt and incompetent period in the history of the American legislative branch.” [Link]

80. Not a single non-appropriations bill was open to amendment in the second session of the Congress. [Link]

81. House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) claimed that supporters of Bush’s Iraq policy “show the same steely resolve” as did the passengers on United 93. [Link]

82. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) appeared with prominent Christian conservatives in a telecast portraying opponents of Bush’s judicial nominees as “against people of faith.” [Link]

83. Under the guise of “tort reform,” Congress passed legislation that would “undermine incentives for safety” and make it “harder for some patients with legitimate but difficult claims to find legal representation.” [Link]

84. Despite multiple accidents in West Virginia and elsewhere, Congress passed legislation that failed to adequately protect mine workers. [Link]

85. House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) said “if you earn $40,000 a year and have a family of two children, you don’t pay any taxes,” even though it isn’t true. [Link]

86. Monthly Medicare Part B premiums have almost doubled since 2000, from $45.50 in 2000 to $88.50 in 2006. [Link]

87. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) and House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) inserted a provision in the Defense Appropriations bill that granted vaccine manufactures near-total immunity for injuries or deaths, even in cases of “gross negligence.” [Link]

88. Congress appropriated $700 million for a “railroad to nowhere, but just $173 million to stop the genocide in Darfur. [Link]

89. Congress included a $500 million giveaway to defense giant Northup Grumman in a bill that was supposed to provide “emergency” funding for Iraq, even though the Navy opposed the payment. [Link]

90. Ex-Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH), who has since pled guilty to talking bribes, was put it charge of briefing new lawmakers “on congressional ethics.” [Link]

91. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) can’t tell the difference between the Voting Rights Act and the Stamp Act. [Link]

92. Three days before Veterans Day — House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Steve Buyer (R-IN) announced that for the first time in at least 55 years, “veterans service organizations will no longer have the opportunity to present testimony before a joint hearing of the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committees.” [Link]

93. Members were caught pimping out their offices with $5,700 plasma-screen televisions, $823 ionic air fresheners, $975 window blinds, and $623 popcorn machines. [Link]

94. House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) skipped a vote on Katrina relief to attend a fundraiser. [Link]

95. Congress made toughening horse slaughtering rules the centerpiece of its agenda after returning from summer recess this year. [Link]

96. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) wants to send 20,000 more troops into the middle of a civil war in Iraq. [Link]

97. Katrina victims were forced to take out ad space to plead “with Congress to pay for stronger levees.” [Link]

98. Congress passed the REAL ID Act, “a national ID law that will drive immigrants underground, while imposing massive new burdens on everyone else.” [Link]

99. Congress extended tax cuts that provided an average of $20 relief but an average of nearly $42,000 to those earning over $1 million a year. [Link]

100. Congress received a “dismal” report card from the 9/11 Commission — five F’s, 12 D’s, nine C’s, and only one A-minus — for failing to enact the commission’s recommendations. [Link]

101. Congress won’t let the government negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs for people on Medicare. [Link]

102. Congress has left America’s chemical plants vulnerable to terrorist attack. [Link]

103. Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) “threw the senatorial version of a hissy fit” when he threatened to resign unless the Senate approved funding for his bridge to nowhere. [Link]

104. Congress didn’t simplify the tax code. [Link]

105. Seventy-five percent of voters can’t name one thing Congress has accomplished. [Link]

106. House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), has “raised campaign contributions at a rate of about $10,000 a day since February, surpassing the pace set by former Representative Tom DeLay.” [Link]

107. Congress failed to ensure Government Accountability Office oversight of Hurricane Katrina relief funds, resulting in high levels of waste, fraud, and abuse. [Link]

108. When a reporter asked Rep. Don Young (R-AK) if he would redirect spending on his bridge projects to Katrina victim housing, Young said, “They can kiss my ear!” [Link]

109. There were just 12 hours of hearings on Abu Ghraib. (There were more than 100 hours of hearings on alleged misuse of the Clinton Christmas card list.) [Link]

“With our intelligence on North Korea so uneven, the doctrine of pre-emption must return to the fore,” writes American Enterprise Institute scholar Dan Blumenthal, one of several prominent neoconservatives now advocating regime change “by military means, if necessary” in the wake of North Korea’s nuclear test.

“Churches so many times feel they shouldn’t get involved [in politics] because of the separation of church and state, and that is just not true,” said Rep. Katherine Harris (R), attempting to explain away her earlier commments that “if you’re not electing Christians” then “in essence you are going to legislate sin.”

Trash collectors “have one of the most dangerous jobs in Baghdad,” frequently killed by hidden insurgent bombs, or by insurgents seeking to keep the collectors from finding the bombs. As a result, garbage is now “ubiquitous” in Baghdad, “especially in dangerous neighborhoods, blanketing street medians, alleys and vacant lots in stinking, fly-infested quilts.”

“Five conservative nonprofit organizations, including one run by prominent Republican Grover Norquist, ‘appear to have perpetrated a fraud‘ on taxpayers by selling their clout to lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Senate investigators said in a report issued yesterday.”

While the Bush administration claims that beneficiaries who stay in the Medicare prescription drug plan will pay an average of $24/mo. in premiums next year, a report produced by Rep. Henry Waxman’s (D-CA) office says the administration has its math wrong. Waxman concluded that premiums will rise to $29/mo. under the plan, and the administration is disguising this increase.

A Pennsylvania state jury ruled that Wal-Mart broke state labor laws by “forcing employees to work through rest breaks and off the clock, a decision plaintiffs’ lawyers said would result in at least $62 million in damages.” Wal-Mart “is facing a slew of similar suits around the country.”

“Insurance companies…are becoming leading business protagonists in the assault on global warming.” Some are beginning to offer incentives for hybrid cars and “green” buildings that emit fewer greenhouse gases and save energy.

106. Number of countries that still allow physical punishment in schools, according to a new U.N. report, which also concluded that “in 2002 some 150 million girls and 73 million boys were subjected to forced sexual intercourse and other forms of violence involving touch, while 53,000 were killed.”

And finally: “I’m unkind on occasion, and I am selfish,” reveals former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft in this weekend’s New York Times Magazine. While most people are already familiar with Ashcroft’s vocal talents, he also notes his other artistic hobby: making “barbed-wire sculpture.”

What did we miss? Let us know in the comments section.

“The majority of U.S. service members charged in the unlawful deaths of Iraqi civilians have been acquitted, found guilty of relatively minor offenses or given administrative punishments without trials,” the Washington Post finds.

The 2006 elections “already hold a place in the history books: More black candidates from both major parties are mounting serious campaigns for upper-tier office — senator or governor — than ever before.”

Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA) said yesterday in Israel that he would block the $230 million in humanitarian aid President Bush has promised Lebanon “and free the funds only when Beirut agreed to the deployment of international troops on the border with Syria.”

The inflation-adjusted median hourly wage for American workers has declined 2 percent since 2003, the NYT reports, while “wages and salaries now make up the lowest share of the nation’s gross domestic product since the government began recording the data in 1947.”

Former Vice President Al Gore said Sunday ever-tighter political and economic control of the media is a major threat to democracy. … “Democracy is under attack,” Gore said in Scotland. “Democracy as a system for self-governance is facing more serious challenges now than it has faced for a long time.

The Bush administration plans to “move rapidly” to impose international economic sanctions on Iran after a Thursday U.N. deadline passes. Former Defense Secretary William Cohen said sanctions are necessary or the risk of war in the region will increase. Russia has rejected talk of sanctions.

“Analysts across the political spectrum say the Bush Doctrine — preventive war, choking the roots of terrorism by planting democracy, and brandishing power to force others into line — has failed.”

And finally: Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL) says “she did not intend to exclude Jews and other non-Christians from public office when she told a Baptist magazine that unless ‘tried and true’ Christians were elected, those in power would ‘legislate sin.’”

What did we miss? Let us know in the comments section.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales “clarifies” his February 6 testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee. A letter to the committee from Gonzales suggests “the Bush administration’s warrantless domestic surveillance operations may extend beyond the outlines that the president acknowledged…”

Bush says Bin Laden helped him get reelected. Shortly before the election Bin Laden released a tape critical of the president. Reporter Bill Sammon quotes Bush in his new book: ”I thought it was going to help. I thought it would help remind people that if bin Laden doesn’t want Bush to be the president, something must be right with Bush.”

Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH), the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, said of Bush’s 2007 Homeland Security budget proposal: “It’s a hollow budget and I can’t understand it.”

National Intelligence Director John Negroponte said yesterday that a civil war in Iraq could lead to a broader conflict in the Middle East. Meanwhile, the AP reports that a “civil war looms” in Iraq. (The WSJ, however, thinks “We’re winning in Iraq.”)

President Bush made his first visit to Afghanistan yesterday with a surprise, four-hour stay that “comes at a time of increasing violence in the country.” The Defense Intelligence Agency director told Congress “the Taliban-dominated insurgency remains a capable and resilient threat” to the central government.

The $72,550 that for-profit colleges have given to new Majority Leader John A. Boehner (R-OH) has paid off. Congress passed a “boon for the commercial education industry,” a new measure to eliminate the requirement that colleges conduct “at least half their courses on a campus instead of online to qualify for federal student aid.”

Former Rep. Duke Cunningham “bullied and hectored D.O.D. officials in order to ensure that his co-conspirators received their pound of gold.”

Rep. Katherine Harris’ former schedule coordinator took a job with MZM, suggesting the contractor was more tightly tied to the congresswoman’s office than previously known.

Baby steps: The Senate Rules Committee unanimously voted to force lawmakers to fully disclose gifts and travel paid for by lobbyists, but the “measure did not include the tough restrictions that some lawmakers had proposed.”

And finally: Doh! “Only one in four Americans can name more than one of the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment…But more than half can name at least two members of the TV cartoon family [The Simpsons], according to a survey.”

What did we miss? Let us know in the comments section.

Katherine Harris claims she had no idea there was anything amiss when she received the contributions. In a statement she said the incident “demonstrates the perils of a process in which candidates are sometimes asked to determine the intent of a contributor.”

Her story isn’t very credible, for three reasons –

1. The illegal donations arrived on the same day. Had various employees of MZM independently decided to donate money to Harris there wouldn’t have been any problem. The donations were illegal because they were coordinated by Mitchell Wade, who reimbursed his employees. Seven MZM employees sent 28K in donation on the same day, March 23, 2004. (Mitchell’s wife, Christiane sent 4K a week later.) It’s theoretically possible that all seven employees just happened to independently send maximum contributions to the same candidate on the same day, but it doesn’t take a genius to realize they were coordinated.

2. MZM was Harris’ largest campaign contributor by far. Money from MZM employees and PAC was the top source of cash for Harris’ campaign by a more than 2-to-1 margin. This makes it virtually impossible that she wasn’t aware of the suspiciously timed transaction. Here’s a chart of her top contributors from Open Secrets:

3. Wade told Harris his intentions. He took Harris out to lunch and told her MZM wanted an earmark for a defense project. According to the Washington Post, Harris asked for it but wasn’t able to get it. Harris knew exactly what Wade expected in return for the cash and did what she could to get for him.

Perhaps Harris is completely innocent. The available evidence, however, doesn’t support that conclusion.

Just now on CNN’s Inside Politics, in the midst of a ho-hum discussion about Katherine Harris’ Senate race:

Novak: Just let me finish what I’m going to say, James, please. I know you hate to hear me —

Carville: He’s got to show these right-wingers that he’s got a back bone, ya know? Wall Street Journal editorial page is watching. You show ‘em you’re tough…

Novak: You know I think that’s bullshit. And I hate that. Just let it go.

Novak removes his microphone and walks off the set.

Update I: Novak Was About to Be Asked About Leak The Inside Politics host ended the Carville/Novak segment saying, “Thanks, James Carville. And I’m sorry as well that Bob Novak left the set a little early. I had told him in advance that we were going to ask about the CIA leak case, he was not here for me to be able to ask him about that. Hopefully, we’ll be able to ask him about that in the future.”

Update II: Media Matters has the video.

Update III: Flashback to the first time Ed Henry challenged Novak to talk about the Plame leak, on June 29. Novak wasn’t very happy then, either:

HENRY: Do you understand why in general there’s frustration among fellow journalist after 41 years of distinguished work, where you’ve always pushed and been a fierce advocate of the public’s right to know, you’re not letting the public know about such a critical case, and two people may go to jail.

NOVAK: Well, they are not going to jail because of me. Whether I answer your questions or not, it has nothing to do with that. That’s very ridiculous to think that I am the cause of their going to jail. I don’t think they should be going to jail.

HENRY: Yes. But I didn’t say you were the cause. But there are some people…

NOVAK: Yes, you do did.

HENRY: No, but some people feel if you would come forward with the information that you have, that maybe they would not go to jail.

NOVAK: But you don’t know — Ed, you don’t know anything about the case. And those people who say that don’t know anything about the case. And unfortunately, as somebody who likes to write, I’d like to say a lot about the case, but because of my attorney’s advice I can’t. But I will. And there might be some surprising things.

HENRY: We’ll all be waiting to hear that story finally told, Bob.

Fortunately, the minimum wage is one of those issues (unlike say, Iraq) where state legislatures and governors can step in where Washington has failed us. Sixteen states have a minimum wage that is set higher than the federal level.

Progressives working in states across the political spectrum (Nevada, Florida, New York, Maine, Rhode Island) successfully won minimum wage increases–whether by legislation or constitutional amendments approved by referendum. Minnesota increased its minimum wage this month. Hawaii, Wisconsin, and Maryland have moved forward and hope to have legislation passed and signed by summer.

Florida’s minimum wage increase (to $6.15 per hour) just went into effect earlier this month — despite some dirty attempts by Jeb Bush and the like-minded “corporate caucus” in the legislature — having been approved by over 70 percent of voters in November 2004. The Florida minimum wage will have ripple effects raising the incomes of those making more than the minimum wage.

What does this mean? At least, two things:

1. When Republicans and Democrats on the state level can work together to do what the majority in Washington, D.C. has failed to do — either the Majority in Congress is out of the mainstream ideologically or maybe they’ve been purchased.

2. Venting feels good but reform feels better. This is more evidence that progressives can effect change on the state level. So the next time Rep. Katherine Harris of Florida or Senator Allard of Colorado has a bad idea — progressives can work to block and to undo some of these things on the state level. It’s like Hollywood Squares. Go to the States for the Block.