Rep. Gil Gutknecht (R-MN) and Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) agreed to cosponsor “a landmark proposal to create a special House committee to investigate Iraq war spending, joining Democrats in demanding more accountability for billions of dollars that allegedly have been misspent.”
War Cabinet Infighting: Donald Rumsfeld said he did not know what Condi Rice was talking about when she said last week that the U.S. had made “thousands” of “tactical errors” in Iraq. “[Y]ou have to constantly adjust and change your tactics. “¦ If someone says, well, that’s a tactical mistake, then I guess it’s a lack of understanding, at least my understanding, of what warfare is about.”
It’s official: Katie Couric is taking the helm at CBS. In the meantime, Media Matters runs down her lowlights on NBC.
Protecting genocidal war criminals: “The United States is opposing the inclusion of any Sudanese official on a potential U.N. Security Council sanctions list of individuals blocking peace in Darfur.”
$44 million: The amount the pharmaceutical industry spent over a two-year period on lobbying state officials “to fight proposals that would have reduced prescription drug costs.” The Center for Public Integrity has a full report. $29 billion: The amount Congress spent on pork-laden pet projects this year, a record high, according to a new report.
Meanwhile, Trent Lott weighs in on the Porkbusters campaign to cut down on wasteful spending: “I’m getting damn tired of hearing from them.” Lott was upset over complaints about the $700 million railroad project he placed on an “emergency” spending bill.
A media panel discussion yesterday said coverage of the Iraq war is too polarized between “good news” and “bad news,” thus missing out on presenting a complete picture. Said one Iraqi photojournalist: “It’s a civil war, people are getting killed every single day, every hour … everywhere in Iraq. It’s a civil war and we’re still shying away from the word civil war.”
Defeat for net neutrality. An amendment aimed at preserving the Internet as a level playing field was voted down yesterday in a House committee.
And finally: Political T-shirts “are absolutely catching on,” according to one fashion expert. “It’s really an interesting movement to watch…. It’s totally democratic and really kind of fun.” Unfortunately for the right, one conservative clothing maker “admits business has been a little slow recently.”What did we miss? Let us know in the comments section.