“I earned capital in the campaign, political capital”, he said, “and now I intend to spend it.”

Here's the update from three months later. The Social Security plan? Reviled. Tom DeLay? Under seige. Terry Shiavo? Dead and people are mad about him trying to get involved.

It's going to be a long long time until next election season.

George Bush's second term

] The minority party forced Republicans on Wednesday to
] vote for reversal of new GOP rules for investigating
] House members and staff. Reversal was the Democrats'
] price for ending a deadlock on the evenly divided
] committee.

Sorry "Hammer," this one is gonna hurt.

House Votes to Reverse GOP Ethics Rules

] "Throughout this debate, we have held firm to a simple
] principle, judicial nominees deserve up-or-down votes,"
] Frist said.

That's funny. When it was the Democrats who ran congress, the Republicans didn't have any problem with the filibuster rules.

Frist Won't Budge on Filibuster Demands

] It was only the fourth prime-time news conference of his
] presidency, and the White House asked television networks
] to broadcast it live %u2014 a request that some found
] hard to swallow. Thursday was the first night of the May
] ratings "sweeps," a barometer watched closely to set
] advertising prices.

When the networks don't want to show you because it screws up sweeps week, it's time to wonder a) if American's really care about who is in office, and b) if what the guy who is going on the air really has anything to say. I'm starting to think it's both.

Bush to Announce Energy, Soc. Sec. Plans

] Some scientists now believe they may have finally
] discovered its root. We're all essentially mind readers,
] they say

Cool.

Scientists Say Everyone Can Read Minds

] Dogs and children have been warned away. The force of the
] explosions is impressive. "It's like hitting a
] slightly rotten orange with a golf iron," one Green
] activist explained yesterday.

They're really fundamentalist toads, but they just haven't figured out that whole suicide bomber thing yet.

Exploding Toads!

] The Times said Powell's reservations included Bolton's
] harsh treatment of subordinates. It said the former
] secretary of state praised Bolton's performance on some
] matters during his tenure as undersecretary of state, but
] the newspaper quoted associates saying his comments fell
] far short of the endorsements offered by President Bush
] and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Powell lost a lot of respect when he went to UN with the "mobile labs" story. It will be interesting to see if he gets any of it back putting a few more holes in the sinking Bolton ship.

Powell Discusses Bolton Nomination with Senators

] He said that while the U.S. economy was "doing well," the
] danger was that deficits would keep rising as a
] percentage of total national output.
]
]
] "Unless that trend is reversed, at some point these
] deficits would cause the economy to stagnate or worse."

Thanks for the update Alan, I think there is a long list of people who have been saying this for decades.

Greenspan Warns Deficits Endanger Economy

] "We've got Justice Kennedy writing decisions based upon
] international law, not the Constitution of the United
] States. That's just outrageous, and not only that, he
] said in session that he does his own research on the
] Internet. That is just incredibly outrageous," DeLay said
] in the interview.

Tom Delay death spiral watch. This is Fox news. Fox news closed with a quote from a Democrat saying that they need to get Delay out of the public sphere for a little while and let him cool off. Fox news.

How dare judges attempt to research questions that are presented to them! Delay's position is that judges shouldn't be interested in the truth, per say. They shouldn't seek out objective perspectives on matters they need to consider. Rather they should be beholden to the power and money that drives the "democratic" government.

Delay wants to use the "good behavior" text in Article III Section I to bring all federal judges under fine grained political control.

He seems to be operating under the perception that the American people don't realize that the legislature is corrupt, or that politicians are bought and sold, or that people think that judges ought to live in a bubble. He is wrong on all counts, and he is starting to sound like a fool.

[ Starting? -k]

A little slow on that call, he's sounded like an idiot for a solid ten years.

FOXNews.com - Politics - DeLay Calls Justice Kennedy 'Outrageous'

] The league continues to plan on having hockey in October,
] Bettman said.
]
]
] ``If we do not have a new collective bargaining
] agreement, we will not open the season on time,''

Goodbye NHL, it was nice to know you.

NHL season won't start on time without deal with players' association