Dick Cheney is the most influential and powerful man ever to hold the office of vice president. This series examines Cheney's largely hidden and little-understood role in crafting policies for the War on Terror, the economy and the environment.
Today: Part 1
Working in the Background

A master of bureaucracy and detail, Cheney exerts most of his influence out of public view.
Monday: Part 2
Wars and Interrogations

Convinced that the “war on terror” required “robust interrogations” of captured suspects, Dick Cheney pressed the Bush administration to carve out exceptions to the Geneva Conventions.

Tuesday: Part 3
Dominating Budget Decisions

Working behind the scenes, Dick Cheney has made himself the dominant voice on tax and spending policy, outmaneuvering rivals for the president’s ear.
Wednesday: Part 4
Environmental Policy

Dick Cheney steered some of the Bush administration’s most important environmental decisions — easing air pollution controls, opening public parks to snowmobiles and diverting river water from threatened salmon.

"Angler" is VP Cheney's SS code name. The wapo is gonna do a 4 day expose on the OVP. Should be required reading.

--timball

Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency | washingtonpost.com

The House Oversight Committee is demanding that Vice President Cheney explain himself. Is his office part of the executive branch? Part of the legislative branch? Or is Cheney suggesting that as far as federal rules are concerned, his office essentially doesn't exist?

The issue at hand is Cheney's insistence that his office is exempt from an executive order issued by President Bush in 2003 requiring all federal agencies or "any other entity within the executive branch that comes into the possession of classified information" to report annually on its activities regarding the classification, safeguarding and declassification of national security information.

As Mark Silva reported in the Chicago Tribune in April 2006, Cheney's office maintains that its dual executive and legislative duties (the vice president also serves as president of the Senate) make it uniquely exempt from such rules.

Henry Waxman, the Democratic chairman of the Oversight Committee, begs to differ, and wrote a letter to Cheney this morning saying so.

The argument is funny, but clearly bogus. The EO doesn't make any special exceptions for the OVP... But if the OVP isn't part of the executive branch how come the OVP uses the WH's webserver? http://www.whitehouse.gov/vicepresident/

--timball

Cheney: Neither Here Nor There? - washingtonpost.com

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is changing his party affiliation from "Republican" to "unaffiliated", a move certain to fuel talk that he is preparing for an independent run for president in 2008.

Mike Bloomberg: Registered Independent - The Fix

The House Judiciary Committee issued a subpoena for testimony and documents from Miers, while the Senate panel demanded the same from Taylor. Both committees also issued separate subpoenas for White House documents related to the dismissals.

"By refusing to cooperate with congressional committees, the White House continues its pattern of confrontation over cooperation," said Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate panel. "The White House cannot have it both ways--it cannot stonewall congressional investigations by refusing to provide documents and witnesses while claiming nothing improper occurred."

Panels Issue Subpoenas to Former Bush Aides - washingtonpost.com

The former U.S. attorney in Kansas City, Mo., Todd P. Graves, said yesterday that he was asked to step down from his job by a senior Justice Department official in January 2006, months before eight other federal prosecutors would be fired by the Bush administration.

This is a huge article about one more USA that was pushed out of his office in Missouri.

Watch the fireworks starting at 9:30am on c-span.

--timball

Number of Fired Prosecutors Grows - washingtonpost.com

washingtonpost.com's Presidential Campaign Tracker uses information from campaigns, media reports and other sources to compile a listing of events involving presidential candidates and their spouses. The tracker covers events since January 2007. It does not include every event -- particularly fundraisers, which often are unannounced. Some events will be added retroactively as more details become available. If you want to let us know about an event, e-mail us at politicscalendar@washingtonpost.com.

Everytime I see a new mash-up I think about that prodigy song: "Smack my mash-up".

--timball

2008 Presidential Campaign Tracker | washingtonpost.com

By Alberto R. Gonzales
Sunday, April 15, 2007; Page B07

My decision some months ago to privately seek the resignations of a small number of U.S. attorneys has erupted into a public firestorm. First and foremost, I appreciate the public service of these fine lawyers and dedicated professionals, each of whom served his or her full four-year term as U.S. attorney. I apologize to them, their families and the thousands of dedicated professionals at the Justice Department for my role in allowing this matter to spin into an undignified Washington spectacle.

Watch for the hot legislative testimony Tuesday on C-SPAN. (Check local listings) This Attorney General Gonzales's opinion piece from the washington post.

--timball

Alberto R. Gonzales - Nothing Improper - washingtonpost.com

Some Republican activists say the e-mail request will not create great difficulty for the White House because nothing nefarious happened and because the RNC automatically purges some e-mails after 30 days.

We don't need no stinking shredders! Today's message is simple. Government in the United States is about transparency. Some things are secret and should be, maybe, but public policy is not one of those things. It's time for this batch of crooks to go.

GOP-issued laptops now a White House headache - Los Angeles Times

here's another link for the full routine from C-SPAN:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWRSgjDEQy0

MC Rove

Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.) has hired a top defense attorney to handle the pending ethics investigation into allegations that he pressured a federal prosecutor to bring indictments against New Mexico Democrats on the eve of the 2006 elections.

Lee Blalack, who recently represented former congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Calif.), who is now serving time in prison for bribery and other offenses, said today that he has signed on as Domenici's attorney in the wake of allegations from fired U.S. Attorney David C. Iglesias. Iglesias alleged that Domenici phoned him at his home and asked about a pending public corruption investigation.

Bad lawyers ruled.

Domenici Hires Top Attorney for Ethics Investigation - washingtonpost.com