Category: David Tamasi
Lt. Governor Healey Considering Run Against Tierney
By David Tamasi
WASHINGTON – Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey is weighing a run for Congress next year against Rep. John Tierney, a Salem Democrat who will be seeking a 5th term, according to a Republican with close political ties to Healey.
“It is something that has definitely been discussed,” said the longtime GOP operative, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “The potential drawback would be traveling to Washington and being away from her kids.”
Healey could run for the 6th congressional district seat while serving as lieutenant governor. If she were to lose to Tierney, she would remain lieutenant governor.
A spokeswoman for Healey denied she was considering a congressional campaign.
“A number of people have approached lieutenant governor Healey about running for John Tierney’s congressional seat,” said spokeswoman Shawn Feddeman. “She is very flattered by the encouragement she has received, but is focused on the job of lieutenant governor.”
Tierney’s office would not comment on a prospective challenge by Healey. “His policy is to not respond to speculation, but [he] fully appreciates the right to run and that he may have an opponent in any given race,” said Tierney’s spokeswoman, Leslie Knapp.
Healey, who lives in Beverly, was elected lieutenant governor in 2002 on a ticket with Gov. Mitt Romney. They beat Democrats Shannon O’Brien and Christopher Gabrieli. Healey weathered a challenge in the Republican primary from Concord businessman James Rappaport, but rallied and soundly defeated him, 64 percent to 36 percent.
Healey’s strength in that primary is one of the reasons her name has come up as a potential challenger to Tierney.
“Her primary win in that congressional district was impressive enough among independent voters to look at whether she could do this,” the Republican operative said. “That is a well-known fact.”
The 6th district encompasses Essex County and the towns of North Andover, North Reading, Reading, Bedford, Wilmington and Burlington.
Romney and Healey received 141, 932 votes in Essex County last year. That same year, Tierney received 162,900 votes, or 68 percent of the total, in his race against Republican Mark Smith. Healey would likely be a stronger candidate than Smith because she has considerably higher name recognition and a greater ability to raise money .
Carl Forti, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, would not comment on whether Healey was looking at the race.
“A reason they want to keep this quiet is to limit Tierney’s ability to raise money through direct mail,” the Republican said. “If it is out there now, then Tierney can write letters saying he has to be well-financed against a tough opponent.”
Healey’s most recent filing with the state’s Office of Campaign and Political Finance indicated she raised $61,350 in September and has $224,511 in her war chest. Her campaign spent $16,532 in September.
Healey’s campaign has kept a number of people on the payroll and continues to pay Gray Media $2,000 a month in consulting fees. Gray Media is owned by Rob Gray, a Republican political consultant who previously served in the administrations of former Govs. William Weld and Paul Cellucci.
With the advantage of incumbency, Tierney has amassed nearly three times as much campaign money as Healey. According to his most recent filing with the Federal Election Commission Wednesday, Tierney had $688,444 in his campaign account. From July 1 through Sept. 30, Tierney raised $72,408 and spent $33,135.
A lawyer by profession, Tierney has received a 100 percent rating from the AFL-CIO in past years and could rely on support from unions and other traditional Democratic constituencies. He sits on the House Education and the Workforce Committee and the House Government Reform Committee.
Tierney was first elected to Congress in 1996, defeating Republican incumbent Peter Torkildsen, in a bitter rematch of their 1994 race. Tierney faced Torkildsen again in 1998 and beat him by 12 percentage points. Since then, Tierney has faced only token opposition.
Gene Hartigan, a veteran Massachusetts Republican political consultant who managed Torkildsen’s 1992 and 1998 campaigns, said that if Healey “ran she would offer a strong alternative” to Tierney.
“I think she would be an appropriate candidate for that district,” Hartigan said. “She has a definition of what she wants and is a woman, which does not hurt.”
Hartigan attributed Tierney’s electoral successes to two things: being a Democrat in a Democratic state and playing to his union base, which helps get voters to the polls on Election Day. By the same token, he said, “There are a lot of Democrats on the North Shore that I have talked to who do not like Tierney and find him arrogant.”
Congressional Quarterly wrote in April that a Republican candidate might be able to take the district by wooing independents. “Republicans can do well in upscale towns such as Boxford, Lynnfield, Topsfield and Wenham, which gave 2002 GOP gubernatorial nominee Mitt Romney more than two-thirds of the vote,” the magazine reported. “While the district has a Democratic tilt, it is not overwhelming, and the GOP can win by attracting independent-minded ‘unenrolled’ voters.”
But Louis DiNatale, director of the Center for State and Local Government at the University of Massachusetts’ McCormack Institute of Public Affairs, said Healey would be hard-pressed to beat Tierney.
“Her chances are not good,” DiNatale said. “That is a swing district, and there are a lot of unenrolled [independent] voters who are going to vote Democratic in a presidential year, so the timing is not the best.”
DiNatale said Healey’s lack of experience would be fodder for Tierney.
Before Romney picked her as his running mate, Healey ran for the state legislature against Rep. Michael Cahill in 1998 and 2000 and lost both times. In the fall of 2001, she ran for the unpaid position of chairman of the Republican State Committee and won.
The following April, Acting Governor Jane M. Swift announced she would not run for governor to clear the way for fellow Republican Romney, the former Olympics chairman, who announced his candidacy days later. Swift’s choice for lieutenant governor, Patrick Guerriero, then stepped aside and Romney moved quickly to pick Healey.
“Tierney is a tough congressman who has been through close races,” DiNatale said. “He would have a lot of resources available.”
Meehan Not Likely to Run for Governor in 2006 if AG Does
By David Tamasi
WASHINGTON - His campaign account has almost $1.9 million in it and he has not faced serious opposition since his first race in 1992. He flirted with a run for governor in 2002, but state House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran disrupted those plans by attempting to redraw his district. A potential run for governor in 2006 could be thwarted by yet another Democrat.
Congressman Martin Meehan, D-Lowell, said that while he would "certainly look at opportunities to run for higher office," don't expect him to run for governor if his former boss, state Attorney General Thomas Reilly, does. Meehan served as Reilly's first assistant district attorney in the early 1990s,when Reilly was Middlesex district attorney.
"I not only worked for Tom as his chief prosecutor, but he is a close friend," Meehan said. "The likelihood that Tom and I would run for the same office at the same time is highly unlikely."
Federal law prohibits Meehan from using money in his congressional campaign account for a statewide race. But his large war chest could keep some prospective opponents at bay while allowing him to gain clout in Congress by contributing to other Democratic campaigns.
Meehan raised $57,000 from July 1 to Sept. 30, according to his Wednesday filing with the Federal Election Commission. Meehan said he did not have as much cash on hand as he had two years ago, and was looking "to get back to that level in the next year."
Meehan, who faced nominal opposition in 2002, said he expects two Republicans to vie in next year's primary for a chance to run against him in November.
Carl Forti, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, did not identify any Meehan opponent but said Republicans would be "looking at potential candidates up until the May 4 deadline of next year."
IRAQ Vote Takes Center Stage for Kerry, Again
By David Tamasi
WASHINGTON - Senate Democrats have promised a vigorous debate this week on President Bush's request for $87 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan. But for Democrats running for President, especially Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, a nuanced approach may be required.
With public opinion polls showing eroding support for President Bush's postwar policy in Iraq, many Democrats have vowed to "ask questions" and not just "rubber-stamp" the president's proposal.
Yet Kerry must balance national politics with the disparate politics of early primary states such as New Hampshire and South Carolina. Navigating this political terrain has proved difficult.
Early on, Kerry was perceived as the Democratic front-runner in New Hampshire, thanks in part to high name recognition from his home state next door. But his vote a year ago for the resolution authorizing Bush to wage war in Iraq stunted his political growth in the Granite State.
"In New Hampshire, Democrats have to walk an incredibly fine line," said Andrew E. Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center. "Across the country, they had to vote for the war to be viable, but within the Democratic electorate in New Hampshire, it is 2 to 1 against the war."
A poll of New Hampshire residents published last week by the UNH Survey Center found that 54 percent of respondents approved of the President's handling of Iraq. But 78 percent of Democrats - those who will drive the state's January primary -- disapprove of the administration's policy for postwar Iraq.
Smith said that it had been difficult for Kerry to "square his vote with Democrats who don't want to hear it." Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean has eclipsed Kerry in the Granite State in large part because of his vocal opposition to the war in Iraq, Smith said.
"Dean has pushed this button hard, long and very effectively," Smith said.
Kerry had calculated that New Hampshire's primary would be his, but he has lagged some 10 points behind Dean in the polls since summer. Though Kerry is not conceding New Hampshire, he is looking beyond it to Super Tuesday and hoping that the seven states holding primaries Feb. 3 will propel him to the nomination.
The shift in strategy was apparent when Kerry held his formal campaign announcement speech in Charleston, S.C., after originally planning to deliver it in Boston. Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran, has made his military service a central theme of his candidacy and hopes to connect with the Palmetto State's many veterans.
Norman Ornstein, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, said that while "there is a more pro-military attitude" in South Carolina, Kerry faced a more general problem with primary voters throughout the country.
"Kerry has to appeal to Democratic voters who see the handling of post-war Iraq as evidence of a huge mistake," Ornstein said. "Even among the more conservative Democrats, there is a visceral reaction."
While there is a difference between Democrats in New Hampshire and South Carolina, the "activists in these states are only different to a small degree," Ornstein said. "I think that Kerry was taken by surprise by the degree that Democratic voters were angry at President Bush."
David Lublin, a longtime government and international studies professor at the University of South Carolina, said the concerns of South Carolina's large percentage of African-Americans would have a major impact on the state's Democratic primary.
"African-Americans in South Carolina are more concerned about high unemployment rates," said Lublin, now at American University in Washington. "There is a strong military culture, and a lot of African- Americans in South Carolina serve in the military, but the economy is a very big concern."
Ornstein said that Iowa Democrats have more of an ideological tinge than their fellow party members in New Hampshire and South Carolina. Iowa holds its presidential caucuses Jan. 19, before the voting in New Hampshire and South Carolina. Kerry is currently running third or fourth in Iowa, depending on the poll.
Now Kerry is faced with another vote on Iraq-the $87 billion spending bill. In a statement on Tuesday, Kerry said, "Unless this proposal is changed to better protect taxpayer dollars and shares the burden and risk of transforming Iraq with the United Nations and the rest of the international community, then I will oppose it."
Smith said he did not think Kerry would hurt himself in New Hampshire if he voted for the $87 billion request. In fact, Smith speculated, a vote against the bill could backfire on Kerry.
"There is some risk of being labeled a flip-flopper and that he changed his vote for political purposes," Smith said. "Either way I am sure that Dean's campaign is prepared."
Mr. Finneran Goes to Washington
By David Tamasi
WASHINGTON - Massachusetts House Speaker Tom Finneran, D-Mattapan, arguably the most powerful man on Beacon Hill, is used to being lobbied. But for two days on Capitol Hill, it was Finneran who was doing the arm-twisting.
Accompanied by a delegation of business, education, health, labor and state legislative leaders, Finneran met with the Massachusetts congressional delegation over dinner at a Capitol Hill restaurant Wednesday and in a House office building Thursday in his quest for federal money. Last spring, Massachusetts received $550 million from Washington as part of a $20 billion state and municipal aid package enacted by Congress.
Finneran said that "perhaps they could do that again." He warned that if the state did not receive more money, the "alternative would be the complete decimation of services and programs we offer to the citizens of Massachusettsá.
"It's not our request or hope to become dependent upon the federal government for basic services," he said. "The $550 million won't solve our problem. We would still have to do a fourth year of very serious budget cuts."
Congressman Martin T. Meehan, D-Lowell, blamed President Bush for Massachusetts's predicament.
"We are engaged in a battle for working families in Massachusetts with an administration that is doing a lousy job," he said. "I thought the [Finneran-led] delegation made an excellent presentation, and there are areas we can work on in economic development."
In May, the Massachusetts House and Senate passed a joint resolution requesting that Congress "swiftly provide economic and fiscal assistance" to the state. While largely symbolic, the resolution underscored the difficulties Massachusetts, like other states, has had achieving a balanced budget in the face of decreasing revenues.
The visitors from Massachusetts were "preaching to the choir," said Congressman John Tierney, D-Salem.
"It was a good presentation by members of the state delegation, and they were very specific about the problems," Tierney said. "But they also know that down here it is very political."
Tierney pointed to a $32 billion stimulus package that House Democrats offered but that the Republican-controlled House rejected. A similar measure is before the Senate Finance Committee.
Also on Finneran's agenda was a request for additional money for transportation projects.
Tierney praised Don Young, R-Alaska, the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, for "bucking his own party" to seek more money for transportation.
Young is scheduled to visit Boston this weekend and tour the Big Dig at the request of industry leaders. A spokesman for Finneran said that the Speaker was not scheduled to see Young. Last week, Governor Mitt Romney and Massachusetts Transportation Secretary Daniel Grabauskas met with Young to tell him that the state's other transportation projects should not suffer from the stigma associated with the Big Dig.
Mass. Delegation Gets Point Across on Bedford VA Hospital
By David Tamasi
WASHINGTON - Members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation met with Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony J. Principi Wednesday to voice their objections to a preliminary report that calls for eliminating most in-patient care at the Bedford Veterans Hospital.
The draft proposal, made public in August by the VA's Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES) Commission, would shift most in-patient services from the Bedford hospital to veterans' hospitals in Boston, Brockton and Manchester, N.H.
Bedford would lose more than 500 24-hour beds, including 65 psychiatric beds, 250 beds for nursing care and 100 beds for the Geriatrics Research Education Clinical Center, a nationally recognized center for veterans who suffer from Alzheimer's disease.
The VA is looking to close or reduce services at some of its hospitals in response to a government report that it wastes millions of dollars caring for veterans at aging, ill-used facilities. The General Accounting Office criticized the VA for needlessly duplicating health-care services. But critics have argued that the report failed to consider the impact on local communities or the burden on veterans who would have to travel further to receive care.
Emerging from the closed-door meeting, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy D-Massachusetts, said he thought the dialogue with Principi was encouraging.
"Being able to make this presentation was enormously important," Kennedy said. "He was reminded of the dramatic impact and the transportation problems for those in the greater Massachusetts area."
Principi said the Congress members "made an excellent point. My plea to them is that we have to work better to advance the cause of the VA hospital."
Congressman John Tierney, D-Salem, who organized the session, said the delegation asked Principi to visit the Bedford hospital. Principi said that he was going to "try to visit all major impacted areas" after the commission submits its report in December and he analyzes its recommendations for VA hospitals nationwide.
The executive director of the CARES Commission, Richard Larson, who did not attend the meeting, said he could not predict what would happen to the Bedford hospital but that "all factors would be taken into consideration" when the commission issued its report. He said the commission was still in its "fact-finding mode."
In July, the commission conducted 68 site visits around the country and met with local officials, hospital managers and employees to assess the needs of individual facilities. Now, Larson said, the commission is coming to the end of an "intense schedule" of 38 hearings at which it has received written and oral testimony from VA panels, elected officials and the public. It has scheduled a day-long national meeting Tuesday on Capitol Hill to seek further input, he said.
Principi said he was not legally bound by the commission's findings, but would probably either accept or reject the report in its entirety.
"If there are facilities that I feel I have a question about, I will meet with commission members and explain my concern," Principi said.
At a forum in Billerica last month, local veterans said they would be adversely affected by having to travel long distances to receive care at other hospitals.
Principi said that it was his responsibility to streamline services in a way that would improve health care for veterans.
"We have the same goals," he said. "There are a lot of aging facilities, and they are costly to maintain, but we have to look out for veterans and be sensitive to communities and their employees."
Malden Mills Receives Money for New Programs
By David Tamasi
WASHINGTON - Malden Mills makes its Polartec fleeces for L.L. Bean in the spring and summer and for the U.S. armed forces in the fall and winter. This production schedule enables almost 200 workers at the Lawrence-based manufacturer to keep their jobs year-round.
Making fabrics for retailers on a seasonal basis triggers seasonal layoffs, said David Costello, business manager at Malden Mills. That's where the military contracts help out, he said.
Malden Mills gained national attention in 1995 when a fire gutted three of the four buildings at the Lawrence plant. But not one employee lost his or her job while the plant was being rebuilt, and owner Aaron Feuerstein was hailed as a workers' hero.
Since then, the company filed for bankruptcy in November 2001, and creditors are on the verge of taking it over and moving production overseas. Feuerstein must raise an additional $93 million to buy back control of the company -- and to save1,200 local jobs.
The Defense Department budget, approved by Congress last week for the fiscal year that begins Wednesday, includes $19.1 million for three military contracts at Malden Mills, up $7 million from last year.
The Pentagon requested the money to buy two new products, Costello said. Every naval aviator in Iraq and Afghanistan will receive a three-layered ensemble of Nomex, a heat- and flame-resistant fiber, for a total cost of $3.1 million, he said.
"They protect these servicemen in hot and cold weather and against heavy winds," Costello said.
The second contract provides $3 million for research and development of clothing that would be embedded with sensors to observe service members' health, Costello said.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, and Congressman Martin T. Meehan, D-Lowell, supported the funding for Malden Mills.
"Malden Mills has played an integral role supporting our military in the global war on terror," Kennedy said in a statement.
The remaining $13 million continues funding for the Extended Cold Weather Clothing System , black jackets and pants that are worn by members of the Army and Marine Corps.
"When I went to Afghanistan last year, a lot of the troops were wearing the Polartec portion of the Extended Cold Weather Clothing System," Meehan said in a statement. "It was one of the most popular and useful pieces of gear for U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan."
Costello said he was unsure whether President Bush's $87 billion request for supplemental funds to be spent in Iraq and Afghanistan would generate money for Malden Mills, but added that the company welcomed any "opportunity to speed up gear to the field."
Kennedy, Democrats to Keep on Bush
By David Tamasi
WASHINGTON - As President Bush's request for $87 billion for post-war Iraq winds its way through Congress, do not expect Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy to remain on the sidelines.
"The senator will continue to question the administration's proposal," said Kennedy spokesman Jim Manley. "Both as a member of the Armed Services Committee and as a duly elected member of the Senate."
Manley said Kennedy, one of the Senate's most powerful and outspoken Democrats, would be offering an amendment to Bush's proposal that would "spell out the role Congress plays in appropriating money for this type of purpose." The legislation, which would give Congress a greater say in how the money is spent, is still being drafted, he said.
Bush has asked Congress for $87 billion more for military and reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The mere size of the request, coming at a time when American soldiers are continuing to come under attack in Iraq, has prompted Democrats and some Republicans to question how the administration plans to wrap up military operations and rebuild the country.
Perhaps no lawmaker has offered a more blistering critique than Kennedy. In an interview with the Associated Press Sept. 18, he called Bush's justification for war with Iraq a "fraud" that was "made up in Texas," the president's home state. Kennedy went on to say the administration was sending money to "political leaders in all parts of the world, bribing them to send in troops."
Bush told Congress and the American public he was going to war to rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction. Inspectors have failed to find proof such weapons exist.
Kennedy voted against the war.
A spokesman for Sen. John Kerry, a Democratic presidential contender from Massachusetts, seemed to egg Kennedy on. "Senator Kennedy should continue to speak out on what he believes in," said the spokesman, Tony Wyche. Kennedy was scheduled to campaign with Kerry this weekend in Iowa.
Kerry voted last fall to authorize Bush to wage war. During his months on the presidential campaign trail this year, he has criticized the administration's motives and planning.
On Tuesday, Republicans took to the Senate floor to denounce Kennedy's harsh language. Sen. Robert F. Bennett, R-Utah, said "the senior senator from Massachusetts has made a charge he cannot substantiate." Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said, "I think it was a slur on my home state of Texas."
Other Republican senators did not return calls or were unavailable for comment.
Yet, with the President's poll numbers dropping, Democrats appeared emboldened to defend Kennedy.
Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., told reporters, "We ought to have this open discussion and expression of views without challenging the motives, the patriotism or the very right of any senator to express himself or herself."
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other high-ranking administration faced tough questions and criticism from Democrats when they pushed Bush's proposal during committee hearings last week.
L. Paul Bremer, III, administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, appeared Thursday before the Armed Services Committee. Kennedy wasted little time attacking the Bush post-war strategy.
"Is this the best that this administration could do," Kennedy asked, "in terms of developing a plan that is going to have not only the support of the American people, but the international community and that offers us the best hope to provide some relief to our troops and to bring democracy to Iraq and hopefully to bring our troops home with honor?"
Bremer Makes Case for More Money in Iraq
By David Tamasi
WASHINGTON - The American in charge of the rebuilding of Iraq appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Wednesday and offered this sober assessment of the situation there: "We will have good days and bad days."
L. Paul Bremer III, administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority, spent nearly three hours defending President Bush's request for an additional $87 billion for war and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan -- and specifically the $20.3 billion the administration has included to enhance security and restore electricity and water in Iraq.
"This is urgent," Bremer said. "The urgency of military operations is self-evident. The funds for non-military operations are equally urgent. Now the reality of foreign troops on the streets is starting to chafe, some Iraqis are beginning to regard us as occupiers and not as liberators. Let's not hide the fact."
Before they grant any money, senators wanted answers.
Bremer faced a chorus of criticism from Democrats on the committee who wanted information for constituents who are growing wary of U.S. involvement in Iraq and wondering why the United States was being forced to pay the whole bill.
"Polls are not a basis to make decisions," said Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, the panel's senior Democrat. "But when things go south here [in the Senate] they go south quickly."
Bremer said he hoped the United States would receive pledges from other nations and the international financial community to assist with the reconstruction during a conference on Iraq in Madrid in late October. Currently, Iraq is saddled with a $200 billion foreign debt - half of it owed France, Germany, Japan and Russia -- extending back to deposed President Saddam Hussein. The sizable debt is considered an impediment to Iraq's receiving loans from international monetary organizations.
Sen. Paul Sarbanes, D-Maryland, asked how long U.S. forces would remain in Iraq. Bremer told him it would be at least the next year.
With the President's approval ratings dropping, Democrats in recent days have become increasingly strident in questioning the administration's plan for Iraq. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, has led the charge, calling Bush's initial rationale for war a "fraud" that was politically inspired. He did not back down Tuesday in comments on the Senate floor, though he softened his language somewhat.
"There's no question the White House sees political advantage in the war. You can see it in Karl Rove's speeches to Republican strategists," Kennedy said Tuesday, referring to White House political adviser.
In the face of these questions and complaints, Bremer's time this week on Capitol Hill has been busy and not very pretty. Bremer reportedly was met with hostility when he addressed Senate Democrats at their weekly policy lunch Tuesday -- and did not even receive the traditional polite applause before he left.
In his opening remarks to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Wednesday, Bremer said the first priority for Iraq was to write a constitution that would create a political and legal structure, which, in turn, would allow for economic expansion. He said he did not know how long it would take to draft a constitution.
A critical component of securing the peace is an increased number of trained Iraqi police, Bremer said. Currently there are 40,000 Iraqi police officers, and another 40,000 are needed, he said. Training 25,000 police in the next year, the current goal, would be four times quicker than any previous similar effort, Bremer said.
In response to a question from Sen. John Sununu, R-New Hampshire, Bremer said Iraq was on target to meet its goals for electric power capacity. He added that oil output was 1.7 million barrels a day now, with a goal of 2 million barrels by the end of the year.
Bremer said the entire $87 billion budget request - including the reconstruction effort -- was essential to win the war on terror.
"Recreating Iraq as a nation at peace with itself and with the world, an Iraq that terrorists flee rather than flock to, requires more than people with guns," he said.
Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, did not attend the hearing. A Democratic presidential candidate, he picked up an endorsement an hour after the hearing concluded from the International Association of Firefighters, which was meeting in Washington.
Kerry Calls for Repeal of Tax Cuts for Wealthiest Americans
By David Tamasi
WASHINGTON - After playing defense for the last several months, Sen. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, is going on the offensive.
Kerry, along with Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Delaware, is poised to introduce an amendment that would repeal tax cuts on the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans to cover President Bush's request for $87 billion for war and reconstruction costs in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Kerry spokesman Tony Wyche.
The amendment would link two key White House issues - but not in a way the president would prefer.
Democrats in Congress have said that the country can't afford to pay for the war in Iraq, for homeland security and for domestic spending while maintaining all of Bush's tax cuts.
"We are still working on the finer details of the legislation," Wyche said. At issue is whether the tax cuts would be canceled for one year or for a longer period. The most recent tax cuts Congress enacted are set to expire after five years. The wealthiest 1 percent are those with incomes of $330,000 or more annually.
Kerry's campaign struggled over the summer as the presidential candidate attempted to defend his vote for the war in Iraq to the left-leaning Democrats who dominate the primaries. During that period, Kerry ceded his status as the putative front-runner to former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, whose anti-war message resonated with party activists.
Kerry has sought to revitalize his campaign in recent days by aggressively criticizing Dean on a variety of issues. Although Dean also has called for a repeal of tax cuts, Kerry said his competitor would go too far by rolling back all the cuts Congress enacted during Bush's presidency, not just those for the rich.
"Unfortunately, some in my party, including Howard Dean, want to repeal the tax cuts Democrats gave middle-class families," Kerry said in a speech Monday in Iowa.
With Republicans holding a slim majority in the Senate, Kerry's amendment appears headed for defeat, according to Stuart Rothenberg, an independent political analyst.
"I don't think that a lot of Republican senators will go along with this," Rothenberg said. "Their fate is tied to the success of George W. Bush in 2004, and they are not going to run counter to what is the President's signature issue."
While Rothenberg was dismissive of the amendment's chance of passage, he said it was a good political move for Kerry. "
Anything that positions Kerry as a major opponent of the President is a political plus for the senator," he said. "[Democratic] Caucus attendees and primary voters want to beat up on the President, and if Kerry is leading the fight on Capitol Hill, that is where he wants to be."
The President's $87 billion request is expected to be sent to Capitol Hill by the end of the week.
Tierney Raps President on Iraq and Budget Deficit
By David Tamasi
WASHINGTON - Fresh from an August recess, Congressman John Tierney, D-Salem, on Wednesday sharply attacked President George W. Bush for his handling of the war on Iraq.
"There has been no accounting of the first $79 billion spent, on top of the over $400 billion spent on the military in the budget," Tierney said in an interview. "We need exact detail on the next $87 billion, how much for force protection and how much for reconstruction."
Tierney said he supports a movement to repeal some of Bush's tax cuts in return for approving the president's request for $87 billion more for wars and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"We want a realistic budget from the President," Tierney said. "This President blew through a surplus, and now we have a $600 billion deficit, due to tax cuts for the wealthy."
When asked what constituted "wealthy," Tierney replied, "Those that earn over $200,000."
The four-term Democrat was relaxed and confident as he espoused the Democratic line on taxes, the war, education and Medicare in his Capitol Hill office. Tierney said he hoped Congress would "assert its constitutional authority" to challenge the President's proposals.
"If we asked questions of the administration before and were not waving flags, we were unpatriotic," he said. "I am hopeful that Congress now has the legs to ask questions."
Tierney did not limit his criticism to war, but denounced Bush on a host of domestic issues as well.
A member of the House Education and Workforce Committee, Tierney blasted the President for "broken promises" associated with the No Child Left Behind Act, a 2001 law that imposes standards and testing intended to improve public schools. Tierney added that the Bush administration has inadequately funded special education, higher education and Pell Grants for college students.
Tierney also criticized the president for diverting money to tax cuts that could have helped states pay for public education.
Currently, he said, Massachusetts ranks 49th in the country in its support of public colleges and universities and second to California in the size of tuition increases. State funding for higher education in Massachusetts decreased by 11 percent this year from fiscal 2002.
"The state has to have a commitment," Tierney said. He said the federal government was in a position to do more, but "that was before the money was spent on the President's tax cuts."
One area in which Tierney welcomed the President's assistance was on Medicare. The House and Senate have each passed bills to provide prescription drugs to Medicare recipients, and negotiators face major hurdles in ironing out the differences, Tierney said.
Tierney voted against the bill in the House because it did not provide enough government assistance to senior citizens, he said. If the President wants to be able to sign a prescription-drug bill, he will have to compromise with senators whose bill provided more government support, Tierney added.
"That said, both the House and Senate bills do not provide adequate coverage," he said.
Tierney said he remained committed to ensuring that funding for an MBTA Blue Line extension to Lynn would occur and serve as a "huge economic development piece" for the Merrimack Valley area. He said that although a House bill funding the Transportation Department contained money for such projects in his district, the final bill still has to be negotiated with the Senate.
