Category: Fall 2005 Newswire
Congress to Consider Cutting Medicaid Funds by $11 Billion
WASHINGTON, Nov. 4 — Congress may vote as early as next week on a bill that would cut Medicaid by approximately $11 billion over the next five years and allow states to increase co-payments and charge monthly premiums for individuals and families just above the poverty line.
Passage of the bill, which was approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee last week by a vote of 28-22, appears likely because it is has been proposed as a budget reconciliation measure and cannot be filibustered.
Most Republicans on the committee, like Charles Bass (R-N.H.), who are in favor of the measure, say that Medicaid reform would keep the expensive program from bankrupting the states.
“We need to ensure that the Medicaid program is available for future generations, and in its current form it is simply unsustainable,” said Bass. “Over 37 states have been forced to choose between cutting beneficiaries and cutting services-no state government should have to make that choice.”
Committee Democrats, who are united against the bill, say that Medicaid reform should not be done by cutting benefits to the poor in order to offset tax cuts to the wealthy. Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) is a one of the Democrats resisting the measure.
“Last March, the Republicans passed a Budget Resolution that required $35 billion in cuts from the programs which protect the most vulnerable, including $10 billion from Medicaid, while shoveling $106 Billion out the door to the wealthiest Americans in the form of massive tax cuts,” said Markey. “If the Republicans were interested in reforming Medicaid, they would reinvest the money back into the Medicaid program to make it a stronger, more accessible, more sustainable program.”
In 2004, the Center for Budget & Policy Priorities reported that New Hampshire had approximately 96,000 persons on Medicaid. Persons 65 and older make up 10 percent of the total and persons under the age of 18 account for 60 percent, according to the center, which is a non-partisan think tank based in Concord, N.H.
Most people currently covered by Medicaid pay nothing for prescription drugs and doctor’s visits, and those who do, usually pay $3 or less. The bill would increase the $3 copay and would start charging some recipients monthly premiums.
An individual must have almost no assets in order to qualify for Medicaid. The proposal to reform the program gained momentum shortly after reports of wealthy and middle-class Americans exploiting the program by turning their assets over to family members while the state paid for their nursing fees.
“We must address the fraud and abuse in this program,” said Bass. “In order to make certain that Medicaid resources benefit our poorest and neediest citizens – not wealthy Americans seeking to exploit a system in need of reform.”
But those like Markey, who are critical of the bill, say that “Milli onaires on Medicaid” is myth unsupported by research and cite studies by the Kaiser Commission and Georgetown University which demonstrate that most middle-class seniors do not have the resources to make large gifts in anticipation of their long-term care needs.
“I support doing real Medicaid reform,” said Markey. “But this bill is not really about reforming Medicaid or thinking about the best ways to provide health care to our country’s most vulnerable populations. This bill is about trying to decide who among the least fortunate in our country-the poor, the disabled, the seniors in nursing homes-should pay for more tax cuts.”
The National Governors Association asked the House Energy and Commerce Committee for Medicaid reform because the program costs the same as K-12 education in some states, according to the association’s Web site.
But New Hampshire’s Democratic Governor John Lynch said that he opposes cuts to Medicaid.
“Governor Lynch is concerned that the federal government’s proposed cuts will hurt critical health care and other services to our most vulnerable citizens, particularly seniors and children,” said Pamela Walsh, spokeswomen for Lynch. “This is bad for New Hampshire and the wrong d irection for our country.”
####
Shays Pushes for Anti-Torture Bill
By Mandy Kozar
WASHINGTON, Nov. 4-Brushing aside pressure from the Bush administration and threats of a presidential veto, Rep. Christopher Shays and 14 other Republican House members are pushing for anti-torture provisions to be included in the 2006 Defense Appropriations Act.
"There's no excuse for the United States tolerating torture or inhumane treatment and the sooner we don't the better," Shays said. "Until we don't we're going to be sending mixed messages to our military personnel. We can't become the very enemy that we're trying to defeat."
The mistreatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, pushed the administration's policy on torture and interrogation into the spotlight. In a letter to the members of the House and Senate working to reconcile differences between the two chambers' versions of the defense spending bill, Shays and 14 other Republican House members urged the chairman to retain a Senate provision banning cruel and inhumane treatment of detainees. The House bill did not include this amendment.
The amendment, introduced in the Senate by John McCain (R-Ariz.), would require that all Department of Defense personnel use only the interrogation techniques authorized by the Army Field Manual, regardless of where the prisoners are held.
McCain, who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, said that he proposed the bill in the Senate out of concern for the safety of military troops, as well as to protect the United States' reputation and values.
" We are Americans, and we hold ourselves to humane standards of treatment of people no matter how evil or terrible they may be," McCain said in his statement on the Senate floor in October. "To do otherwise undermines our security, but it also undermines our greatness as a nation."
David Danzig, spokesman for the New York-based Human Rights First, said his organization supports the amendment from both moral and pragmatic standpoints, asserting that torture is an ineffective method of interrogation.
" We've got tens of thousands of people in detention centers and we aren't quite sure how to sort out the good guys from the bad guys," Danzig said. "So when you do bad stuff you don't know whether or not you're doing bad stuff to bad guys."
Fred Burton, the vice president of counter terrorism for Stratfor, a private intelligence company, and a former special agent for the U.S. Department of State, said that in his experience torture is not always a reliable interrogation method.
"I was a U.S. counterterrorism agent for many years and have debriefed a lot of terrorist victims as well as terror suspects and for the most part it has been my experience that torture is not needed to get the answers or the responses that you need," Burton said. "For the most part whenever you are getting a confession or admission under any kind of duress it really makes one skeptical as to the motivation behind that data point."
When the amendment was first introduced in July, the Bush administration issued a statement opposing any legislation that "would restrict the President's authority to protect Americans effectively . . . and bring terrorists to justice."
Since then, Vice President Dick Cheney met with senators to discuss a proposal that could exempt covert agents from the prohibition on torture.
Although supporters of the bill oppose any exemptions, Burton pointed out that excessive incidents, such as what occurred at Abu Graib, are not the norm and trying to include the CIA and other covert operatives in a general uniform policy may be reaching too far.
"What you have had is horrible isolated cases of abuse that is clearly not the norm and I'm not so sure that it requires drastic change," Burton said. "You have to discipline and investigate and prosecute those that are the violators, but I really don't think that from my assessment and my personal observation and personal participation in several high profile cases, that this kind of excessive behavior would be tolerate.,"
Burton further stated that this sort of legislation could limit the CIA's intelligence-gathering ability.
McCain's amendment passed the Senate overwhelmingly, 90 to 9.
After the vote, however, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan told reporters in a press conference that the bill may be vetoed if it does not contain the language the president wanted.
However, this would also mean vetoing the $445 billion defense appropriations bill.
"I frankly find it amazing that the administration, which hasn't vetoed any bill, would veto a bill that would set up a clear standard that in the United States of America we do not torture people and we treat them humanely," Shays said.
Shays also introduced last month separate legislation that is identical to the McCain amendment.
####
Global Warming Debate Heats Up
By Tara Fehr
WASHINGTON, Nov. 3 - As the power of hurricanes has strengthened this year, so has the global warming debate.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, speaking at a Yale globalization conference last month, linked this year's hurricane season to the century-long debate over global warming, saying it's not just a "theoretical" threat anymore.
"Now while you can't single out any single event, like Hurricane Katrina, and say it's due to global warming, the statistical evidence for the theory keeps piling up," Lieberman said, according to a text of his speech.
Carbon dioxide emission levels rose from 4.7 billion tons in 1990 to 5.5 billion tons in 2003, Environmental Protection Agency spokesman John Millett said.
Concerned by the potential consequences of carbon dioxide emissions left unchecked, Lieberman said the solution lies within transportation and infrastructure - "from the refinery to the tail pipe."
Lieberman has fought a bipartisan, uphill battle with climate control legislation. He and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., first introduced a climate change bill in October 2003 but it did not pass. In the beginning of this year they reintroduced legislation, but it died in committee.
Lieberman and McCain offered an amendment to the June energy bill that would have provided a financial incentive to climate friendly companies that reduced emissions.
Although the Senate defeated the amendment by a 36-60 vote, members did vote for a bipartisan resolution to enact principles of the McCain-Lieberman act in future legislation.
The resolution is not binding, but Lieberman said he considers this step a success because the Senate made a commitment on record to consider the reduction of green house gas emissions, allowing Lieberman and McCain to continue discussions with individual senators so they can offer legislation that could pass.
.But other members of Congress, like Sen. James Inhofe R-Okla., who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, are not convinced of the science behind global warming concerns.
"Sen. Inhofe defends sound science," Inhofe spokesman Bill Holbrook said. "The science today tells us that there are still significant uncertainties remaining."
In his speech, Lieberman commended the nations that ratified the Kyoto Protocol, which caps greenhouses gasses internationally, and challenged the United States to act on it. Meanwhile, Inhofe called climate change the "world's greatest hoax," as he called it in his statement at a committee hearing on the Kyoto Protocol in early October.
Ben Lieberman, senior policy analyst at the conservative Heritage Institute, said the answer is something in between.
"I don't think it's a hoax," Ben Lieberman said. "The truth is exaggerated, but there is some underlying scientific validity to global warming."
He said he would only describe global warming as a "hoax" in regards to certain claims like linking it increased power of hurricanes.
"There are risks to global warming, but I also think there are risks with global warming policy," Ben Lieberman said. "I would take issue with Sen. Lieberman. I think he's taking advantage of the hurricanes to put global warming proposals on the table."
But Sen. Lieberman said that a bipartisan majority share concerns about global warming and that the United States cannot afford to ignore it.
But Holbrook argued that capping carbon dioxide emissions could have several economic consequences.
"Any reduction in temperature would be negligible," Holbrook said. "The McCain-Lieberman legislation for example. would only result in a 0.029 degree Celsius [change] in temperature, but would increase already high gasoline prices by 55 cents a gallon, increase electricity prices by 20 percent and increase the cost of natural gas by 46 percent."
Cost is also affecting Europe's effort to comply with the protocol, Ben Lieberman said.
"There's an interesting lesson there emerging from the European nations that have ratified Kyoto," he said. "They're having tremendous difficulties complying. It's turning out that the costs of doing so looks to be prohibitive."
The debate rages, like this year's hurricanes. In his speech, Sen. Lieberman said the United States must take "a leading role."
"We cannot stand aside from the rest of the world and say: 'Okay, you first,'" he said. "The timidity is bad for America and bad for the world."
###
Cranberry Growers Flooded with Funding
WASHINGTON, Nov. 3-In the middle of one of the worst growing seasons in 15 years, Massachusetts cranberry growers have received some good news: $460,000 in federal funds for water conservation efforts and agricultural research is expected to come their way.
"The cranberry industry is a vital part of the southeastern Massachusetts economy and culture," Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass) said in a press release. "These funds will help area growers operate more efficiently and in ways that promote environmental preservation."
The money was included in the Agriculture appropriations bill that the House passed last week. The Senate must approve the bill for it to become law.
Massachusetts growers produced 180 million pounds of cranberries in 2004, second only to Wisconsin's harvest, said Jeffrey LaFleur, executive director of the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers' Association. This year, however, the yield has been significantly lower than the 170 million pounds projected by the National Agricultural Statistics Service, likely the result of an unusually cold winter followed by an unseasonably dry summer, LaFleur said.
The majority of the money-$300,000-would be used to pay for two conservation planners, who would work with cranberry growers, evaluating farms' water resources and creating strategies for managing them.
These funds will be administered through the U.S. Agriculture Department's Natural Resources Conservation Service, which has received money for this purpose since 2002.
"The overwhelming issue is that we need access to clean, fresh water and we need to conserve that water," LaFleur said.
The remaining $160,000 would be spent on cranberry and blueberry research at University of Massachusetts facilities in Dartmouth and West Wareham. This would be the sixth straight year that UMass has received such a grant.
Researchers are investigating ways of predicting and preventing cranberry disease and techniques for controlling insects and weeds, said Carolyn DeMoranville, director of the UMass cranberry station in West Wareham. These findings, she said, could help cranberry growers save money, use more environmentally friendly farming methods, and increase crop yields.
"It's really important to stay scientifically in the forefront if we're going to remain competitive as a cranberry-growing region," DeMoranville said.
Approximately 400 cranberry growers operate in Massachusetts, concentrated in Barnstable, Bristol and Plymouth Counties, LaFleur said. More than 70 percent of these farmers, however, cultivate less than 20 acres of land, and many work only part time.
The federal funds are especially effective at addressing specific, local needs, said Tom Bewick, national program leader in horticulture for the Department of Agriculture agency that manages the conservation grants.
"From the standpoint of local and regional agricultural problems, these grants have had a big impact," Bewick said.
Private Property Protection Passes the House
WASHINGTON, Nov. 3 -- The House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that would forbid any state or local government from using eminent domain for economic development projects if they have received any federal economic development funds in the same fiscal year.
Eminent domain, a governmental power established in the Constitution allows government to buy land from a private owner at market rates, even against the will of the owner, and put it to a public use.
Known as the Private Property Rights Protection Act of 2005, the bill would make municipalities that break the law ineligible for federal economic development funds for two years, as well as providing specific lines of recourse for land owners.
The measure passed with a vote of 376 to 38 .
The bill was introduced by Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) in reaction to a Supreme Court decision earlier this year that eroded property owners' rights, according to many representatives from both sides of the aisle who spoke on the floor of the House in support of the bill. The Supreme Court decision resulted from the use of eminent domain by New London, Conn.
Rep. John Tierney (D-Salem) expressed tentative support for the bill before the vote on Thursday.
"I think the Supreme Court went too far, but I want to make sure that it doesn't swing back too far in the other direction," he said.
Tierney said that there were a number of amendments that, if they passed, would give him more confidence that the bill would achieve its original intent. He said that he was concerned that, as originally written, the bill would not allow for the government to buy lands to do environmental cleanup unless the land in question posed a public health risk.
An amendment proposed by Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio), which would have specifically addressed the kinds of environmental cleanup Tierney mentioned, failed to pass.
Rep. Tierney ultimately voted for the legislation.
Scott F. Sneddon, a homeowner in Salem, a second-year law student and vice president of the Salem Common Neighborhood Association, called the bill "potentially very troubling."
"Eminent domain has been an important tool for urban redevelopment," he wrote in an email.
He added: "It's really not a lawyer's issue, it's a fairness issue. People are worried that they won't be treated fairly, and that influences outside their control will cause them to lose something that we hold dear, the right to say 'no, this house is not for sale.'"
Sneddon said this right is not absolute, and, though it is never an easy decision, the right must sometimes give way to community concerns.
However eminent domain is not a power that local communities take lightly. Tom Moses, the chief financial officer in the Gloucester City Treasurer's Office could not remember a time when he was involved in city government when eminent domain was used.
"I was here in '97, '8 and '9 and left and then came back in 2003," he said. "I don't ever remember it being used in that time."
Frank Kulik, director of the Salem city assessor's office, said he believed the last time eminent domain was used by the city was before his 20-year stint in city government.
"The Salem Redevelopment Authority, back in the '70s, when the downtown area was totally redeveloped," was the most recent example he could think of. "I would think it almost had to happen, back then."
In June, the Supreme Court issued a decision in the case of Kelo v. New London that said economic development constitutes a public use, and therefore is a legal reason to use eminent domain under the Constitution.
In floor speeches Thursday, many representatives who rose to speak expressed concerns that the Kelo v. New London decision would put private homes, small businesses and churches at risk of being replaced by strip malls and box stores, if they were in a good location.
"Until Kelo came around, you couldn't take land until you demonstrated blight," said Jim Masterman, a Boston property lawyer whose practice concentrates on eminent domain issues. "That's the argument."
"Politically, what Kelo has come to mean is that the government can take your land for any purpose," said Masterman. He said in essence the Supreme Court's decision has been seen to mean that a government could take the land a private home was on and use it to build luxury condominiums, because the latter would produce more revenue for the government and more jobs for the community.
"The Kelo decision struck a nerve," he said, especially with elected officials.
"I don't think it's an overreaction to have this debate going on in the legislature," said Masterman. He added that the checks and balances that keep the use of eminent domain limited are currently economic instead of legal, so a legislative debate on the issue is "appropriate."
###
Senators Sununu and Clinton Introduce Kids and Care Safety Legislation
WASHINGTON, Nov. 3 -Sens. John Sununu (R-NH) and Hillary Clinton (D-NY) have joined in introducing legislation targeted at reducing the risk of motor vehicle accidents involving children.
The legislation would direct the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations requiring most light passenger vehicles to have back-over warning systems, power window strangulation prevention and brake-shift interlocks that makes it impossible to shift out of park unless the brake pedal is depressed.
"We want to provide clear direction to the Highway Traffic Safety Administration so that they can move forward and create standards in areas that are important to preventing traffic fatalities," Sununu said in an interview Wednesday. "It's always good to have some people from different sides of the aisle working together on a piece of legislation, and I think this is no exception. Hopefully we can bring together a number of co-sponsors from both parties and get the bill moving forward."
In New Hampshire, State Representative Packy Campbell (R - Farmington) is especially interested in this legislation. His son, Ian, died last year when he was playing in a truck and was able to put it in gear without the ignition being turned on.
"The whole point for me is that I don't want to see this happen to other kids," Campbell said Wednesday. "It's preventable and it is technology that exists and it is technology that is in 70 percent of the cars and it's an expectation that consumers have." He noted that if his son had climbed into a different car in his driveway, which was equipped with the brake-shift interlock, he would still be alive.
"Unfortunately, with the advent of these technologies, people are lulled into a false sense of security or they buy a product and expect that it works a certain way and you have this hidden defect," Campbell said. "It's going to take legislation to get rid of this hidden defect, and that is why it's so important that we fast-track this bill and we get it passed."
Kids In Cars, an organization dedicated to informing people about the dangers involved with children and motor vehicles as well as preventing future accidents, has been pushing for this legislation for many years, said Janette Fennell, its founder and president.
"With a bill like this it will really help to take this issue forward and make sure that everybody in Congress understands that our children are being killed unnecessarily and that they have the power of the pen to fix it," Fennell said Wednesday.
Even as the legislation was introduced, another such death occurred Monday night when 2-year-old Natalie Williamson of Haleyville, Ala., was trick-or-treating with her mother and was killed when a car backed over her. According to Kids In Cars, there have been more than 2,000 accidents involving children left in or around motor vehicles since 2000.
"We're working to try to get all of these things passed, but at the same time we want people to understand how they could protect their families in the meantime," Fennell said. "We're definitely about education until we can get this stuff taken care of."
###
Kennedy, DeWine Introduce a New Bill to Help the Working Disabled
WASHINGTON, Nov. 3 - Sens. Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Mike DeWine, Republican of Ohio, Wednesday introduced their third bill aimed at helping persons with disabilities work outside the home while still receiving federal benefits.
The Community Living Assistance Support and Services Act of 2005 would be a public insurance program, funded by a voluntary payroll tax of $30 per month. Workers who have contributed to the program for at least five years would be eligible to receive $50-$100 a day in assistance if they became disabled, even if they continued to work.
Sen. Kennedy said the money could be spent as the recipient chose, on services ranging from transportation to personal home care.
Sen. DeWine said that many disabled people were unable to purchase private health and disability insurance because of preexisting disabilities. People who become disabled frequently are "forced to bankrupt themselves" to get federal assistance, said Jeff Sadosky, a spokesman for DeWine. The bill would help disabled people work and be financially independent, he said.
Kennedy estimated that seven percent of people with disabilities are currently unemployed, and they would not benefit from the new program. "It's not a perfect bill," said Kennedy. Instead, he said, it was intended to "build in the concept" of helping the working disabled, which could later be expanded to include the unemployed.
The payroll tax would be "progressive," with low-income workers receiving a tax credit for a portion of the monthly premium. Unemployed people with disabilities could be covered if they had a working spouse.
Bill Henning, director of the Independent Living Center in Boston, called the current system of aid for the disabled "counter-logical."
"It is a very complex system," he said, filled with "disincentives to be productive in the community." If a disabled person goes to work, Mr. Henning said, he or she is considered not to be "house-bound," and will lose eligibility for home assistance under Medicare.
Mr. Henning said the assumption is that if a person can work and support himself, he must not be disabled. In fact, he said, "you can be quite disabled and still work." Mr. Henning has three employees who require assistance at home with activities like cooking and bathing. In Worcester, this kind of assistance costs an estimated $22 an hour, or $28,000 a year, according to Kennedy's office.
Massachusetts programs provide this assistance to working people. Mr. Henning said federal assistance programs instead "guarantee you stay basically low income," by disappearing when a recipient goes to work.
Sens. Kennedy and DeWine also sponsored the bill reauthorizing the Rehabilitation Act in 1998, which funds employment training for disabled persons, and the "Ticket to Work" Act of 1999, which allowed disabled persons to join "employment networks" for placement assistance.
Mr. Henning said the second bill helped disabled people gain better access to health insurance, but the job placement component "hasn't worked as expected."
Reps. John D. Dingell, Democrat of Michigan, and John M. Shimkus, Republican of Illinois, will introduce the bill in the House later this week, Sen. Kennedy said.
####
What Would It Take to Unseat Michaud?
WASHINGTON, Nov. 3-Democratic Rep. Michael Michaud of the second district doesn't seem to have many worries about his bid for reelection next year, to judge by his latest campaign finance report to the Federal Election Commission.
Michaud raised only $62,000 in the last quarter, according to his filing with the commission.
"For an incumbent in a swing district [that] is not that much money," said Jonathan Coll, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, which provides financial assistance to Republican candidates for the House.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan, nonprofit group that compiles campaign spending figures on its Web site, opensecrets.org, Michaud has raised $228,890 so far in the 2006 election cycle, which is about $200,000 less than what he raised during the same period in the 2004 election cycle, according to the Federal Election Commission.
"I suspect Michaud's fundraising is a function of the fact that he's unlikely to have a major Republican challenge at this time," said Stuart Rothenberg, a Washington political analyst. No one has formally challenged Michaud at this point, according to election Web sites.
"This is an off year and the congressman's really been focused on congressional duties so we haven't really ramped up the fundraising for '06," said Monica Castellanos, spokeswoman for the congressman. Castellanos said Michaud has been concentrating his time on the transportation bill, and trade and veteran's issues.
At this point only "divine intervention" would unseat Michaud, said Rothenberg, editor and publisher of the Rothenberg Report, which analyzes American politics and elections. "It would kind of be like the parting of the Red Sea."
Michaud, who is culturally conservative on issues of abortion and guns but more of a traditional Democrat on economic issues, has drawn support from moderate and conservative Democrats, along with some Republicans.
Even the "more progressive Democrats are not going to desert him," said Sandy Maisel, director of the Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement at Colby College in Waterville.
The ideal Republican challenger would be enough of a moderate to appeal to Democratic voters, Maisel said, and that person could find a major weakness in Michaud's record.
According to Coll of the National Republican Congressional Committee, Michaud's biggest vulnerabilities are that he voted against the energy bill.
A Republican challenger would also need to be able to raise big money, Rothenberg said.
Michaud, who has spent only $93,266 on his 2006 campaign so far, was first elected to the House in 2002 in a race for the open seat vacated by John Baldacci, now Maine's Democratic governor. Michaud raised more than a million dollars for that campaign, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, and narrowly won the race, 52-48 percent, over Kevin Raye, who was Sen. Olympia Snowe's chief of staff.
Because the race was highly competitive, the National Republican Congressional Committee supported Raye financially but gave no money to Republican challenger Brian Hamel in 2004. "That was not a high-priority Republican race," Rothenberg said.
Michaud had an easier time winning last year, with 58 percent of the vote, against Hamel, a former business executive. Hamel raised $667,602 compared to Michaud's $1.3 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
"Hamel was a good candidate," Rothenberg said. "But that's not enough to defeat an entrenched incumbent who seems to fit the district pretty well." Hamel told the Bangor Daily News that he has no plans to run again in 2006.
Over the years Republicans have become more interested in defending incumbents' seats than in launching attacks on entrenched Democrats, Maisel said. "They don't want to put their efforts in districts where they're going to win by a large amount or lose by a large amount. It's a waste of money," Maisel said.
"It's a much worse environment for the Republicans now than it was two years ago with the war, gas prices, the President's response to Katrina, questions about Republican ethics," Rothenberg said. "My guess is that [Michaud] doesn't feel threatened."
The National Republican Congressional Committee would not comment about whether it will contribute to a Republican challenger to Michaud next year, Coll said, but according to political experts, they are not likely to.
####
For Adam Aliano, Annapolis Is Not the Average College Experience
ANNAPOLIS, Md., Nov. 3 - On a beautiful autumn day in November, Adam Aliano and his classmates sit through a required government class in their first semester of college.
The professor walks in and begins discussing a bibliography assignment that is part of a thesis paper the students must complete. She announces that the highest score is a 95 but that the class average is a 50.
The students groan in unison. Aliano, a Methuen native, looks over at his friend Jack McCain, smiling but shaking his head. It's all part of the induction process into the rigors of academia that takes place every year on college campuses across the country.
But little clues reveal this is not a regular college: Aliano wears his dark hair cut short and his shoes spit-polished. He is dressed in a dark blue uniform called "winter working blues." When the professor, a Navy commander, entered the room a cry of "Attention on deck!" caused the students to jump simultaneously out of their seats and salute.
This is the United States Naval Academy. Nestled on the banks of the Severn River where it empties into the Chesapeake Bay in Annapolis, Maryland, neither the school nor its students are ordinary.
At 19 years of age, Aliano already has a resume full of achievements. At Methuen High School he was the star pitcher, a member of the National Honor Society, and the senior class president who organized a Christmas tree sale to generate funds for class activities.
Since reporting to the academy in June for "plebe summer"-a seven-week program that yanks teenagers out of a world filled with reality television, video games and peer pressure, and prepares them for a schedule of discipline, rigor and military life-Aliano has been awarded the expert medal in firearms training. He has also been assigned as his platoon squad leader and was selected to represent the academy by throwing out the first pitch at a Baltimore Orioles game at Camden Yards earlier this fall.
Aliano shrugs it off and says that the academy is full of students "who are really good at something." In fact, 82 percent of the class of 2009 were ranked in top 20 percent of their high school class and 85 percent of them earned athletic varsity letters, according to academy figures. The upper range of the average verbal and math SAT scores is 700.
Of the 11,000 students who applied to be a part of Aliano's class, only 4,300 were nominated by an official source such as a congressman, a requirement for consideration. Aliano received his official nomination from Rep. Martin Meehan of Lowell. From this group of 4,300, the incoming class was whittled down to 1,200 students, including 235 women, based on scholastic and physical merit.
What inspires these men and women at so young an age to bear the responsibility of the Naval mission of developing "in mind and character to assume the highest responsibilities of command, citizenship and government," especially at a time when the Iraq war weighs heavily on the psyche of the country?
"I wouldn't have applied if I wasn't willing to serve," Aliano says. "I feel it's something I owe back. In studying other cultures I realized how great we have it."
Aliano was recruited by other schools to play baseball but chose to come to the academy.
"It says a lot about him," says Mark Grams, one of Aliano's baseball coaches in Methuen. "He could have gone anywhere he wanted; made any team he wanted. But he wanted to go the Naval Academy."
Aliano's older sister, Lorie, enlisted in the Navy and Aliano recalls watching her march in formation when he was 12 years old. "I was really impacted by their discipline," he said.
During his junior year, he took an ROTC class offered at high school and he said his interest grew until one day while driving his car he had an epiphany about what he wanted for his life after college-serving his country.
"He chose the academy because he thought it would be a good fit for him," says Aliano's father, Samuel, a retired Lawrence police captain.
It's the lifestyle attracts him, Samuel Aliano says. "There is only one club there and that's the Navy club. They are teaching him to be a member of a team and he responds to that."
His father remembers when Adam was a child, about three or four-years-old, playing in the backyard with a friend about the same age. The boys were playing near the family's pool and the cover gave way as the friend fell in the shallow end. Not strong enough to pull him out, Adam was able to grab his friend and keep his head above water until his parents pulled both children to safety moments later.
"Even as a kid he had a lot of common sense," Samuel Aliano says.
When Aliano is asked about the incident, he smiles, looks down at his hands and again shrugs. Perhaps what happened foreshadowed a desire to protect. Even when talking about the country's divide over the Iraq war, he says, "I am here to defend those people's right to express how they feel. I'm here to protect their opinions."
"He wanted to be in the big situation," says Grams, Aliano's high school coach. "He is a very fierce competitor."
But even with that responsibility, Aliano is still a kid. He jokes and laughs with his Academy classmates, such as McCain, the son of Arizona Sen. John McCain. Before the government class they rib each other and at one point Aliano gives McCain a noogie.
Even with all of his accomplishments he is self-effacing. "I am not the smartest and the most athletic kid," he says. "But I know my priorities: being happy and close to those that I love. And as a leader, someone people can confide in."
When he talks about his aspirations he lights up. Someday he wants to go into politics or law. To prepare, Aliano says he and McCain are planning to run for class office together next year - Aliano for president and McCain as his running mate. And of course, there is the dream of every kid.
"Yes, m'am. I really want to fly planes in the Navy," he says.
Walking around the Yard of the academy one gets a sense of unity, even if only from students' homogeneous attire. It is evident the student body, or the brigade as it is called, shares a collective experience and identity.
One such experience is plebe summer. From dawn until long after the day's end, the first year students, or plebes, fill their time with grueling physical activities and training that prepare them for military life. Shedding their civilian skin, they learn everything from the proper saluting technique to the basics of seamanship and handling small firearms.
The goal of the summer, explains Aliano, is to bond the newcomers together. "You put the benefit of the group before yourself," he says. "I take care of my men and I know that if there is a chance that I fail, I have the support of everyone else."
"I can try to explain what [plebe summer] was like to you or my parents" but only the participants really understand, he says.
It's true. A civilian walking around the Yard feels as though a different language is being spoken. It's a language anchored with words like commitment, honor and teamwork, and that carry life and death consequences out on the field.
"Although we all may seem the same," Aliano says, each member of the brigade's individuality is on the inside. "It's when you are alone that shapes your individual character. We are all individuals with really strong talents."
Aliano says he seeks solace in the quiet of the Academy's chapel every Sunday. And to relax, the self-taught musician strums chords on his acoustic guitar.
Another lifeline is emailing friends back home and daily calls to his mom, Maria, and his girlfriend, a freshman at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va. Without his family's encouragement, Aliano says, he "wouldn't be successful."
Although he has their support, it is not without their concern.
"Like every parent," his father says, "you worry, especially in times of war. But he says to me, 'Dad, I could be killed walking down the street.' There are always risks."
Adam Aliano wears a reminder of that risk. On his wrist is a silver bracelet engraved with the name of a soldier killed in Vietnam. He bought it, he says, to honor those who have served before him.
###
Tierney Campaign Fund Raising On Track For 2006
WASHINGTON, Nov. 2 - With nearly a million dollars in his campaign war chest, Rep. John Tierney looks ready for any kind of reelection challenge. Now all he needs is a challenger.
Although the $996,266 Tierney has in the bank, according to his campaign filings with the Federal Election Commission, is not is not an exceptionally large amount for a member of Congress, it is unusual for a candidate in a district as safe as Tierney's.
"One of the things that money does is to keep the opposition at bay," said Larry Noble, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan, non-profit group that tracks money in politics. He noted that Tierney didn't have any "serious" opposition in 2002 or 2004.
Politicians also build up huge campaign chests because "they never think they have enough, generally," Noble said.
David King, the associate director of the Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School of Government, agrees.
"It's a beating of the chest in the political jungle," King said of fundraising. He added that it might take as much as $2 million for a candidate to run a competitive campaign for congress.
So far no opponents have filed against Tierney in the 2006 race, though his spokeswoman was quick to dismiss the notion that he expected another easy reelection. "Congressman Tierney always anticipates a race each election and would in any circumstance work to ensure that he campaigns aggressively so as to connect with all potential voters," said Katie Economou, a Tierney campaign spokeswoman.
As for the size of Tierney's war chest? "With the high cost of campaigns, especially in expensive media markets, it is important to ensure that a campaign has adequate funds with which to get out the candidate's message," she said.
Candidates can also use the money can to support their party - not incidentally building their own influence. Tierney has given $25,000 so far this year to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the House Democrats' campaign vehicle. During the last two years, he donated a total of $100,006 to the committee.
Thus far for the 2006 election cycle, Tierney has raised $214,155 and spent about half of that on events and the day-to-day expenses of his campaign.
The majority of Tierney's funds come from individual contributors, which is typical for congressional candidates on both sides of the aisle, according to Larry Noble. Individuals' contributions are more numerous than contributions from political action committees, "and they should be," Noble said.
Organized labor is the congressman's biggest donor on the special interest side. Tierney has received $21,500 so far in this election cycle from political action committees of various unions, including the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the United Auto Workers, according to information compiled from FEC filings on politicalmoneyline.com and opensecrets.org.
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) also has given the congressman financial support. Tierney has received $1,000 from Kerry's political action committee.
