Wednesday Roundup: Just Kidding

Dick Cheney wants you to know that he is actually part of the executive branch. Again. Or has been all this time. Politico says that Cheney's office is doing away with the argument, and they link it specifically(!) to Rahm Emanuel's moves to deny them executive branch funding.

We all know Rahm Emanuel doesn't kid around; as such, I was not surprised to see Steny Hoyer talking about how the threatened funding cuts for the Vice President's office could come up for a vote as soon as tomorrow. I was excited, mind you, but not surprised. They say you have to pick your battles, and it seems as if this one largely worked out for Democrats, and was something of an embarrassment for Republicans.

Another member of the executive branch also took a hit, but this one was from a Republican Senator. Richard Lugar went public with his opinions of the President's Iraq policy, and his opinion is that it isn't working. Other Republicans followed suit. We'll see if that turns into anything. I think if Congressional Republicans run riot on the immigration bill (which they may — that legislative road is a long one), it might signal the beginning of the end for any support for Bush's foreign policy.

Speaking of the immigration bill, House Republicans were in no mood to be outshined on the immigration bill by the Senate, so they decided to have their own test vote. According to the vote, the immigration bill doesn't have enough Republican support to satisfy Speaker Pelosi. More to do, more to do.

Also, it is still raining here in North Texas. Why is it still raining? This is starting to seem worse than ICESTORM 2007.

You don't often hear "New York Times," "CBS News," and "MTV" mentioned in the same breath, but this morning you will: these entities joined forces to conduct a poll on how American youth feel about various political subjects, and the results are informative, although not surprising: the American youth lean left. Now if only they would vote.

The Texas Lottery continues to have some troubles meeting jackpots, this time running short on a payout for the Texas Two Step — $60,000 short. I was surprised that the Lottery wasn't a bigger political issue in 2006; problems have been present for years, so I guess there are no guarantees of taking a closer look at where the problems come from in 2008. The AP report does point out that this was the second jackpot shortfall in a week, though, so I'm guessing this sort of thing will start drawing attention.

There was some bioweapons malfeasance at A&M last year, and all the details of that are starting to come out. A group called the Sunshine Project has reported that some cases of accidental exposure to an actual biological weapon were covered up by the University. No matter what, the CDC is in town and investigating, so I imagine someone is going to hear it.

If you're waiting on a health permit or license from the state and it is very late, there's a reason. A pipe burst at a state building and flooded an office; the unfortunate side effect of that water damage is a backlog on paperwork processing, and people that do everything from massages to tattoos can't get to work as a result. I know this isn't the most exciting political news, but hey: governance is governance.

Lastly today, a little more governance, but this time on a more divisive project: the fence is still an unpopular idea. This story from the Dallas Morning News examines some residential concerns with the proposed border fence. The concerns detailed here — mainly on trade, international relations, and the environment — are all valid. I have yet to see a really thorough vetting of the ecological impact of the fence. Pay attention to all of these reports with 2008 in mind. You'll see them again in campaign commercials.