Tuesday Roundup

Commentary will be short today as the workload piled up. But on to the News:

Success in Iraq: Via CQ
Lieberman Says Iraq Going Well As Army Continues Growth
Despite the recent shrieks of hysteria coming from the Democratic caucus in Congress, one of their most respected members says that the American-led Coalition has Iraq in "pretty good shape" and expects that troop drawdowns can begin late next year or early 2007 as long as progress continues. Senator Joe Lieberman took the opportunity to actually travel through Iraq, and his recommendation follows the administration's plan to key troop withdrawals based on the buildup of the Iraqi army, and not on calendar due dates as suggested by Joe Biden last week:
full story here

Refining politics, By Greg Pierce

"After Hurricane Katrina temporarily knocked out 30 percent of America's oil refinery capacity and caused gasoline prices to spike, it became dramatically obvious that the nation needed to build more refineries away from the vulnerable Gulf Coast." John Fund writes at www.opinion journal.com. "But when a bill to streamline the permitting process and provide incentives to build refineries on closed military bases was headed for the Senate floor, Sen. Lincoln Chafee [Rhode Island Republican] joined with every Democrat on the Senate Environment Committee and blocked the bill," Mr Fund said. "Mr. Chafee says he opposed the bill only because it lacked provisions to develop alternative fuels and raise fuel-economy standards, although he offered no amendments to that effect. But even if conservation takes center stage in the future, existing energy sources must be expanded now before the economy's health is jeopardized. A just published report by the New England Energy Alliance warns that 'energy shortages could be acute soon -- by 2010 at the latest' if policy-makers in the region don't act aggressively. "Unfortunately, Mr. Chafee and other senators appear more concerned about fending off the aggressive criticism of the green lobby. Mr. Chafee's spokesman noted there is strong local opposition in Rhode Island to using two shuttered military bases to add refinery capacity. "Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, chairman of the Environment Committee, says he personally urged Mr. Chafee to back his bill, noting that the nation hasn't built a new refinery since 1976. 'He sweats a lot,' Mr. Inhofe told Human Events, referring to his fellow Republican's re-election battle next year. 'He said, "I just can't do that. I have to win that election. Right now, I have a perfect record with the environmentalists."?' "Mr. Inhofe then approached some committee Democrats who he knew were under pressure from home-state businesses to vote for the bill. They rebuffed him too. Noting that a House-passed bill to streamline refinery permitting also failed to get even one Democratic vote, Mr. Inhofe concludes the nation's refinery policy is now being held hostage to partisan politics. 'In the next election, high gas prices will be one of the Democrats' big campaign issues.'"
Greg's link here

TED RALL IS THE SCUM OF THE EARTH - NO OTHER COMMENT NECESSARY

CALIFORNIA'S CARNAGE:

Poll: Reiner, Beatty are Well-Known, But Not Well-LikedThe Associated PressPublished:

November 22, 2005 SACRAMENTO—Director Rob Reiner and actor Warren Beatty already are well-known to California voters if either decides to run for governor next year.
Their problem: they’re not particularly well-liked.
http://www.sacunion.com/pages/state_capitol/articles/6930/

LA TIMES EDITORIAL Death and Taxes: Is there something wrong with this debate?

The Bush tax panel has also taken aim at states such as New York and California with its proposal to cap the deduction for mortgage interest. The $411,704 cap is well below California's median price, $568,890, for a single-family home. Around New York City, the cap would also be well below housing costs for middle-class families. But Texans purchasing a median-priced house would still be able to deduct all their mortgage interest. That's unfair. http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-rangelangelides29nov29,0,4809867.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions

WMD Story (HT Captians Quarters)
http://airforcefamily.blogspot.com/2005/11/lies-my-congressman-told-me-special-by.html
I just started to read this one and it looks interesting.

Women learning outdoor skills
http://www.latimes.com/travel/outdoors/la-os-bow22nov22,0,5530411.story?coll=la-home-outdoors We "fellers" gotta git out more or were gonna git shot. :)