2/28/02 Open government ain't cheap
Even as the Bush administration calls for tighter controls on the Freedom of Information Act, America's love affair with the open-government law has reached a new high. A new report by the Justice Department says that for the first time FOIA requests topped the 2 million mark, reaching a record 2.4 million last year, reports our David E. Kaplan. The 36-year-old act, a mainstay of good-government types, is widely used by business, the media, and public-interest groups. But popularity has its price. Getting those documents ready for release cost $253 million, another record.
2/26/02 In with the old
They don’t come off as the hippest guys in town, but Vice President Dick Cheney and Office of Management and Budget Director Mitch Daniels are getting Webby. The duo on Wednesday plan to launch the newest version of FirstGov, the government’s all-in-one store for citizens. The updated site, http://www.firstgov.gov/, goes live at 1:30 p.m. What’s more, Daniels plans to release his report on which federal agencies–and there aren’t many–are Web savvy. He’ll also detail new E-government initiatives to get Washington into the Internet economy. In fact, check out Daniels's letter to us about his report card on federal agencies, graded with a red, green, and yellow light. Only one agency, the National Science Foundation, got the green.
2/21/02 Why wait, says Senator Kerry
Some call him the thinking man's candidate, so it shouldn't surprise anyone that Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry is smart enough to figure out that he'll need lots of time and money to push his way past the Gores and Gephardts of the political world to get the chance to take on President Bush in 2004. That's why he's jumping the gun and starting his campaign this spring. First up: New Hampshire, home to the first primary in the nation. Al Gore should take the state in a walk, but Kerry's Mr. Clean ethics, heroic Vietnam War record, environmental advocacy, and Bay State roots give him an edge. Yankee Democrats reveal that he's winning the attention of Granite State Dems. We hear that Gov. Jeanne Shaheen has recorded a phone message that will go out next week to 9,000 Democratic activists in New Hampshire encouraging them to attend the state party's "100 Club" dinner fundraiser March 2, keynoted by Kerry. What's more, a Kerry automated phone message will go out to the same group of activists. Kerry is not taking New Hampshire for granted, and he's working aggressively to demonstrate that he's more than a prolific fundraiser–he's got a message and a vision that appeal to grass-roots Democrats. Just last month, when Kerry agreed to speak, state party chair Kathy Sullivan said, "Senator Kerry is a leading force in the national Democratic Party, and we are thankful for his friendship and dedication to New Hampshire Democrats." And if you're wondering, yes, this is a must for likely presidential candidates. Past speakers have included Gore and Bill Bradley.
2/19/02 The Winter Olympics edge
Despite the fact that Olympic spectators are being forced to wait up to two hours in lines to have their bags checked, wallets searched, and cellphones activated all in the name of security, it is perfectly OK to come to the games packing a knife, reports our Betsy Streisand. That is, provided the blade is not serrated, does not lock into place and is less than roughly three inches long. Just put it in the little plastic bin with your keys and loose change and the security folks will cheerfully pass it along as you go through the metal detectors. "We have certain protocols and certain knives fall within those protocols," says Jim Mackin, a spokesman for the U.S. Secret Service, which is overseeing security for the games. Of course, there are exceptions. When President Bush was in town for opening ceremonies, all knives were banned.
2/8/02 The Alaska oil 'Sting'
The last time Paul Newman and Robert Redford teamed up, they made an Oscar-winning movie. Now they're together to fight oil and gas drilling in Alaska. Redford, a board member of the Natural Resources Defense Council, has been in the trenches for years, but Newman just signed up, pitching for the group Environmental Defense. Says Newman, "Many of our elected leaders (including President Bush) have said our country must be less reliant on the flow of oil from unstable areas, and we agree. That's just common sense." But Newman strongly disagrees that the only alternative is to drill for oil in the nation's wilderness areas: "This would do nothing to decrease our nation's dependence on oil. The most effective way to achieve greater security is to use less oil, period. That's common sense, too."
2/6/02 Clinton blocked freeze on funds
In December, after nine years of surveillance, federal agents shut down the Holy Land Foundation and froze its assets. Holy Land calls itself the nation's largest Muslim charity, but U.S. officials say its funds went to Hamas, the Palestinian group with a long record of terrorism. Why, then, wasn't Holy Land shut down earlier? FBI veterans tell our David E. Kaplan that they were ready to move on the group back in 1997 but were stopped by top officials at Justice and the Clinton White House. "They didn't want to come off as Muslim bashers," says a source close to the investigation.
2/5/02 The pit bulls are back
The group that brought us Troopergate and other Clinton gems that fed an unending hunger by conservatives is returning with a new online magazine. American Prowler is billed as "a successor of sorts to the old American Spectator Online that suspended publication last summer in conjunction with changes at The American Spectator magazine," says its Web site that just went live Monday. It's run by Spectator Editor, R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr., who's also chairman of something called the American Alternative Foundation. Look for the old Spectator's hard, right-leaning edge and view on the news, and a return of the old tough-guy columnists like Jed Babbin, the wackiness of writers like Ben Stein, and features like "The Daily Grind" and the "Enemy of the Week."
2/1/02 Just ducky in Little Rock
They're quacking for Bill Clinton in Little Rock. Just yesterday, the latest hotel in the Peabody Hotel Group, famous for its lobby "duck parade" to the swimming pool, opened in Little Rock, Ark. Peabody's chairman, Marty Belz, tells us it landed there because the firm expects lots of business from Clinton's library and museum. Company officials say they already have received an array of international inquiries about the hotel and its proximity to the library. Peabody spent $33 million renovating the Excelsior Hotel in Little Rock, and ducks are promised. No coincidence that Skip Rutherford, president of the Clinton Library Foundation, was the master of ceremonies at the ribbon cutting.
