|
2/24/06
Labor maverick does it again
It's no huge surprise that a new book edited by former Clinton White House aide Andrew Rotherham and Jane Hannaway of the Urban Institute is shining a spotlight on how the "outmoded" contracts negotiated by teachers unions often don't serve kids' interests. After all, centrist Democratic Rotherham — codirector of the new think tank Education Sector and proprietor of the irreverent blog eduwonk.com — is well known for reformist views that often put him at odds with the edu-establishment. But one of the glowing blurbs on the back cover of Collective Bargaining in Education might just raise a few eyebrows: It comes from Andrew Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union. He's the union maverick who made a high-profile break with the AFL-CIO last summer. Sure, the book being released next week is scholarly and evenhanded, but this is no pro-union book and Stern's endorsement is sure to stir up the debate over the power of teachers unions.
Here's what Andrew Stern had to say about Collective Bargaining in Education:
"It is unfathomable that, in light of recent efforts to close the student achievement gap, the body of research examining the impact of collective bargaining by teachers on public education is so scant. What are the facts and how do we find them? Hannaway and Rotherham rightly raise the issue and put forth real alternatives."
You can see the book here
2/23/06
School of Hillary–or Michael Moore
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's colorful attack on private-school vouchers this week has drawn sneers from Republicans who say she has more in common with liberal moviemaker Michael Moore than with middle Americans seeking an alternative to public schools. Newsday reported that the likely 2008 Democratic presidential candidate said that vouchers could lead to a government-funded "School of the Jihad," if radical groups seek the same kind of government cash to run their schools as Catholic or other church institutions. Here's what she said in the South Bronx, according to Newsday: "First family that comes and says 'I want to send my daughter to St. Peter's Roman Catholic School' and you say 'Great, wonderful school, here's your voucher,' " Clinton said. "Next parent that comes and says, 'I want to send my child to the school of the Church of the White Supremacist....' The parent says, 'The way that I read Genesis, Cain was marked, therefore I believe in white supremacy. ... You gave it to a Catholic parent; you gave it to a Jewish parent; under the Constitution, you can't discriminate against me.' " The foe of vouchers then said, "So what if the next parent comes and says, 'I want to send my child to the School of the Jihad?' ... I won't stand for it."
The GOP thought that was a bit much. Tracey Schmitt, Republican National Committee spokeswoman, told us: "Such inflammatory language reminds voters that Hillary Clinton has more in common with Michael Moore and Howard Dean than she does with most Americans. By taking the low road rather than engaging in a substantive debate, the junior senator from New York reveals motives that are steeped in partisanship and short on the facts."
See the original Newsday story here
2/21/06
Chicks rule for the White House
MoseMarie Boyd, CEO of American Women Presidents, is so certain a woman will be elected president in 2008 that she is urging folks to go ahead and make reservations in Washington to mark the historic occasion. To mark Presidents' Day Monday, the group endorsed Sen. Hillary Clinton and Secretary of State Condi Rice for president in 2008, and launched Madam President and the First Gentleman, two new political action committees for the 2008 presidential campaign. "I think it will be Hillary Rodham Clinton," Boyd tells our Suzi Parker. She sees Rice as more of a vice presidential nominee because of her secretary of state credentials. But she would love to see Hillary and Condi match up and leave the men of both parties on the sidelines. Boyd says shows like ABC's Commander in Chief help the country get ready for the first female prez. "We are able to see a woman as commander in chief, to see her as head of the military and engaging in international issues." And whom does Boyd see as up-and-coming potential presidential candidates beyond 2008? Democrats Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas and Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln, along with Texas GOP Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson.
Monday the group launched www.madam-president.org and www.TheFirstGentleman.org.
2/16/06
White House's Duffy says adios
White House Deputy Press Secretary Trent Duffy, who easily gave the best quotes out of the West Wing during his three years, is moving on. "My wife is pregnant, and my checkbook is not," says Duffy, 38, who has two other young children. Duffy joined the White House in January 2002 as spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget and later moved to the White House Press Office as deputy spokesman. Previously he was spokesman for the Republican National Committee and earlier at the House Ways and Means Committee, where he succeeded Ari Fleischer, the president's first press secretary. Reporters liked Duffy because he trafficked in colorful quotes, not the normal dry stuff that comes out of the press office, and was knowledgeable on tricky and technical issues like taxes and budget policy. He was also honestly blunt, as he was when he was asked about surging gasoline prices. "Reaction to the high gas prices: They're too high!" Unlike other recent Bush communications bigwigs who've left to establish public-relations firms, Duffy is expected to open a PR shop that also handles policy and government affairs issues, especially in the budget arena. He's not expected to depart from the White House until the president returns from his trip to Asia in March.
See Trent in action
2/13/06
Famous Hill hangout closing
La Colline, the French bistro favored by lobbyists, reporters, and lawmakers on Capitol Hill, is closing its doors this week. "It's time after 24-plus years," said co-owner Paul Zucconi. Perched on North Capitol Street just two blocks from Senate office buildings, it has been the restaurant of choice for fundraisers and congressional seminars for its two dozen years. "We've been in this city a long time," said Zucconi. While it is one of the restaurants whose business has been touched by the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, Zucconi said the bistro famous for its Dover sole is not being driven from operation. Instead, he simply said it's time for a change. He did tell Whispers that a new restaurant would most likely take the prime real estate, but he wouldn't hint at what it would serve. "Something will be in its place," he said. As for the Thursday closing of La Colline, Zucconi said he isn't planning a big bash. "I'm a low-key kind of guy," he said.
The Washingtonian called La Colline one of the city's 100 very best.
MSNBC's coverage of how the Abramoff scandal has hurt restaurants
2/9/06
Reagan forger tells on self
Oops. A letter touted as the scribbling of Alzheimer's-impaired Ronald Reagan and set for auction this month turns out to be a forgery. And Bill Panagopulos, president of Alexander Autographs, tells us that the forger outed himself after media pipelines, including Whispers, wrote about the unusual find. Thankfully for Alexander Autographs, the forger told all before the upcoming Internet auction of the letter by the company famed for its signatures and artifacts of important historical figures. Still, a humbled Panagopulos says, "We were gulled, plain and simple." He reveals that the forger used an original Reagan letter and scribbled in a heavy felt pen over the words to make it look real. Most auction houses would have simply withdrawn it before the auction without explaining. But Panagopulos came forward, noting: "Integrity counts in your business and in mine." Still, collectors will have lots more Reagan stuff to bid on in the upcoming online auction February 18-19.
Here's what the auction house put on its website when the forgery was revealed:
IMPORTANT NOTE: This lot has been withdrawn by us. It has been brought to our attention that this lot is built upon a rarely-seen form letter in Reagan's handwriting which was sent to those who expressed their sympathy for the ex-President's affliction. We had never seen a copy of the original form letter, nor had any of the four well-known, respected dealers who saw this letter prior to our press deadline. This forgery has been fooling collectors and dealers since its creation in 1999, and it continued to do so until we withdrew the lot. At the time of this notice, our catalog had already been received by over 2,000 customers and images of the letter had been available to millions of viewers, and nary a single complaint nor negative comment surfaced until today. As a matter of fact, it was the forger himself who alerted us to his handiwork!
This avaricious (and very crafty) forger carefully traced over the printed handwriting, intentionally adding mistakes, stricken-out words and additional text including the line at the bottom of the note. When we examined the letter the personalized salutation made it obvious that we were not dealing with a printed letter. Since the letter was traced-over, the handwriting was a very close approximation of Reagan's actual hand, with any discrepancy easily attributable to his advanced Alzheimer's. Taking the above into account, we were able to safely assume that the pre-printed text, evident in a few tiny places in the letter, was written by either a secretary or by Nancy Reagan as a guide over which the disabled ex-President could trace his own text. The forger's very heavy felt-tip pen, which Reagan tended to use himself, made it impossible for us to view the printed text which lay beneath. Despite careful examination and the obvious evidence pointing to the letter's authenticity...we were wrong. Autograph authentication is not an exacting science - sometimes all the diligence in the world is not enough to unravel the forger's handiwork.
Most if not all auction houses would simply withdraw the lot for unspecified reasons. We can't do that. We were gulled, plain and simple, but we hope that our explanation may in some way display our dedication to running the most honorable and honest autograph auction house.
2/6/06
Hunting for Huckabee
Arkansas governor and likely 2008 GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has long been in the cross hairs of many Democrats. Now he's giving them an actual target to shoot at. It's "Huck," but not the human one. Last week, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission released some ducks equipped with a radio transmitter tracking device from Bois D'Arc Lake near Hope, the boyhood home of Huckabee and former President Clinton. The commission named one of the ducks "Huck" in honor of the guv, an avid bird hunter, and set up a Web page to track the birds. Huckabee joked to our Suzi Parker that the "Satellite Mallards" program could prompt Democrats to change their antigun ways. "Having that duck [Huck] in the sky might make some Democrats forgo their contempt of firearm ownership and love of gun control, get a hunting license, and see if they can bring down that poor duck!"
Track the Arkansas mallards
2/2/06
Time to whip the Whip?
Rep. Roy Blunt's defeat Thursday in the election to replace Majority Leader Tom DeLay won't end his troubles with his fellow Republicans. Insiders said that his current post as the majority whip is in doubt. "I look for the rest of this year to be a campaign by Blunt and some others for the whip election at the end of the year," said leadership aide. The reason: To many, Blunt hasn't proven to be the most effective vote counter. Others think he's too tied to DeLay. It didn't help that Blunt was crowing for days that he'd beat Rep. John Boehner in the majority leader's race, then lost on a second ballot. "It looks real bad for a guy who a) touted his vote counting skills, and b) claimed he had the race locked up two weeks ago. The entire operation totally misplayed their hand and fell flat on their face," said a key GOP aide. Blunt's allies, however, wave off the criticism, and note that he's succeeded in pushing through tough bills like this week's budget cutting initiative. Still, he's weakened and will likely be challenged for his No. 3 post when all GOP leadership slots are put up for a vote after this year's November elections.
Whispers called the majority leader's race this week, ending a leadership story with this paragraph: "Allies of Boehner said that Blunt's support is thin and warned that the Ohio Republican could stage an upset. In fact, some key observers say that if Blunt doesn't win on the first ballot, Boehner stands a good chance on the second."
Meet Roy Blunt
Meet John Boehner
|
