3/30/01 The Supremes get a facelift
The U.S. Supreme Court has something of a problem on its hands, and this time it's got nothing to do with politics or the law. Seems that the 66-year-old marble symbol of justice is just about ready to fall apart. "We are at serious risk," says Justice Anthony M. Kennedy. The problem is also bad for taxpayers. The court reported Thursday that an earlier $7 million price tag for renovating the court building has jumped to $110 million. Kennedy told a House appropriations subcommittee Thursday that the nine justices "were shocked" when the final estimate came in. Unlike the nearby Capitol, the White House, and even the Washington Monument, the Supreme Court building hasn't been updated since it was built, back in 1935. That means old cloth-wrapped wiring, rusty pipes, no sprinkler system or fire alarms. In fact, adds Alan Hantman, architect of the Capitol and the boss of all the federal buildings on Capitol Hill, it would cost $140 million to fix everything. That's not going to happen, but the good news is that Congress appears OK with the $110 million bill.
3/29/01 The way we were
Now liberals know how conservatives felt eight years ago. Nearly four months after President Bush’s election, left-leaning Democrats still can’t get over Al Gore’s loss. Some are taking steps to make Bush’s run a short one. Naturally it begins in Hollywood, this time at a fundraiser thrown by Barbra Streisand’s songwriters Marilyn and Alan Bergman ["The Way We Were"]. An E-mailed invite we intercepted screams, “How can you stop Bush?” The invitation calls for electing “radical” progressives. “I’m sure that you ... have exclaimed at least once since the election that you are swearing off the pundit shows, [are] not going to read the New York Times, and as a last resort are moving to another country, but guess what folks, the Bush nightmare is not going away.” It continues: “To the contrary, it’s actually getting closer and closer to overthrowing EVERYTHING we’ve been working for the past 30 years.” Our E-mail invite was penned by someone with something called “The Progressive PAC,” a political action committee not yet listed on the Federal Election Commission’s Web site. Can anything be read into the fundraiser’s date? April Fools' Day.
3/28/01 Reparations–before it's too late
It's been almost 60 years since the Bataan Death March, which began on April 9, 1942, and still no apology or reparations from Tokyo for the American POWs brutalized and enslaved by Japanese soldiers. That may change if the American Legion and a bipartisan collection of lawmakers get their way. A week after House leaders from both parties introduced legislation that essentially sets aside an old treaty and allows former POWs to sue Japan's World War II war machine, pressure is being brought on the Bush administration and the State Department to back the effort. Leading the charge is the Legion, which wants an apology and a payment of $20,000 per soldier. About 10,000 American prisoners died as a result of the brutality during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines. "We're suing the war machine for slave labor," survivor Frank Bigelow tells Whispers. He adds that there is an unusual urgency: Many survivors are very old. But it's unclear if the Bush administration will support the legislation that would overturn court interpretations that a 1951 peace treaty between Washington and Tokyo bans suits against Japanese firms that used slave labor. "We're trying," says Bigelow.
3/23/01 Secretary of Earth Day
It's not Monica bad, but new Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill is in a world of trouble with Republicans and conservatives who don't buy global warming. A February 27 memo from O'Neill to President Bush has been shown around town in which the money man says it's time to develop an administration policy on global warming that the prez can roll out on Earth Day. We just obtained a copy and rather than lifting a few choice quotes, we are making it available for you to judge for yourself. Just click here (PDF file).
3/22/01 It's payback time in the spy case
Washington is set to expel three or more suspected Russian spies who dealt directly with Robert Hanssen, the FBI agent arrested last month on charges of spying for Moscow. Government sources tell Whispers that the expulsion could come "at any moment" and was to occur last week but got hung up at the last minute. Who's getting the boot? The Russians who allegedly handled Hanssen. "We know who was servicing him," says a knowledgeable official. The White House has OK'd the retaliatory move. Washington is expecting Russia to pick several U.S. diplomats in Moscow to send home. The action, however, won't do much damage to Russia's intelligence-gathering abilities. Feds in charge of keeping tabs on enemy spies say that there currently are as many Russian spies in Washington as there were during the Cold War.
[Since this Whisper was posted, the State Department has announced plans to expel six Russians and is expected to show another 50 suspected spies the door.]
3/21/01 Gorby takes sail
Our side hasn’t RSVP’d yet, but former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev has agreed to chair the U.S.-Russian Presidential Gala voyage on the USS Sequoia, the old presidential yacht. Both President Bush and his dad, former Presidents Carter and Ford, and several senators are on the invite list for the April 22 voyage. Gorby will be here to launch the
Raisa Gorbachev Memorial Fund for
Leukemia Research and Treatment for
Children, named for his wife, who died
of the disease. Our sources say that
while Gorby wants to huddle with
Washington political bigs, he’s really
hopeful of meeting Vice President Dick
Cheney and swapping old stories. The
brunch voyage comes as the Sequoia
Presidential Yacht Foundation is raising
enough cash to buy the vessel from private owner Gary Silversmith. The group plans to redesignate the boat the official
presidential yacht and make it available
for use by the prez and his staff.
3/20/01 All’s well with Falwell
As Congress this week prepares to receive legislation backing President Bush’s so-called faith-based initiative to federally fund private help groups, attention turns to the faithful who oppose the plan, such as Revs. Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. Critics have had a field day citing the two conservatives as Bush foes. But now we learn that Falwell likes the Bush plan. In his own words: “I very much favor his faith-based initiatives program. I was completely misinterpreted” by the press when he listed his concerns. In fact, Falwell says in an interview, he was just echoing some of Bush’s worries. In a phone call from his Lynchburg, Va. office, he reiterated those. First, “This should not be a commercial venture, that is novices and beginners.” Second, current outreach groups should be allowed to take federal dollars while continuing to use private money in addition without any watering down of their message. Third, “I am concerned that total access must be allowed. There are religions in any generation that are considered unpopular ... everyone should be given equal access.” Finally, “No bigots should be allowed to participate. i.e., Aryan Nation, although religious, they are racists.” Asked for his view of the president’s first weeks in office, Falwell says in an interview, “I think Bush is right now batting A-plus.”
