5/28/03
Commerce's Evans pivots to foreign policy
Commerce Secretary Don Evans, his domestic profile raised significantly by his efforts to win passage of the Bush jobs and tax-cut program, is now going worldwide. Insiders say he's been tapped by Secretary of State Colin Powell to fly to Seoul this weekend to present the U.S. plan to fight international corruption. Powell was slated to attend the Global Forum on Fighting Corruption and Safeguarding Integrity but asked Evans to fill in for him.
Excerpts of his speech provided to Whispers show that Evans will urge nations to create a "no safe haven policy" when it comes to tracking down corrupt foreign officials.
"Officials who betray their countries by engaging in corrupt practices," he's to say, "should not find safe haven elsewhere in the world."
Tying the Bush policy against corruption it to increased security procedures in the United States following the 9/11 attacks, Evans says Washington is leading by example. His speech text says: "Those who steal and defraud their own countries will not be welcome in the United States. We will, and we have, denied entry to corrupt officials as appropriate under existing law. If they bring their money here, we will seize it. We will assist countries in recovering stolen funds that rightfully belong to them. We are sending a clear message: You and your money cannot hide. You will be found. And you will be sent home."
5/22/03
Prez Bad Boy Combs
Rap king and urban culture inventor Sean "P. Diddy" Combs is taking his political-laced roadshow to at least five cities this summer, prompting a few supporters to suggest that he's serious about forcing Washington to pay attention to his followers. On the face of it, the "Bad Boy Weekends" will showcase his music, his Bad Boy Entertainment stars, and clothing. But look for him also to highlight his agenda of pushing the nation's leaders to take note of city kids and suburban youth who are eating up the "urban culture" of music, style, and even politics he's credited with creating. His inner circle has hinted to Whispers that Combs seeks a political career, maybe in the Senate, built on the support of his Bad Boy fans. The weekend fests in Detroit, Atlanta, Washington, Miami, and Chicago feature an opening night "invasion party," ball, and celebrity basketball game.
Check out his firm:
http://www.blueflamemarketing.com/kick_it.html
5/21/03
OMB's Daniels sees economic rainbow
Departing Office of Management and Budget Director Mitch Daniels says he's leaving to pursue a gubernatorial bid in Indiana on a high note, despite huge deficits and economic stagnation. "I feel reasonably at peace about this," he tells Whispers in an exit interview. "The work's not done, but then it will never be."
What makes him so happy? Daniels has played a key role in changing how the government runs, making it more like a business, and curbing the historic practice of funding programs even if they don't work just because Congress likes them. And he's especially proud of putting the Pentagon on a steady growth path instead of the typical "boom and bust, surge and purge" trend. He also helped the president win his first tax cut and now his second tax cut and jobs program. And Daniels says the deficits, while high, should start coming down next year as an expected economic revival results in greater government revenue. "I'd like to be here next year when it's coming down," he said of the deficit.
Daniels hasn't announced his bid for governor of Indiana and said he won't talk about it until he officially leaves next month. Daniels, a former Reagan administration political director and veep of Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly & Co., did tease us by saying he will have an announcement after he leaves. Insiders say he's running. Bet on it.
But his political future wasn't the main factor in packing it up. Leaving now, he said, is driven mostly because he's weary of traveling on most weekends between Washington and his Indiana home, where his wife and four daughters live. "It indicates that commuting [home to Indiana on weekends] is hard. Two and a half years of separation from the five Daniels women for long stretches was a big, big factor to it."
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