This is an interesting article from today’s New York Times: “In Economic Drama, Bush is Largely Offstage.”

Given what you have learned about the presidency, how do you respond to the author’s critique?

The Supreme Court took action to limit presidential power today (March 25).

Read about it here: “Justices Rebuff Bush and World Court,” Washington Post.

And you thought Congress was boring? Guess again. Today (Valentines Day), Republican members of the House of Representatives staged an all day long protest after Speaker Pelosi refused to take action on a bill passed by the Senate which would allow surveillance of terroritsts.

Read more about the bill here: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/capitol-briefing/?hpid=topnews.

The House took additional action against the Bush Administration today, citing two key former members—Josh Bolten and Harrier Miers with contempt. Read about it here: New York Times, “House Cites 2 Bush Aides”  or listen here: NPR, ” House Votes to Hold Bush Aides in Contempt”

So who is that guy in the photo and what’s he doing on Capitol Hill this week?

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is holding another round of hearings on the use of performance enhancing drugs. This committee is the main investigative committee in the House of Representatives and is charged with oversight of federal programs.

You can watch live coverage of the hearings on C-Span: http://www.c-span.org/

and read about what’s going to happen during the committee hearing here: Washington Post, “Clemens Ready to Testify.”

Is it the job of Congress to investigate MLB?

Read/listen to Frank Deford’s commentary on NPR here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18919267 

The Supreme Court heard two important cases this week: a case on the constitutionality of lethal injections and a case on voter identification. In the first case, two men facing the death penalty in Kentucky challenged the constitutionality of their punishment, arguing that the four drug protocol used by Kentucky violated their Eighth Amendment rights. In the second case, the Democratic Party and interest groups in Indiana are challenging a 2005 state law requiring voters to show picture id before they vote in person. The plaintiffs argue that the photo id requirement places an undue burden on voters.

You can read more about these cases here:

• NPR: “Supreme Court Hears Indiana Voter Law Id Case” (1-10-08)
• NPR: “Supreme Court Seems Split Over Lethal Injection” (1-08-08)

You can hear oral argument in both cases by going here:

• Baze and Bowling v. Rees
• Crawford v. Marion County Election Board
  

You can follow the Court’s docket here: http://www.oyez.org/

According to the the Democratic staff of Congress’s Joint Economic Committee the “hidden costs” of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are costing the average family of four in the United States over $20,000. These hidden costs arise from the diversion of funds from other projects, pulling away reservists from their jobs, the rising cost of oil and gas, and other factors. There is certainly not consensus among Democrats and Republicans on these figures. To read more, click here.

To view a comparison of the cost of protecting an American soldier in World War II, Vietnam and today, click here.

In a vote that will definitely benefit our city, the House of Representatives voted to override President Bush’s veto of the Water Resources Development Act. This bill includes $3.5 billion for Louisiana.

The House vote was 361 to 54, well above the 2/3rds necessary to override a veto.

Read more about the House vote here: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/06/washington/07cnd-water.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

In other news, the Senate Judiciary Committee has voted to approve the nomination of Michael Mukasey for Attorney General. The entire Senate will vote on the nomination as early as Thursday.

Read more about the vote here: http://news.google.com/nwshp?tab=wn&hl=en&ncl=1122120806&topic=n .