Friday, May 25, 2007

* House of Representatives Votes

FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 425
(Democrats in roman; Republicans in italic; Independents underlined)

H R 2206 RECORDED VOTE 24-May-2007 6:45 PM
QUESTION: Concur in Senate Amendment with House Amendment No. 2
BILL TITLE: Making emergency supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2007


AyesNoesPRESNV
Democratic86140 6
Republican1942 5
Independent
TOTALS280142 11


---- AYES 280 ---

Aderholt
Akin
Alexander
Altmire
Andrews
Baca
Bachmann
Bachus
Baird
Baker
Barrett (SC)
Barrow
Bartlett (MD)
Barton (TX)
Bean
Berkley
Berry
Biggert
Bilbray
Bilirakis
Bishop (GA)
Bishop (UT)
Blackburn
Blunt
Boehner
Bonner
Bono
Boozman
Boren
Boswell
Boucher
Boustany
Boyd (FL)
Boyda (KS)
Brady (TX)
Brown (SC)
Brown-Waite, Ginny
Buchanan
Burgess
Burton (IN)
Butterfield
Buyer
Calvert
Camp (MI)
Cannon
Cantor
Capito
Cardoza
Carney
Carter
Castle
Chabot
Chandler
Clyburn
Coble
Cole (OK)
Conaway
Cooper
Costa
Cramer
Crenshaw
Cubin
Cuellar
Culberson
Davis (CA)
Davis (KY)
Davis, David
Davis, Lincoln
Davis, Tom
Deal (GA)
Dent
Diaz-Balart, L.
Diaz-Balart, M.
Dicks
Dingell
Donnelly
Doolittle
Drake
Dreier
Edwards
Ehlers
Ellsworth
Emanuel
English (PA)
Etheridge
Everett
Fallin
Feeney
Ferguson
Flake
Forbes
Fortenberry
Fossella
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Gallegly
Garrett (NJ)
Gerlach
Giffords
Gilchrest
Gillibrand
Gillmor
Gingrey
Gohmert
Gonzalez
Goode
Goodlatte
Gordon
Granger
Graves
Green, Gene
Hall (TX)
Hastert
Hastings (WA)
Hayes
Heller
Hensarling
Herger
Herseth Sandlin
Hill
Hinojosa
Hobson
Hoekstra
Holden
Hoyer
Hulshof
Hunter
Inglis (SC)
Issa
Jindal
Johnson (IL)
Johnson, Sam
Jones (NC)
Jordan
Kagen
Kanjorski
Keller
Kildee
Kind
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kingston
Kirk
Kline (MN)
Knollenberg
Kuhl (NY)
LaHood
Lamborn
Lampson
Larsen (WA)
Latham
LaTourette
Levin
Lewis (CA)
Lewis (KY)
Linder
Lipinski
LoBiondo
Lucas
Lungren, Daniel E.
Mack
Mahoney (FL)
Manzullo
Marchant
Marshall
Matheson
McCarthy (CA)
McCaul (TX)
McCotter
McCrery
McHenry
McHugh
McIntyre
McKeon
Meek (FL)
Melancon
Mica
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Miller, Gary
Mitchell
Mollohan
Moore (KS)
Moran (KS)
Murphy, Tim
Murtha
Musgrave
Myrick
Neugebauer
Nunes
Ortiz
Pearce
Pence
Peterson (MN)
Peterson (PA)
Petri
Pickering
Pitts
Platts
Poe
Pomeroy
Porter
Price (GA)
Pryce (OH)
Putnam
Radanovich
Rahall
Ramstad
Regula
Rehberg
Reichert
Renzi
Reyes
Reynolds
Rodriguez
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Ross
Royce
Ruppersberger
Ryan (WI)
Salazar
Sali
Saxton
Schmidt
Schwartz
Scott (GA)
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Sestak
Shadegg
Shays
Shimkus
Shuler
Shuster
Simpson
Skelton
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Snyder
Souder
Space
Spratt
Stearns
Stupak
Sullivan
Tancredo
Tanner
Taylor
Terry
Thompson (MS)
Thornberry
Tiahrt
Tiberi
Turner
Udall (CO)
Upton
Visclosky
Walberg
Walden (OR)
Walsh (NY)
Walz (MN)
Wamp
Wasserman Schultz
Weldon (FL)
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Wicker
Wilson (NM)
Wilson (OH)
Wilson (SC)
Wolf
Young (AK)
Young (FL)

---- NOES 142 ---

Abercrombie
Ackerman
Allen
Arcuri
Baldwin
Becerra
Bishop (NY)
Blumenauer
Brady (PA)
Braley (IA)
Brown, Corrine
Capps
Capuano
Carnahan
Carson
Castor
Clarke
Clay
Cleaver
Cohen
Conyers
Costello
Courtney
Crowley
Cummings
Davis (AL)
Davis (IL)
DeFazio
Delahunt
DeLauro
Doggett
Doyle
Duncan
Ellison
Eshoo
Farr
Fattah
Filner
Frank (MA)
Green, Al
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Hall (NY)
Hare
Harman
Hastings (FL)
Higgins
Hinchey
Hirono
Hodes
Holt
Honda
Hooley
Inslee
Israel
Jackson (IL)
Jackson-Lee (TX)
Jefferson
Johnson (GA)
Johnson, E. B.
Kaptur
Kennedy
Kilpatrick
Klein (FL)
Kucinich
Langevin
Lantos
Larson (CT)
Lee
Loebsack
Lofgren, Zoe
Lowey
Lynch
Maloney (NY)
Markey
Matsui
McCarthy (NY)
McCollum (MN)
McDermott
McGovern
McNerney
McNulty
Meehan
Meeks (NY)
Michaud
Miller (NC)
Miller, George
Moore (WI)
Moran (VA)
Murphy (CT)
Murphy, Patrick
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal (MA)
Obey
Olver
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor
Paul
Payne
Pelosi
Perlmutter
Price (NC)
Rangel
Rothman
Roybal-Allard
Rush
Ryan (OH)
Sánchez, Linda T.
Sanchez, Loretta
Sarbanes
Schakowsky
Schiff
Scott (VA)
Serrano
Shea-Porter
Sherman
Sires
Slaughter
Smith (WA)
Solis
Stark
Sutton
Tauscher
Thompson (CA)
Tierney
Towns
Udall (NM)
Van Hollen
Velázquez
Waters
Watson
Watt
Waxman
Weiner
Welch (VT)
Wexler
Woolsey
Wu
Wynn
Yarmuth

---- NOT VOTING 11 ---

Berman
Campbell (CA)
Davis, Jo Ann
DeGette
Emerson
Engel
Jones (OH)
Lewis (GA)
McMorris Rodgers
Oberstar
Weller




House Votes

Reference back to METAXY

Thursday, May 10, 2007

* Christopher Hitchens Revisits Lou Dobbs

DOBBS: We will be back in just a moment. We will be back with best selling author Christopher Hitchens. He'll join us for his perspective on the controversy that erupted from his debate with Civil Rights Activist Al Sharpton. Mitt Romney says Sharpton's remarks about his religion are bigoted. Christopher Hitchens, live here next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: The controversy over Al Sharpton's remarks about presidential candidate Mitt Romney's election and religion emanated from a debate at the New York Public Library, held with Christopher Hitchens.

Christopher Hitchens, of course, is the author of the brand new, best-selling book, "God is Not Great". He joins us here now, and we're delighted to have his perspective on this controversy.

Good to have you here. Congratulations on how well the book is doing. I know that's what was driving this discussion with Al Sharpton. Let's take, if I may. Before we start, let's remind everybody of what Al Sharpton actually had to say. So, could we hear that again?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REV. AL SHARPTON, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: And as for the one Mormon running for office, those that really believe in God will defeat him anyway, so, don't worry about that. That's a temporary -- that's a temporary situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOBBS: What was your reaction when he said that?

CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS, AUTHOR, "GOD IS NOT GREAT": Well, I -- as you can say, he's a bit of a crowd pleaser. In fact, that's one of the best-known things about him. And he was trying to be funny.

But he was reacting to a point that I made seriously, which was, it surprises me that Governor Romney is not asked more often, nor at all, about the fact that his church was officially racist until at least 1965. It only changed its so-called revelation...

DOBBS: Right.

HITCHENS: ... that black people were of a different species, and an inferior one, when the Civil Rights Act was about to pass. And they would have been in the same position at the Mormons of Utah were when they wanted to practice polygamy before being outside the law.

DOBBS: And then Reverend Sharpton, coming back to say, as the one Mormon. Those who really believe in God will defeat him.

HITCHENS: Yes.

DOBBS: Here's what he said in his statement, when this was brought to his attention today: "In a review of the transcript of the debate at the New York Public Library with author Christopher Hitchens, clearly indicates it was Hitchens that attacked the Mormons."

He then said, in response, Mitt Romney said this, "I can only, hearing that statement, wonder whether there's not bigotry that still remains in America." An extraordinary thing for someone to say. "Extraordinarily bigoted kind of statement. I find it really quite extraordinary."

A lot of extraordinaries.

HITCHENS: There's nothing ordinary for this. And, for Governor Romney.

Well, I must say I think it's bizarre that he finds the question surprising. And there is the fact of the matter. If you remember, Senator Byrd used to have to answer a lot of questions about the fact he used to be a Ku Klux Klansman, as you know.

The Romney family is not just -- members of the Mormon Church and senior people in it. For a long time, that church was officially racist. And there were some doubts as to the sincerity of its repudiation.

DOBBS: Well, how would you -- let me ask you this. Mitt Romney...

HITCHENS: If there's any bigotry, then, well, the question remains with the governor.

DOBBS: Is there -- are you suggesting that there are sufficient bigotry to go around? Did you -- that is, from your perspective, that Mormon Church, bigotry against women; and the Catholic Church, since they cannot hold the priesthood; bigotry on the part of Al Sharpton, because of his statement about true believers...

HITCHENS: He couldn't be a member of the Society of Jesus unless you could prove you hadn't got a Jewish great-great grandfather. There are all kind of -- for me, religion and bigotry are more or less the same thing.

DOBBS: And do you believe...

HITCHENS: And there's never more so when they're attacking another faith. They really -- when you see people of faith, as in this case, the so-called Reverend Sharpton, and an elder member of the Mormon Church. I don't know if he's actually an elder. A senior member for sure. You see how the Christians love each other, don't you?

DOBBS: Well -- well, Mitt Romney did say that he sees a battle of -- a warring among religions in this country. There has become such a blurring of lines now between the separation and church and state, from the standpoint of religion in this country, once a fundamental doctrine, that this is becoming a sectarian verbal violence, at the very least.

HITCHENS: Well, I don't see any sign of, any violence in the discourse, as yet.

DOBBS: Verbal violence.

HITCHENS: Well...

DOBBS: When you start talking about bigotry. That gets to be to a pretty high level. And there's a certain righteousness. I mean, when you think about the misstatement that Al Sharpton made, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

This is a man who just a short time ago was righteously and indignantly calling, because of the misstatement by Don Imus, the radio talk show host, demanding his ouster. And here he is, and making a statement in which he's accused of bigotry.

I mean, have we gotten overly righteous in this country?

HITCHENS: Well, I certainly think the row about Imus was largely preposterous. But it can't be denied that what he said was hateful and intended to wound. And it was not a small criticism, unbelievably -- not a small criticism at all. Unbelievably unfunny. So, you know...

DOBBS: And I didn't -- nothing struck you...

HITCHENS: Well, he was trying to be funny. But this is a question of what's the most he can be saying in this case, Sharpton, I mean? He's saying, which a lot of Christians say, Mormons are not really Christians.

DOBBS: Right.

HITCHENS: They have not no right to call themselves Christian, because they are founded by this very bizarre mountebank, Joseph Smith, who claimed to have had a later revelation than that of the Bible and one that transcends that. Now that, for a believing Christian, must surely be blasphemy.

It's not for me to arbitrate. But Hugh Hewitt has written a very interesting book on this subject, as you probably know, about the possibility of a Mormon candidate. And these are questions that all Christians in the south take very seriously.

DOBBS: A lot of people take these questions seriously. I approach it as -- from a very secular standpoint. Primarily concerned about, obviously the Constitution, separation of church and state. I think many Americans view it that way.

To hear a discussion, this early, in a presidential debate, about religion, one or the other, casting aspersions, or having aspersions cast against their faith when there are so many important issues. It's truly remarkable.

HITCHENS: Yes, it's the wrong way to phrase the question. I agree. To have people of other faiths denouncing each other, saying they're not really a believer, because in my book, all faiths are essentially the same. They all rely on an affirmation of something that can't be proven.

It's interesting, is it not, how much the religious people don't like one another and how many wars have been fought, not between atheists and believers, but between believers and believers.

DOBBS: And it looks like we're just getting warmed up during this presidential season, where religion is going to play a role, depending on your perspective. From mine, a very unfortunate role. I think perhaps, from yours, how would your characterize...

HITCHENS: My subtitle is that religion poisons things. And I think this is a very good case for saying so.

DOBBS: And before that subtitle comes the title of Christopher Hitchens' best-selling new book, "God is Not Great". Good to have you here.

HITCHENS: Very nice to of you to have me back.

CNN Transcripts, May 9, 2007

Friday, May 4, 2007

* Lou Dobbs Interviews Christopher Hitchens

DOBBS: Author Christopher Hitchens says it's well past time for regime change in Iraq. Hitchens says that Saddam Hussein has been pushing this current confrontation for a mere 12 years.

Christopher Hitchens is, of course, "Vanity Fair's" columnist, an extraordinary writer and journalistic talent, author. And joins us tonight from our studios in Los Angeles. Good to have you with us.

CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS, "VANITY FAIR:" Nice to be here.

DOBBS: The United Nations Security Council making a decision just moments ago there will be no vote on a second resolution on Iraq this week. Your reaction?

HITCHENS: Well, those of us who take the regime change position, as it's become known, have held it for a very, very long time. And so really the way the argument's become muddied by certain kinds of diplomacy and especially by calls for more time is time wasting, from our point of view.

To the independent observer, it must be more extraordinary that Saddam Hussein has been in breach of all known resolutions, and much besides, for 12 years and that he's now being told it's time to decide.

So people who say this is a rush to war or a drum beat or a drive are simply abolishing the history of this question, which is that Mr. Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, refused all diplomatic overtures to give him an easy exit, blew up the Kuwaiti oil fields while he was leaving them behind under a truce, which shows he doesn't understand rationality or diplomacy or containment, and has a tremendous thirst for the weapons of genocide to pursue the policy of ethnocide that he's already been able to successfully, I'm sad to say, been allowed to get away with in Kyrgyzstan.

Who wants more time for him? More time means he could join the club that Kim Jong-Il of North Korea now belongs to, the club of those who have deterrent force. And Mr. Kim Jong-Il got there with the help of Mr. Hans Blix, I might remind you.

DOBBS: Let me...

HITCHENS: ... who certified him, inspected him, gave him more time, and said he was in compliance. Anyone who believes this kind of thing, is just advertising their willingness to believe anything.

DOBBS: Well, as you said, they are advertising their belief and their opinion. The critics of the Bush administration and the British government on this issue say there's been -- on the part of this administration, certainly too much of an attempted connection between September 11, the war against terror, and Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

How do you respond to those critics?

HITCHENS: A few years ago, the name Abu Adal (ph), I'm sure you'll remember, was almost as well-known as Osama bin Laden. The pseudonym for international gangsterism. Abu Adal (ph) had blown up, if you'll recall, Rome airport, Vienna airport, had assassinated four or five very important Palestinian democrats, had murdered the Israeli ambassadors to London, which helped provoke the war in Lebanon. He was the so-called terror master. I went to interview him, and I think I'm the only journalist around except for Jim Hogan of the "Washington Post" who's had that experience. Well, it wasn't hard to find him. He had telephone number and a villa in Baghdad, as all people like him have always had had there.

If, by any chance, it's the case that the Iraqi party is not supporting or doesn't have a secret understanding with al Qaeda, it would be the first time they hadn't tried that.

And if that is the case, then it would be surprising to find -- or rather unsurprising to find that so many of the al Qaeda refugees in Afghanistan have shown up in Baghdad -- This is important, by the way, Mr. Dobbs -- not before September 11, but after.

In other words, here's a regime that will give them safe hiding places, hospitals, treatment, and safe corner after their attacks on -- not on America, I should add, but on the civilized world, on September 11.

This is a regime that lives on its partnership with and boasts of its partnership with the suicide bombers in Palestine, with every other gangster in the region. Those who say there's no terror connection simply don't know what they're talking about.

DOBBS: And amongst those who are obviously asserting that case are, in particular, the French, who have been helpful in a war against terror. Not helpful to this administration in pursuing an Iraqi policy.

The French position, the German position, that of the Belgians, adamantly opposed to support of the U.S. resolution...

HITCHENS: Not of the U.S. resolution, if I may say so. I mean, Chancellor Schroeder, for example, was helpful enough to say some weeks ago he didn't mind how the U.N. voted. It would make no difference to his policy or that of Germany. His policy wouldn't change whatever the vote was. Mr. Chirac has said the same thing.

I think that should be better understood than it is. These are the true unilateralists, if you like, especially the French. It's also true, as your previous segment helpfully pointed out, that the French policy is the oil-driven one. The French policy is the one that is individual and won't allow any other countries to mandate it or even shape its policy.

DOBBS: Is it your...

HITCHEN: There are elements of President Bush's presentation that I must admit alarm me.

When he says al Qaeda is attacking America, it seems to me stupid. The al Qaeda forces surely, as the Iraqi Ba'ath party, are common enemies of any civilized country or society. It's not an attack on America, it's unilateralist to say so. But of the two unilateralisms, the French is the most selfish and the most colonial and the most -- after all, the French invade Africa every day of the year without asking for anyone's permission. They let off nuclear weapons in the Pacific in the atmosphere without asking for permission.

The French position is the more dangerous, the more sinister, and the more colonial one.

DOBBS: And likely to change? In a few seconds we have remaining.

HITCHENS: And morally different, I would say. For one reason, really, most of us came to this argument this way.

One policy keeps Saddam Hussein in power and asks for that regime to have its life prolonged. What morally serious person can say this national socialist, aggressive genocidal regime should have a longer life and not a shorter one?

In the end, the United States policy, after making many mistakes and blunders, has come out at least morally on the right side. And the French are with Saddam Hussein. They'll have to live with that.

DOBBS: Christopher Hitchens, "Vanity Fair," thank you very much for being with us. Come back soon.

HITCHENS: Thanks for having me.

CNN Transcripts, May 3, 2007

Thursday, May 3, 2007

* Time 100: The Complete 2007 List

Leaders & Revolutionaries

King Abdullah, Saudi Arabia
Peter Akinola, archbishiop, Nigeria
Mohamed Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir, president, Sudan
Osama bin Laden
Michael Bloomberg, mayor, New York City
Raul Castro, acting president, Cuba
Hillary Clinton, U.S. senator from New York
Queen Elizabeth II, United Kingdom
Sonia Gandhi, chair, Indian National Congress Party
Hu Jintao, president, China
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader, Iran
Liu Qi, chief, Beijing Olympic Committee
Tzipi Livni, foreign minister, Israel
Angela Merkel, chancellor, Germany
Barack Obama, U.S. senator from Illinois
Nancy Pelosi, speaker, U.S. House of Representatives
David Petraeus, commanding general, U.S. Army
Pope Benedict XVI
Condoleezza Rice, U.S. secretary of state
John Roberts, Chief Justice, U.S. Supreme Court
Arnold Schwarzenegger, governor, California

Builders & Titans

Bernard Arnault, French businessman
Richard Branson, ceo, Virgin
Rhonda Byrne, author, The Secret
Steve Chen & Chad Hurley, founders, YouTube
Steve Cohen, hedge fund manager
Clare Furse, chief executive, London Stock Exchange
Ho Ching, chief executive, Temasek
Steve Jobs, founder and ceo, Apple
Ken Lewis, ceo, Bank of America
Erik Lie, finance professor, University of Iowa
Pony Ma, founder and ceo, Tencent
Lakshmi Mittal, ceo, Arcelor Steel
Shigeru Miyamoto, game designer, Nintendo
Michael Moritz, investor, Sequoia Capital
Indra Nooyi, ceo, PepsiCo
Cyril Ramaphosa, South African union leader
Philip Rosedale, founder, Second Life
Stephen Schwarzman, ceo, Blackstone Group
Katsuaki Watanabe, president and ceo, Toyota

Artists & Entertainers

Cate Blanchett, actress
Sacha Baron Cohen, actor
Leonardo DiCaprio, actor
Alber Elbaz, creative director, Lanvin
America Ferrera, actress
Tina Fey, actress and writer
Simon Fuller, creator, American Idol
Brian Grazer, producer
John Mayer, musician
David Mitchell, author
Kate Moss, fashion model
Yossou N'Dour, musician
Anna Netrebko, opera singer
Rosie O'Donnell, comedian and talk show host
Brad Pitt, actor
Shonda Rhimes, actress and writer
Nora Roberts, romance novelist
Rick Rubin, music producer
Martin Scorsese, director
Justin Timberlake, musician
Kara Walker, artist
Brian Williams, anchor, NBC Nightly News

Scientists & Thinkers

Paul Allen, scientific philanthropist and co-founder, Microsoft
Chris Anderson, author, Long Tail
Elizabeth Blackburn, researcher, UCSF
Richard Dawkins, evolutionary biologist, Oxford University
Frans de Waal, chimpanzee researcher
Al Gore, environmental activist and former U.S. vice president
Monty Jones, agricultural researcher
John Mather, Nobel Prize-winning astrophysicist
Douglas Melton, stem cell researcher, Harvard University
Steven Nissen, cardiac researcher, The Cleveland Clinic
T.C. Onstatt, geoscientist, Princeton University
Svante Paabo, paleogeneticist, Max Planck Institute
Lisa Randall, string theorist, Harvard University
Klaus Schwab, founder, World Economic Forum
Kari Stefansson, genomics researcher
Alan Stern, planetary scientist, NASA
Neil DeGrasse Tyson, director, Hayden Planetarium
Craig Venter, founder, Institute for Genomic Research
Nora Volkow, director, National Institute on Drug Abuse

Heroes & Pioneers

Maher Arar, rendition survivor
Wesley Autrey, New York City subway hero
Tyra Banks, talk show host and model
Warren Buffett, businessman and philanthropist
Youk Chhang, executive director, Documentation Center of Cambodia
George Clooney, actor, director and activist
Tony Dungy, coach, Indianapolis Colts
Elizabeth Edwards, cancer activist
Drew Gilpin Faust, newly appointed president, Harvard University
Roger Federer, tennis star
Michael J. Fox, actor and stem cell advocate
Timothy Gittins, decorated U.S. soldier
Thiery Henry, French soccer star
Garry Kasparov, Russian chessmaster
Amr Khaled, Egyptian televangelist
Judith McKay, anti-tobacco activist, World Health Organization
Chien-ming Wang, pitcher, New York Yankees
Oprah Winfrey, talk show host and philanthropist
Zeng Jinyan, Chinese blogger

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