Liz Cheney open to political run

The daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney said Monday that running for political office is on her horizon.

“It’s something I very well may do,” said Elizabeth “Liz” Cheney, a lawyer and State Department appointee who has worked on two Republican presidential campaigns.

Ms. Cheney, 44, has emerged as one of the strongest defenders of the effectiveness and legality of Bush-Cheney policies on enhanced interrogation methods. More recently, she and her father have become two of the most outspoken critics of President Obama’s position on terrorism and other national security issues, which has led Republicans to consider her a strong candidate for national political office.

Ms. Cheney told The Washington Times’ “America’s Morning News” that recent new reports that her father ordered the CIA to hide information from Congress and that a government probe could follow appears like political cover for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats who have accused agency Director Leon Panetta of lying.

“It gets more and more appalling every day,” she said. “I think they’re very worried about Speaker Pelosi.”

Regina Benjamin, Obama’s Pick For Surgeon General

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama turned to the Deep South for the next surgeon general, choosing a rural Alabama family physician who made headlines with fierce determination to rebuild her nonprofit medical clinic in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Dr. Regina Benjamin is known along Alabama’s impoverished Gulf Coast as a country doctor who makes house calls and doesn’t turn away patients who can’t pay _ even as she’s had to find the money to rebuild a clinic repeatedly destroyed by hurricanes and once even fire.

“For all the tremendous obstacles that she has overcome, Regina Benjamin also represents what’s best about health care in America, doctors and nurses who give and care and sacrifice for the sake of their patients,” Obama said Monday in introducing his choice for a job known as America’s doctor.

He said Benjamin will bring insight as his administration struggles to revamp the health care system:

Saying she “has seen in a very personal way what is broken about our health care system,” Obama said Benjamin will bring important insight as his administration tries to revamp that system.

Benjamin called the job “a physician’s dream,” and pledged to be a voice for patients in need _ and to fight the preventable diseases that claim too many lives each year, including nearly her entire family.

Her father died with diabetes and high blood pressure, her only brother of HIV, her mother of lung cancer “because as a young girl, she wanted to smoke just like her twin brother could” _ an uncle now on oxygen as a result, she noted.

Israel Block Aid to Gaza

US Senate passes detainee photo bill

Senate passes detainee photo bill

Bill sponsor Lindsey Grapham says it will help protect American troops

By JAMES ROSEN – jrosen@mcclatchydc.com

WASHINGTON – Sen. Lindsey Graham urged the House on Thursday to follow the Senate in passing his bill prohibiting the release of classified photos showing abuse and humiliation of terror suspects held by the United States.

The Senate unanimously approved the Graham measure, co-sponsored by Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman, late Wednesday

“They’re embarrassing, they’re inappropriate and they would be used by our enemies to put our troops in jeopardy,” Graham said of the photos.

Graham, R-S.C., said the photos were similar to those of Iraqi detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison, which caused an international uproar when they were released in 2004.

“Passing this bill is essential to protecting our fighting men and women,” Graham and Lieberman said Thursday in a joint statement. “Each one of these photos would be tantamount to a death sentence to those serving our nation in the most dangerous and difficult spots like Iran, Afghanistan and elsewhere.”

Obama initially supported releasing the photos – most of which Graham said depict detainees being held at U.S. prisons in Afghanistan – but changed course last month.

The Senate passed the Graham-Lieberman legislation banning the photos’ release as a stand-alone bill after Rahm Emanuel, White House chief of staff, called Graham earlier Wednesday and asked him to stop blocking a broader war spending measure.

Graham had vowed to filibuster that $106 million supplemental appropriations bill for Iraq and Afghanistan and hold up other Senate bills after the House Democratic leadership removed a Graham-Lieberman amendment barring release of the detainee photos.

The Graham-Lieberman amendment and a separate provision providing $1 billion to the auto industry had delayed passage of the war spending bill for days.

Graham said Obama promised to issue an executive order if necessary to ensure the controversial photos weren’t released.

Graham and Lieberman agreed to remove the photo-release ban from the war-spending bill and to offer it as free-standing legislation, which the Senate approved by voice vote Wednesday evening.

Free of the detainee-photo issue, the Senate on Thursday passed the war spending bill by a 91-5 vote.

Graham voted for the $106 million measure, while Sen. Jim DeMint voted against it.

DeMint’s aides said he opposed the bill because it contains “a 108 billion IMF bailout” and the $1 billion to help automakers.

“It is wrong to use our troops as an excuse to force through runaway spending and bad policies,” DeMint said.

The measure provides only $5 billion in direct funding to the International Monetary Fund, as part of a credit line that could go higher.

The Graham-Lieberman bill prohibits the release of the detainee photos for three years, with the defense secretary or the president authorized to extend the ban an additional three years.

Graham said a bill passed by Congress and signed by the president would carry more weight than an executive order.

Graham said Speaker Nancy Pelosi must overcome resistance from Rep. Barney Frank and other Democrats for his measure to pass in the House.

James Rosen covers Washington for McClatchy newspapers in South Carolina.

Senate confirms Tenenbaum

Saturday, Jun. 20, 2009

Senate confirms Tenenbaum

Former S.C. schools chief will lead Consumer Product Safety Commission

By JAMES ROSEN – jrosen@mcclatchydc.com

WASHINGTON – The Senate on Friday unanimously confirmed Inez Tenenbaum as chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission in unusually swift action on a top nominee of President Barack Obama.

Tenenbaum, in her first public comments since Obama chose her last month, said her first major task will be overseeing implementation of a sweeping consumer-safety law Congress passed last year.

“I’m looking forward to being the consumer advocate for the people and for the children of the United States,” she said in an interview shortly after the Senate voice vote.

• Inez Tenenbaum

About the newly confirmed head of Consumer Product Safety Commission

Age: 58

Family: Husband, Sam Tenenbaum

Education: Bachelor’s degree, University of Georgia; law degree, University of South Carolina

Professional experience: Attorney, McNair Law Firm; attorney, Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd (1986-92)

Political experience: S.C. superintendent of education, 1998-2006; ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 1994 and for U.S. Senate in 2004

The CPSC

About the Consumer Product Safety Commission

Headquarters: Agency operates out of Bethesda, Md., and has 430 employees

Duties: Oversees safety of 15,000 products, from toys and cribs to ATVs and toasters, focusing on products that pose fire, electrical, chemical or mechanical hazard or can injure children

Authority: Can compel manufacturers to recall products that pose serious risk of injury or death

Outlook: President Obama is seeking $107 million for the agency in 2009-10 fiscal year, 3.4 percent more than current funding.

On deck

President Barack Obama has tapped two more appointees with South Carolina ties who must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Mignon Clyburn, Federal Communications Commission

Clyburn, of Charleston, is a member of the state’s Public Service Commission. She is the daughter of U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, a Columbia Democrat. If confirmed, Mignon Clyburn will be one of the commissioners of the federal agency that regulates mass media such as television and radio.

Charles Bolden, NASA

Bolden, a Columbia native and former astronaut who now lives in Houston, has been nominated to head the nation’s space agency. If confirmed, Bolden will be in charge of the $18 billion agency.

U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, who defeated the then-South Carolina public schools superintendent in their 2004 U.S. Senate race, congratulated Tenenbaum.

“I’m confident she has the determination and skills to lead this important commission,” DeMint said. “I look forward to working with her to ensure our nation continues to have the safest products in the world.”

DeMint, a Greenville Republican, had introduced Tenenbaum to other members of the Senate Commerce Committee at her confirmation hearing Tuesday.

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Seneca Republican, also applauded Tenenbaum.

“I know Inez and am confident she will hit the ground running,” Graham said. “She will look out for American consumers and provide the agency with the leadership it needs.”

Congressional and Obama administration sources said Tenenbaum could be sworn into office as early as next week to take the helm of a demoralized agency that saw its staff and budget cut under President George W. Bush.

Tenenbaum, 58, said Obama or Vice President Joe Biden likely would swear her into the post, which carries an annual salary of about $149,000.

Reached at the weekend – and eventual retirement – home she and her husband, Sam, have near Caesars Head State Park in the Upstate, Tenenbaum said she planned to leave for Washington early Monday to shop for furniture for her new home outside the nation’s capital.

The Senate confirmed Tenenbaum in near-record time, approving her scarcely a week after getting her formal nomination papers.

Among 166 Obama administration nominees to date that require Senate confirmation, only three others have been affirmed as quickly, congressional and Obama administration sources said.

“There are a great number of challenges facing the Consumer Product Safety Commission, but the good thing is that Congress voted last year to revitalize the agency in light of the surge of imports and the fact that we live in a global economy,” Tenenbaum said.

Two-thirds of the products the commission regulates come from overseas, most of them from China.

China’s communist government has drawn the ire of consumer advocates because of health and safety problems caused by toys with lead paint, defective drywall and other products.

“One of the important challenges is to address the issue of Chinese drywall to determine what it is that’s corroding electrical wiring within the walls and also causing considerable respiratory problems to people who live in homes that use the drywall,” Tenenbaum said Friday.

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 requires tracking labels for all children’s toys and third-party certification of imported goods.

Rosen covers Washington for McClatchy Newspapers in South Carolina.

South Carolina Governor, missing since Thursday, reportedly located

Monday, Jun. 22, 2009

Sanford, missing since Thursday, reportedly located

By John O’Connor and Clif LeBlanc

The whereabouts of Gov. Mark Sanford was unknown for nearly four days, and some state leaders question who was in charge of the executive office.

But Sanford’s office told the lieutenant governor’s office Monday afternoon that Sanford has been reached and he is fine, said Frank Adams, head of Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer’s office on aging.

Neither the governor’s office nor the State Law Enforcement Division, which provides security for governors, had been able to reach Sanford after he left the mansion Thursday in a black SLED Suburban SUV, said Sen. Jake Knotts and three others familiar with the situation but declined to be identified.

Sanford’s last known whereabouts had been near Atlanta because a mobile telephone tower picked up a signal from his phone, authorities said. His office now knows where he is, Adams said.

First lady Jenny Sanford told The Associated Press earlier Monday her husband has been gone for several days and she did not know where.

She said she was not concerned.

The governor’s state and personal phones had been turned off and he had not responded to phone or text messages since at least the weekend, a source familiar with the situation said.

Most mobile phones cannot be tracked if they are turned off.

Jenny Sanford said the governor said he needed time away from their children to write something.

The governor’s office issued a statement Monday afternoon: “Gov. Sanford is taking some time away from the office this week to recharge after the stimulus battle and the legislative session, and to work on a couple of projects that have fallen by the wayside. We are not going to discuss the specifics of his travel arrangements or his security arrangements.”

One official familiar with the situation said there was no indication that foul play might have been involved because Sanford occasionally makes trips without his security detail.

Knotts, a longtime Sanford critic, said he contacted SLED Chief Reggie Lloyd Saturday after he heard reports the governor could not be reached.

“Chief Lloyd confirmed that my information is legitimate,” Knotts said. “He shared my concerns” about succession of power in Sanford’s absence, the Lexington Republican said. Lloyd could not be reached immediately on Monday.

“I was recently made aware that Governor Sanford has frequently been eluding SLED agents and disappearing at odd times,” Knotts said. Previously, Sanford has not been out of all contact – including with his own office – for this long before, a source, who insisted on anonymity, said.

Knotts said the state’s chief executive should never be unreachable.

“As the head of our state, in the unfortunate event of a state of emergency or homeland security situation, Governor Sanford should be available at all times to the Chief of SLED,” the senator said.

“If for any reason, including the unknown whereabouts of the Governor, he is unable to perform the duties of his office the Constitution provides that the lieutenant governor assumes the position of governor.

“I want to know immediately ­ who is running the executive branch in the governor’s absence,” Knotts said.

The question of succession came just after Sanford became governor in 2003.

He joined the Air Force Reserve and was sent to Alabama for two week’s training with his unit, the 315th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron based in Charleston. Sanford did not transfer power to Bauer at the time, saying he would be in regular contact with his office.

Sanford said then he would transfer authority in writing to the lieutenant governor only if he were called to active duty.

The Associated Press contributed to this report
Reach Clif LeBlanc at cleblanc@thestate.com and John O’Connor at joconnor@thestate.com

Bailed-out firms spend Millions on Lobbying

By Dan Eggen

updated 22 minutes ago

GM, banks find cash to fund bids to sway lawmakers, Obama administration

Top recipients of federal bailout money spent more than $10 million on political lobbying in the first three months of this year, including aggressive efforts aimed at blocking executive pay limits and tougher financial regulations, according to newly filed disclosure records.

The biggest spenders among major firms in the group included General Motors, which spent nearly $1 million a month on lobbying, and Citigroup and J.P. Morgan Chase, which together spent more than $2.5 million in their efforts to sway lawmakers and Obama administration officials on a wide range of financial issues. In all, major bailout recipients have spent more than $22 million on lobbying in the six months since the government began doling out rescue funds, Senate disclosure records show.

The new lobbying totals come at a time of mounting anger in Congress and among the public over the actions of many bailed-out firms, which have bristled at attempts to cap excessive bonuses and have loudly complained about the restrictions placed on hundreds of billions of dollars in government loans. Administration officials said this week that top officials at Chrysler Financial turned away a $750 million government loan in favor of pricier private financing because executives didn’t want to abide by new federal limits on pay.

The reports revived objections from advocacy groups and some lawmakers, who say firms should not be lobbying against stricter oversight at the same time they are receiving billions from the government through the Troubled Assets Relief Program, or TARP.

“Taxpayers are subsidizing a legislative agenda that is inimical to their interests and offensive to what the whole TARP program is about,” said William Patterson, executive director of CtW Investment Group, which is affiliated with a coalition of labor unions. “It’s business as usual with taxpayers picking up the bill.”

But several company representatives said yesterday that none of the money borrowed from the government has been used to fund lobbying activities – though there is no mechanism to verify that. Financial firms have successfully quashed proposed legislation that would explicitly ban the use of TARP money for lobbying or campaign contributions.

‘Very complicated policy debates’
GM spokesman Greg Martin said that maintaining a lobbying presence is vital to ensure that the automaker has a say when major policy decisions are made. “We are part of what is arguably one of the most regulated industries, and we provide a voice in very complicated policy debates,” Martin said.

According to quarterly lobbying reports that were due Monday, more than a dozen financial firms and carmakers that have received TARP assistance spent money on lobbying during the first three months of this year. After Citigroup and J.P. Morgan Chase, top lobbyists included American Express, Wells Fargo Bank, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.

Most of the companies spent less on lobbying this year than they did during the first quarter of 2008. J.P. Morgan, for example, spent $1.43 million in early 2008, compared with $1.31 million this year. Others, however, showed increased spending, including Capital One Financial, which doubled its quarterly lobbying expenditures to more than $400,000.

The lobbying records do not yet include campaign contributions by corporate lobbyists. Bank of America, for example, which spent $660,000 on lobbying in the first quarter, also gave more than $218,000 in campaign contributions through its PAC, according to the Federal Election Commission.

The Citigroup lobbying report provides a glimpse of the troubled company’s interests in Washington, including credit card rules, student loan policies, and patent and trademark issues. Citigroup chief executive Vikram S. Pandit and other company officials lobbied fiercely against a House bill approved in March that would have placed a 90 percent tax on bonuses for traders, executives and bankers earning more than $250,000 at firms that had been bailed out by taxpayers. The proposal stalled in the Senate.

Citigroup spokeswoman Molly Meiners said the company “specifically prohibits the use of TARP funds for lobbying-related activities” and said the funds “are subject to an oversight and approvals process.”

Database editor Sarah Cohen contributed to this report.

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