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 The White House acknowledged this week that it has "paid a price" for the "Mission Accomplished" backdrop to President Bush's May 1, 2003 Iraq speech, saying it left the wrong impression.

"President Bush is well aware that the banner should have been much more specific, and said, 'Mission Accomplished For These Sailors Who Are On This Ship On Their Mission,'" said spokeswoman Dana Perino.

Oh brother. Are they kidding? Are we now supposed to believe that the "Mission Accomplished" blunder was just a “signage problem?”

The impression created five years ago by the president’s grandstanding landing on the carrier deck and his speech to the troops was that the U.S. mission to depose Iraq’s dictator Saddam Hussein had been accomplished.

Has the mission to create a self-sustaining democratic government in Iraq -- that can be protected by its own troops -- been accomplished?

Add your caption to this cartoon.

 

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The Pentagon has decided that Iraq needs a security force of up to 646,000 Iraqi troops to successfully battle the insurgency. The figure revealed in a federal report released in late April appears to be a dramatically larger number than previous estimates.

In September 2007, the Pentagon estimated Iraq needed only 390,000 troops. And then as recently as March 2008, the Pentagon said only 580,000 Iraqi troops were needed. U.S. policy has been to train Iraqi troops to fight the insurgency, so that American forces can ultimately leave.

But no one even knows how many fighting troops there really are in the Iraqi force structure, the new report from the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction said.

That's because dead and injured and AWOL Iraqi soldiers are often kept on the job rolls. The Iraqi government, according to the auditors, keeps the dead on the pay rolls so that their families can continue to receive funds.

Are Iraqi troops pulling their load? Will they ever be capable of taking over the defense of Iraq? Add your caption to this cartoon.

 

This from the Sacramento Bee caught my eye. Find it refreshing?

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Have you read about Councilman Ken Weir’s attempt to get commissioner Russell Johnson fired from the Bakersfield Planning Commission?

Opposition to tough rules for building homes on fragile hillsides in northeast Bakersfield is behind the move to fire commissioner Russell Johnson from the Planning Commission. The rules were unanimously approved in 2006 by City Council members, some of whom now seem to be having second thoughts.

Weir replaced Mike Maggard as the Ward 3 representative on the City Council when Maggard was elected to the Kern County Board of Supervisors in 2006. Maggard, whose ward included northeast Bakersfield, pushed for the tougher building rules. Weir opposes the rules and supports The Canyons, a housing development to be built on hills and bluffs in northeast Bakersfield. General Holding, The Canyon developer, has sued the city to overturn the rules and restrictions on building plans.

Maggard appointed Johnson to the Planning Commission. His term expires in April 2009. But Weir wants him gone NOW -- before the Planning Commission considers General Holding's controversial project.

Add your caption to this cliff-side homeowners’ cartoon.

 

Grover Norquist was on the Deuce this weekend. I told my TiVo to record it (but it didn't), and then listened to Norquist's appearance on After Words last fall, where they pitted him against Jonathan Chait.

You can watch the whole thing here.

Chait, basically, argues for higher tax rates on the rich, and the whole marginal utility theory (eventually). The most interesting thing was about halfway through, after the break I think. Norquist said, basically, why do you want to punish people who work on Saturdays? And Chait said, well, that's the difference between us. You (Norquist) see wealth as the product of virtue, something attained by working hard, and therefore you believe it should not be taxes. I (Chait) see wealth as something gained differently, from knowing the right people, from being born to the right families, from being in the right place at the right time, and, often, because grandpa worked on Saturdays.

I found it interesting in light of a couple things:

• Today is tax day. Duh.

• We had the "What People Earn" this weekend, which included a hedge-fund manager whose compensation is measured in the billions of dollars. (That, to me, seems like a market breakdown. Seriously, you couldn't find someone to do the job for only $1 billion? How about $500 million? How about $100 million? Why are the investors in this hedge fund letting this guy walk off with billions of their dollars?)

• I interviewed Harvey Hall last week about his run for mayor. He described how he started his ambulance company, which involved him and his wife on duty 24 hours a day, six days a week. Like Norquist said, "working Saturdays." But now, there's more to it than just hard work. Hall Ambulance today has an exclusive franchise area, in some ways a protected status. Lots of companies are like that — if not outright monopolies then in small fields with large barriers to entry. (Of course, that doesn't guarantee a stream of money; e.g. newspapers.)

Just thought I'd throw something out there for y'all to chew on.

-- James Geluso

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When Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s comments about frustrated blue-collar workers began to circulate in the media, a firestorm of controversy erupted.

During a private fundraising event in San Francisco recently, Obama noted that small-town Americans, "bitter" over their economic woes, "cling to guns or religion" as a result.

As quick as you can print a bumper sticker, Obama’s Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, and the presumptive Republican presidential nominee slammed Obama for his alleged “elitist” statement.

"I know that many of you, like me, were disappointed with recent remarks he made," Clinton said. "I believe that people don't cling to religion. They value their faith. You don't cling to guns. You enjoy hunting or collecting or sport shooting. . . . I don't think he really gets it that people are looking for a president who stands up for you, and not looks down on you."

Characterizing his opponents' criticism as "fake controversies,” Obama apologized if he had offended anyone. But then he came out swinging at Clinton, “Shame on her. Shame on her, she knows better.”

On her assertion that she was a hunter, he said: “She's running around talking about how this is an insult to sportsmen, how she values the Second Amendment, she's talking like she's Annie Oakley. That's some politics being played by Hillary Clinton.”

Put your caption on this cartoon about the Obama-Clinton-McCain shootout.
 

Some Monday morning political fodder from the U.S. News & World Report Web site:

An informal survey of 109 historians conducted by the History News Network found that 98 percent of them believe that President Bush's presidency has been a failure.

Read the whole story here.

Every year, officials have to report any outside income, assets (except their primary residence), gifts received and travel paid by others in the last year so we can see if they're making public policy decisions that benefit them personally.

Some are thin and boring; others are huge and full of interesting tidbits.

Elected leaders, top appointed officials and political candidates must file the Statements of Economic Interests, or Form 700s. Nobody posts them on the Web so we are; take a look and let us know if you find anything interesting. More will be added.

You can learn more about what needs to be reported on the Fair Political Practices Commission Web site: www.fppc.ca.gov/index.html

These are the reports we've posted so far. Download them on the left:

• Bakersfield Councilwoman Sue Benham

• Bakersfield Councilman David Couch

• Bakersfield Councilman Harold Hanson

• Bakersfield Councilwoman Jacquie Sullivan

• Bakersfield Councilman Zack Scrivner

• Bakersfield Councilman Ken Weir

• Bakersfield Mayor Harvey Hall

• Supervisor Jon McQuiston

• Supervisor Mike Maggard

• Supervisor Michael Rubio

• Supervisor Ray Watson

• Supervisor Don Maben

• Bakersfield City Manager Alan Tandy

• County Administrator Ron Errea

• Kern High School District Trustee Chad Vegas

• Kern High School District Trustee Bob Hampton

• Kern High School District Trustee Joel Heinrichs

• Kern High School District Trustee Ken Mettler

• Kern High School District Trustee Bryan Batey

• Kern High School District Superintendent Don Carter

• Bakersfield City School District Trustee Donald Vereen

• Bakersfield City School District Trustee Jerry Tate

• Bakersfield City School District Trustee Lillian Tafoya

• Bakersfield City School District Trustee Karen DeWalt

• Bakersfield City School District Trustee Rick VanHorne

• Bakersfield CIty School District Superintendent Michael Lingo

— Government editor Christine Bedell

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With the recent surge in oil prices, we are getting hit hard at the gas pumps. According to AAA, prices moved to a new record high last Friday of  $3.303 for a gallon of regular unleaded.

Earlier in the week, Congress heard testimony from the executives of five of the world's largest oil companies regarding the skyrocketing prices.

The oil executives told a House committee that they know record fuel prices are hurting people, but they argued it's not their fault and their huge profits are in line with other industries.

They were pressed to explain why they should continue to get billions of dollars in tax breaks when they made $123 billion last year and motorists are paying record gasoline prices at the pump.

Withstanding a stern lecture from congressmen, oil companies defended the current run up in prices, blaming it totally on the recent record high oil prices.

What would you say to oil company executives if you could meet them face to face. Fill in a caption for this cartoon.
 

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This from a blog up in Stockton, on Record.net:

Apr-3

AD 30: Parra Touts Gilmore at Dinner

AP is reporting that a Republican Party rules committee wants to impose some order on the primary schedule for 2012. Small states would get to go first, and large states would be pushed back.

Under the plan, big states would be in three rotating batches. The first batch would go in early March, the seond in late March and the third in April.

The plan would have to be endorsed by the convention. Oh, and then would have to survive 50 legislatures trying to jump ahead.

In the first three months of 2008 4th District Supervisor challenger Cliff Thompson raised $7,635 in for his race.

But the bulk of the cash that has powered his early campaign came out of his pocket.

Thompson gave his own campaign $50,000 in the form of a loan from CT Enterprises — Thompsons home building company.

He also said he plans four fund-raising events in the next 30 days — starting with one in Frazier Park this evening (April 2) and including on in Taft in mid-April and events in late April and on May 2 hosted, respectively, by Stan Ellis and Senator Dean Florez.

As for how he spent his money, there is a great "politics makes strange bedfellows" instance here.

Thompson paid Hall Ambulance public information officer Mark Corum $2,300 in consultant fees. Thompson, who is politically strong in outlying areas of the west Kern 4th District, has a big support base in Frazier Park and Pine Mountain Club.

Frazier Park and, especially, Pine Mountain Club oppose Thompson opponent Ray Watson because of his support for Hall Ambulance.

Quirky world we live in.

James Burger

Californian staff writer

Straight from McCarthy's office today:

Congressman McCarthy Introduces the Military Voting Protection (MVP) Act of 2008
 
WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman McCarthy, Ranking Republican on the House Administration Elections Subcommittee, introduced the Military Voting Protection (MVP) Act of 2008 to help ensure timely delivery of overseas military absentee ballots so they are counted.
 
“There is no higher calling than protecting the very constitutional freedoms of those who are protecting our constitutional freedoms,” said Congressman McCarthy. “We can, and we must, work to protect the votes of our troops serving abroad and ensure they are counted. The MVP Act is an opportunity for a bipartisan, commonsense solution to address what is unacceptable – letting our troops’ votes not be counted through no fault of their own.”
 
The bill directs the Secretary of Defense to collect the absentee ballots of overseas military voters, and deliver the ballots to state election officials via air transport with tracking capabilities. The MVP Act addresses problems outlined by the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), which reported on military and overseas absentee voting in September 2007.  According to the report, one of the top reasons for “rejected ballots was that they were received by the election offices after the deadline stipulated by State law.”

The EAC’s findings also suggested that roughly 10% of all uncounted military and overseas absentee ballots were rejected because they were received past deadline. The MVP Act is designed to ensure absentee ballots submitted by military personnel, who have little control over their geographic assignments, are delivered to the correct state election officials in a timely fashion by allowing other methods of delivery.
 
The MVP Act is currently circulating in the House for bipartisan support. The MVP Act has been cosponsored by the Committee’s Ranking Republican, Congressman Vern Ehlers (R-MI) and fellow Committee member Congressman Dan Lungren (R-CA).

Roy Ashburn is one of 32 elected officials who failed to properly spell out their expenditures, according to a complaint by Dave Palmer. The officials charged campaign expenses to credit cards, then listed credit card payments on their expense reports instead of listing who they actually bought these things from.

The site of the guy who filed the complaint is here, and the document outlining his complaint is here. Ashburn starts on Page 25.

 UPDATE: The FPPC confirms the complaint has been received, it's an official under-penalty-of-perjury complaint, and the FPPC has 14 days to determine whether it will investigate.