Column links

By Jennifer J. Foster

For more on the topics covered in this week’s column, see the following links:

“The war on baby girls,“ from The Economist. This editorial further defines the burgeoning scourge of gender-based selective abortion and the social and societal consequences it is having from the Balkans throughout the Far East and to the United States.

“Tiger Woods Hires Ex-George Bush Spokesman Ari Fleischer as PR Flack,“ from the New York Post. I’m not thrilled with the idea of calling Fleischer a “flack;“ that word seems to imply an inexperience or lack of depth of some sort. For one, Fleischer is a professional; two, he’s far too highly paid for that sort of characterization.

“Blagojevich delivers Letterman’s Top Ten,“ from CNN’s Political Ticker. Just more evidence that the disgraced former governor doesn’t feel disgraced at all.

“Jeb Bush endorses Bradley Byrne for governor,“ the news release on the announcement from Byrne’s campaign staff.

This week’s column

By Jennifer J. Foster

In case you missed it in Saturday’s print edition of the Opelika-Auburn News, my most recent column is now online. It’s a political potpourri of sorts; check it out here.

Topics covered include the unintended consequences of gender-based selective abortion, Tiger Woods’s imminent return to the PGA Tour, the return of Rod Blagojevich to television and the endorsement of Alabama GOP gubernatorial candidate Bradley Byrne by former Florida Gov. Jeb. Bush.

I’ll provide the links for these stories in a later post here today.

Happy reading!

Davis steps out on Rangel

By Jennifer J. Foster

From The Hill:

Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.) is the first Democratic lawmaker on the Ways and Means Committee and first member of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) to call on Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) to give up his chairmanship in the wake of an ethics committee admonishment ...

“Rep. Rangel has had a long and distinguished career and I respect his leadership, but I believe Congress needs to do more to restore the public trust,” Davis said in a statement to The Hill. “An ethics committee admonishment is a serious event, and Rep. Rangel should do the right thing and step aside as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.”

You may remember a few months ago when I wrote about how Davis has staked out his own ground on policy and in politics—ground separate and aside from that wholly owned by longtime black politicos, no matter how influential they are (or think they are). (In a separate piece that’s worth a look, Huntsville author David Person examined it for USA Today here.)

This is another example of Davis doing that. Charlie Rangel, for better or for worse, has become synonymous with the House of Representatives and the lawmaking process—especially as that process relates to the distribution of trillions of taxpayer dollars.

In this latest dustup, a congressional ethics committee (yes, such a thing exists) found last week that Rangel violated House rules by taking corporate-funded trips to the Caribbean.

It isn’t the first time Rangel has walked a fine line between—ahem, staying “creatively” within the law and breaking it. But this time, as Davis’s defection shows, the prevailing wind against entrenched incumbents may contribute to a situation in which Rangel fins he may have finally worn out the goodwill and longsuffering of his Democratic colleagues.

See also:

“Dem Aide on Rangel: ‘The Dam Broke Today,‘“ from The National Review

This week’s column

By Jennifer J. Foster

In case you missed it in Saturday’s print edition of the Opelika-Auburn News, my most recent column is now online. Check it out:

Summit provided rare, intriguing look at lawmakers at work

I have long been an advocate of our federal lawmakers and president adopting a regular Prime Minister’s Questions-type program in which each side is accountable to the other, in the public eye, for what’s going on behind closed doors.

As I explain in the column, last week’s health care summit was a great example of how enlightening a setup like that can be.

More from Evan Bayh

By Jennifer J. Foster

If you read my column this weekend, you know that the comments by U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh took center stage.

If you’d like to read more of what he had to say about how partisanship is ruining good government in Washington, check out the transcript of his interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on “The Situation Room.“

He had a lot of interesting things to say.

The operative section begins a little more than halfway down the page.