Swamp Gas, August 21, 2007

by Frank James

A quick guided tour of some of the morning's most important or interesting (or both) Washington-related stories.

Hurricane Dean strengthened to a Category 5 storm with sustained winds of 165 miles per hour and struck Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.

The Bush Administration has adopted rules to make it harder for states to expand the Children's Health Insurance Program to children in middle-income families.

Sen. Carl Levin, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee just back from Iraq, called for Iraqis to select a new leader, saying Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki is unable to bring the political changes the U.S. military surge, which the lawmaker acknowledged had shown some success, was meant to encourage.

Vice President Cheney's office acknowledged it has documents related to the administration's warrantless electronic surveillance program but indicated it won't turn them over to Congress, even as the Sen. Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee warned that the administration appeared to him to be in contempt of congressional demands for such documents.

The Federal Reserve action last week of easing credit for banks has apparently failed so far at persuading investors that the problems with sub-prime mortgages wouldn't continue to erode other investments and the rest of the economy.

The deportation of Elvira Arellano , the illegal immigrant who defied U.S. immigration authorities by using a Chicago church as sanctuary, has become the latest rallying point for supporters and opponents of illegal immigrants.

Congress's Democratic majority is proposing to significantly increase federal spending to fight global warming by funding research programs and other initiatives that have lower profiles than ideas like increasing vehicle fuel efficiency.

Wall Street investors are paying huge sums to Washington lobbyists to fight efforts by the Democratic-controlled Congress to increase the tax-rates on the those same investors in order to raise revenue and create more fairness since workers who draw salaries pay income taxes at a higher rate than do the investors.

While NASA isn't unduly concerned about the scheduled landing of the space shuttle Endeavor scheduled for today even with its damaged heat-resistant tiles, it is worried that future shuttle flights may be delayed because of the need to fix fuel-tank issues that continue to create tile-damaging debris during shuttle launches.

China and the Bush Administration have both impeded efforts to toughen rules and increase inspections on lead paint in toys and other products used by children, according to consumer advocates who criticized the administration for aligning itself with manufacturers more than consumers.