Reason Express

Vol. 8 No. 39

Jeff Taylor | October 4, 2005

In this issue:

1. Bush Pulls Another Cheney
2. Seven Days in May 2006
3. Talking Over Turkey
4. Quick Hits
5. New at Reason Online - God Acts Are OK After Act of God
6. News and Events

1. Bush Pulls Another Cheney

Once again, President George W. Bush turns to the person charged with vetting nominees for an important job to do that same important job. By selecting White House counsel Harriet Miers to be his second nominee to the high court, Bush is essentially playing the "trust me" card once again. WMD, enemy combatants, Medicare drug benefit-trust him. The funny thing is, not even his conservative base is totally onboard with him on this pick.

Several questions are bubbling to the fore. Why not go for a "known" judicial conservative, especially considering Democratic opposition was sure to be fierce in any event? Why fight to win a functional majority in the Senate if you are not going to use it? This critique, incidentally, neatly twins complaints about a House majority: Why have it if you are going to spend the country into ruin anyway?

The Bush administration now must backtrack to whip its usual lock-step supporters-the talk-radio crowd, anti-abortion activists, etc-into showing support for Miers, instead of moving forward with that support already intact. It may not matter in the long run-almost everything now hinges on Miers' performance before the Judiciary Committee-but that is an odd way to win a high-stakes Washington political fight.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/12806199.htm

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2. Seven Days in May 2006

Highly-placed officials with personal connections to the President are certainly nothing odd in any administration. Jack Kennedy stashed his brother Bobby at Justice, after all.

But if Miers is confirmed, and if, as has been rumored, White House staffer Andy Card soon takes over at Treasury for John Snow, the Bush administration will have quite the tight little package of Bush insiders at key posts: Bush's former White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales at Justice, Condi Rice at State, Miers (once the president's personal attorney) on the Court, Card at Treasury, and come next spring, perhaps former Council of Economic Advisors chief Glenn Hubbard heading up the Federal Reserve.