liwi's blog

It has been widely reported that Sen. John McCain has promised to appoint Supreme Court Justices in the model of John Roberts (see right) and Samuel Alito (see left). Of course this sends a signal that Roe v. Wade is again under attack, and that other medical procedures, genetic research and biomedical research will be curtailed. He proposes a conservative-leaning “Justice Advisory Committee.” The group will be chaired by former solicitor general Ted Olson and Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback and will include Robert P. George, a Princeton University professor who is a member of the President’s Council on Bioethics known for his pro-life movement activities. But Alito and Roberts are also pro-business and anti-worker activists, so this promise is welcome code to both the family values and the corporate wings of the Republican coalition.

Access to justice was the big loser in the US Supreme Court on Monday when the court upheld Indiana’s voter identification law, Crawford v. Indiana. Beyond

The Washington Secretary of State has proposed rules for implementing the “top-two” primary which survived Supreme Court scrutiny in the Washington State Grange case. The rules call for listing a candidate's party “preference,” not affiliation, whether that party likes it or not--or even if the "party" does not exist.

Today, the Center for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) released the most complete list of Political Action Committees (PACs) started by or for House members available. These are often referred to as “leadership PACs” and are not the same as a candidate's political campaign committee, as they are far more secretive about where the money goes. There are 432 House members, and 232 have PACs, including 3 from Oregon

The US Supreme Court will hear oral argument this week on the Millionaire's Amendment of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA), “MCCain Feingold.” The Millionaire's Amendment is a provision that requires self funded candidates

Secretary of State Bill Bradbury is in charge of enforcing Oregon's campaign finance laws. He should be red-faced with embarrassment today. Yesterday the Oregon Court of Appeals upheld fines against him and his 2004 political committee for failure to completely and accurately report his expenditures for commissions to an advertising firm and the cost of buying TV airtime during his 2004 campaign. Bradbury was the treasurer of the group and responsible for filing campaign contribution and expenditure reports.

Oregonians got a reminder yesterday that the state has a death penalty. In a 7 to 2 ruling the US Supreme Court held that lethal injection did not violate the 8th Amendment