College students nationwide “will begin to see higher costs for loans this spring, while others will be turned away by banks altogether as the credit crisis roiling the U.S. economy spreads.” Over the past decade, student debt levels more than doubled to $19,200.
On CNN yesterday, House Intelligence Chair Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) hinted that a deal is close on surveillance legislation and that it may give “phone companies the retroactive legal protections long sought by President Bush.” “I have an open mind about that,” said Reyes, referring to a Senate bill that includes “blanket immunity” for telecoms.
“President Bush and Senate leaders are signaling no compromise is in the works for nearly two dozen agency-level nominations, including four now-vacant Federal Election Commission seats that shuttered the campaign regulator indefinitely after the new year.” The FEC nominations are held up by controversial nominee Hans Von Spakovsky, who is opposed by Democrats.
A Roll Call review of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense “showed a strong correlation between contributions and earmarks. All but two of the 15 panel members received campaign contributions from at least half of the private entities that received earmarks.”
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) “likes to present himself as the candidate of the ‘Straight Talk Express’ who does not pander to voters or change his positions.” But the record shows that McCain has changed his mind on issues such as the Bush tax cuts, immigration, torture and abortion.
Last Friday, McCain stated that “there’s strong evidence” that thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative, is the reason for increased diagnoses of autism in the U.S. — “a position in stark contrast with the view of the medical establishment.” Kevin Drum writes, “It’s just another indication that when it comes to anything outside of the few pet issues he cares about, McCain really can’t be bothered to take an interest.”
As oil prices climb to record highs, “steep gasoline prices and the weak economy are beginning to curb Americans’ gas-guzzling ways. In the past six weeks, the nation’s gasoline consumption has fallen by an average 1.1% from year-earlier levels, according to weekly government data.”
Dmitry Medvedev won Russia’s presidential election in a landslide, giving him a mandate to succeed Vladimir Putin. But a 22-member observer mission from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe cast doubt on the fairness of the vote, stating that there were “flaws” in the results.
The United States used precision missiles to strike a “known terrorist target” in southern Somalia, a U.S. military official said. But Somalian local elders in the town say that four civilians were killed.
And finally: Rep. Thelma Drake (R-VA) can’t get enough of Angelina Jolie. Last week, Jolie wrote a Washington Post op-ed, declaring that the “surge” is working in Iraq. On Friday, Drake sent a letter to Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-MO), asking him to bring Jolie back to the Hill to testify about what she saw in Iraq. She said that Jolie’s testimony would provide “crucial insight.”
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