The World Around You

The first reports coming out of the oral arguments before the Supreme Court on the campaign finance reform laws contain this interesting tidbit from Kenneth Starr’s argument in support of the challengers of the law,

Starr, the first of eight attorneys who would argue before the justices, said the law hamstrings local political parties, which work with national parties, and hurts grass-roots political efforts.

He got support from Justice Antonin Scalia, who said: “The right to speak includes the right to speak in association with others.”

Justice John Paul Stevens said later: “We have never held that.”

Go Justice Stevens!

LATEST UPDATE (9:55PM): The Indianapolis Star reports,

Indiana Gov. Frank O’Bannon is under sedation and the next 24-48 hours “will be critical,” Dr. Wesley Yapor said late this afternoon after the governor underwent several hours of surgery at Northwestern Memorial Hospital for a cerebral hemorrhage.

Yapor, the attending neurosurgeon, told reporters that doctors removed blood from both sides of the governor’s brain. “The surgery went very well,” he said.

Yapor said the most likely cause of the governor’s condition was a massive stroke, and that there was also evidence of trauma to the governor’s brain, suggesting he had suffered additional injuries in a fall.

Yapor said O’Bannon is in critical condition, in a drug-induced coma. He said the governor is on a ventilator.

“We’re hoping he is going to recover function. How much, we don’t know,” he said. “He cannot be governor, or at least function as governor, for right now.”

UPDATE:The Indianapolis Star reports,

Indiana Gov. Frank O’Bannon was undergoing surgery this afternoon after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage, a spokeswoman for the governor said. Lt. Gov. Joe Kernan is now serving as acting governor.

Northwestern Memorial Hospital doctors started the surgery at 11 a.m. and it was expected to take up to four hours, spokeswoman Mary Dieter said at a news conference.

State officials are preparing to begin the process of formally transferring control to Kernan if necessary.

A statement issued by Northwestern doctors said O’Bannon was unconscious and nonresponsive when he arrived at the hospital at about 9:30 a.m., Dieter said.

The governor’s wife, Judy, and one of their daughters, Jennifer O’Bannon, are in Chicago.

WTHR in Indianapolis reports,

Indiana Governor Frank O’Bannon has collapsed and been taken to a Chicago hospital.

Doctors are saying that he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and are deciding whether to perform surgery.

The governor was attending the U.S. Midwest Japan Conference at the Palmer House when he collapsed.

Northwestern Memorial Hospital will only confirm that O’Bannon is being treated in the emergency room, but television station WMAQ in Chicago reports that the fire department and emergency medical crew said the governor was unconscious and critical when they transported him to the hospital.

Tomorrow, Alabama’s citizens will make one of the most important decisions this state has ever faced. The only poll that counts is the one that takes place tomorrow in every voting precinct. I want to encourage you one last time to vote “Yes”.

This plan is not perfect, nothing this comprehensive ever could be, but it is the right first step in moving the standard of living for all of Alabama’s citizens up from the bottom. I don’t doubt that many of you feel you are taxed enough, but as anyone who has lived in other states will tell you, Alabama’s citizens are the least taxed in the country. Where has this gotten us? We’ve tried having the lowest taxes for far too long. It doesn’t attract business (we have bought and paid for every job provided by Mercedes, Toyota, Honda and Hyundai) and it doesn’t serve Alabama’s citizens. Our prisons are grotesquely over-crowded our roads are inexcusably under-patrolled. our seniors are not provided with the care they deserve and our children are not protected from harm.

Amendment 1 is not some scheme thought up by “Montgomery politicians” (a term which I have yet to hear defined), it is the plan of Governor Bob Riley, a conservative Republican who came to Montgomery, bringing some of the best businessmen ever to have served in state government. He found a state teetering on the brink of disaster. We have begged, borrowed and stolen to get to this point, going through proration too many times (a term which is unheard of in 46 states in the union), and underfunding essential services for far too long.

The opponents say we should encourage the state to “live within its means”. I say we are not giving the state the means to live. Alabamians must face the fact that we have continually underfunded state services (including education). Earmarking has tied the hands of our elected officials and our executive branch has for far too long been pushed around by members of our legislative branch. Those days have ended under Bob Riley and it is up to the people of Alabama to continue to elect a strong chief executive who will stand up to those representatives who feel they have to sneak money back to their districts, rather than doing it through an open Democratic process.

Vote Yes to give Alabama its best chance to finally become the state we all know it can be.

UPDATE: Here is the ballot language of Amendment 1 as it will appear tomorrow:

Shall the following Amendment be adopted to the Constitution of Alabama?

Proposed Statewide Amendment Number One (1)

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, establishing the Alabama Excellence Initiative Fund which may be used to fund programs including, but not limited to, the furtherance of excellence in public education, college scholarships, health care benefits for senior citizens and job training programs to attract new high paying jobs and otherwise provide for distributing state tax revenues; to adjust income and property taxes; to establish the General Fund Rainy Day Account; to provide for the replenishment of the General Fund Rainy Day Account and the Education Trust Fund Rainy Day Account. (Proposed by Act No. 2003-78)

Yes
No

Washington Whispers also reports,

There are plenty of Hollywood types playing politics in California’s recall race. But we hear another is working, very quietly, behind the scenes. Word is that Warren Beatty “directed” Gov. Gray Davis in his speech rehearsals for the governor’s stab at a mea culpa speech last month at the University of California-Los Angeles. Says one political insider, “Warren is still unable to direct a winning pic.”

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

Washington Whispers reports,

Attorney General John Ashcroft’s Justice Department is circulating a draft directive that may effectively strip away the authority to investigate bombings from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, insiders tell Whispers. The proposal aims to give all bombing cases first to the FBI, to determine if there’s a terrorist angle.

Are we supposed to be shocked that Ashcroft is attempting to bring even more authority under him in the name of the war against terror? This is not a new situation. ATF agents have long been aware of a push from the FBI to put such cases under their watch. When is this continual push for more and more authority going to end?

Senator John Edwards has finally made the decision to focus exclusively on his run for President. The New York Times reports,

In a letter sent late last night to Barbara Allen, chairwoman of the North Carolina Democratic Party, Mr. Edwards said, “I will not seek re-election to the United States Senate, in order to devote all of my energy to running for president.

“Be assured that I will help in any way I can to ensure a Democratic victory in the fall of 2004,” he continued.

The decision appears to end an issue that had become an albatross on Mr. Edwards’s presidential bid at a time when his campaign is looking to break away from the middle of the pack of nine candidates.

Mr. Edwards’s refusal to state his plans for the seat had fed an impression among some party leaders and voters that he was not in the race for the long haul.

This opens the door for Erskine Bowles to seek the seat and throws another Democratic Senate seat up in the air for 2004.

UPDATE: Steven notes the development and correctly points out that if it was done to generate buzz the mission was not accomplished.