John Bolton Up for Confirmation -- Again

One year ago, President Bush bypassed the stalled Senate Foreign Relations Committee and used a recess appointment to put John Bolton in place as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Now the Committee is preparing to take another look at Bolton, whose appointment will expire soon if no further action is taken.

Sen. George Voinovich, the sole Republican on the Committee to oppose Bolton last year, has done an abrupt about-face and agreed to back Bolton’s re-nomination. Rumors swirl that Senators Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton aren’t far behind their colleague.

Just to be sure, conservative groups are out in force to lend their support to the embattled Bolton. UN expert and Freedom Alliance president Tom Kilgannon calls Bolton “one of the best and most effective Ambassadors this country has ever had at the United Nations,” and American Conservative Union Chairman David Keene calls Bolton “the perfect man” for the job.

Several at the Heritage Foundation have also lifted up their voices, including Peter Brookes, who calls the re-nomination “an opportunity to right a terrible wrong."

Center for Security Policy president Frank Gaffney is circulating a letter from 54 foreign policy and defense experts arguing that the “challenges now confronting the United States at the UN make it simply unthinkable that Ambassador Bolton’s service might come... to a premature end.”

Let’s hope the Committee and the full Senate agree.

Pork Ratings Released

Is your Congressman a porker or a hero to taxpayers? How about your Senators? The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) has just released its 2005 Congressional Ratings to help you figure it out.

For the last 17 years, CCAGW has graded legislators in order to honor the ones who are serious about cutting spending and to expose those who prefer big government and pork.

Congressional Republicans have been under fire by conservatives recently for their inability to hold back spending, but when graded as individuals, the difference between Republicans and Democrats is astonishing. In the House, the average score for Republicans was 73%, and the average for Democrats was 13% -- a difference of 60%! In the Senate, the margin was smaller, but only slightly. Senate Republicans averaged 68% and Senate Dems averaged 18%. Even though Republicans are currently in charge of both chambers, it’s obvious that the spending isn’t entirely their fault.

Maybe it really does matter who controls Congress.