A half-dozen fake letters, signed by people who don't seem to exist and who work at made-up jobs, are causing a bit of buzz in the environmental world -- mostly because the letters urged a Virginia congressman to vote against a cap-and-trade system to curb climate change.

The Sierra Club calls it "dirty tricks." The Union of Concerned Scientists points out that the PR firm said to be behind the fake-letter lobbying effort has a history of working against climate legislation. Rep. Ed Markey, who chairs a House committee on energy independence and global warming, said the committee will investigate. The Daily Progress newspaper in Charlottesville published a detailed story.

The congressman, Tom Perriello, voted for the cap-and-trade bill anyway. It passed by a slim margin and the Senate is expected to take up this matter in September.

The alleged forgeries came in letters made to look as if they were sent from two civil rights organizations: the local branch of the NAACP and Creciendo Juntos, a network for Charlottesville's Hispanic community -- neither of which oppose cap-and-trade. The Daily Progress tracked the letters to a Washington lobbying firm, Bonner & Associates. A partner at the Bonner firm apologized to Creciendo Juntos, but that probably won't be the end of the matter.

Jack Bonner, the president of Bonner & Associates, responded to a call for comment by e-mail: "We take our business very seriously. A temporary employee—lied to us—and contrary to our policies sent these letters. We—no one else—we on our own found this out. We immediately fired the person. We then, called those effected, explained what happened and apologized. In the case of the group in the story—we did it in person and by letter. This should not have happened—we had a bad employee—but through our internal checks, we found the problem, and on our own initiative took the step to notify the affected group."

Interesting thing about the Bonner firm: its acknowledged specialty is "grassroots" lobbying -- even though grassroots politics used to mean efforts that come from the ground up, from the rank-and-file members of a group. The Union of Concerned Scientists, which strongly favors the legislation that Bonner's clients presumably oppose, pointed reporters to a now-defunct Web site Bonner put up for the Western Fuels Association to oppose the carbon-capping Kyoto Protocol back in the 1990s.

The association said the site generated 20,000 e-mails in opposition, including one from a mythical "George Jetson." The cartoon character complained that he would have to pay an extra $24,239,987.52 a year if Congress ratified the Kyoto pact. They didn't, and the United States is now the only industrialized country that hasn't joined the protocol.

Carl Pope, Sierra Club's executive director, praised Perriello for voting for the bill and for looking into the efforts of "the dirty, old business-as-usual players who tried to sway his vote." Pope also noted that other members of Congress may have received the same kind of forged letters, urging them to vote against the bill: "It is disturbing, to say the least, to think that some congresspeople may have, in good faith, voted thinking they were representing their communities when in fact they were not."

So the question is: did this lobbying effort, and others, sway the vote on the climate bill in the House? Will the same efforts come into play in September in the Senate? And is this an outrage, or just the way Washington works?

Photo credit: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (U.S. Capitol dome, February 24, 2009)

Over the past few days, with the healthcare reform debate raging in Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has lit into the U.S. insurance industry.

“Immoral” and “villains” are among the words she has used to describe the companies for their opposition to a publicly run health plan.  And she has castigated their policies of refusing to take care of pre-existing medical conditions and capping benefits of cancer patients.

“The glory days are coming to an end,” Pelosi warned those companies, vowing to build support for the bill she’s pushing.

But will the tough talk bring to an end insurance industry campaign contributions to Pelosi?

For the current 2009-2010 election cycle, insurance industry contributions to Pelosi total $41,000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Only health professionals have given her more money, $113,000, according to the group, which tracks campaign contributions to lawmakers and lobbying activities. In the 2007-2008, of the top 20 industries contributing to her, insurance contributions ranked fifth, totaling $177,000 out of a total $3.78 million raised.

“As the Speaker’s opposition to the health insurance companies being in charge of America’s health care shows, there is no link between political contributions and positions on policy,” said Brendan Daly, a spokesman for Pelosi.

Dave Levinthal, spokesman for the Center for Responsive Politics, said of the mismatch between the contributions and Pelosi’s criticisms: “They have a right to donate money to her.  She has a right speak her mind.”

He notes that insurance industry campaign contributions to Pelosi’s re-election campaigns and a separate “leadership” campaign fund have risen dramatically in the last couple years, as healthcare reform prospects have risen.

“It is possible they may look in a different direction” if they conclude she’s not going to be “receptive to their influence,” Levinthal adds.

Cue up Bruce Spingsteen and “Glory days, well, they’ll pass you by.”

Photo credit: REUTERS/Yuri Gripas (Pelosi at July 22 news conference)

It won’t be a conversation over beer in the Rose Garden, but today President Barack Obama gathers his Cabinet together across the street at Blair House to talk about the first six months of their term.

With public opinion polls showing support for Obama and for his main legislative priority — healthcare reform — waning, the president retreats with his Cabinet this weekend to talk things over.

Six months ago Obama and his family lived at Blair House for a couple of days before he was inaugurated as the 44th president.

The mood might be different today. Maybe the president and his deputies will be trying to figure out a better way to sell the healthcare overhaul to Americans. Obama has been making nearly daily appearances over the past few weeks in campaign-style events, interviews and statements, opinion polls show Americans are afraid healthcare change will hurt them.

The gathering of the Cabinet takes place as lawmakers prepare for their month-long August recess, without reaching a deal on healthcare reform.

It also comes just as administration officials say the government’s $1 billion “cash for clunkers” auto sales incentive program reached its funding limit much earlier than expected — just weeks after it was launched. The White House is working with Congress to try to extend funding.

Obama has no publicly scheduled events today. Most meetings are with advisers and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, with the exception of a closed-door lunch with business leaders at his private dining room in the White House.

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Photo credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque (Blair House)

The White House was working hard to lower expectations about Thursday’s beer summit, characterizing the president’s role as more bartender-in-chief than mediator.

So don’t expect apologies or even a rehash of the day Massachusetts police Sgt. James Crowley, who is white, arrested prominent Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, who is black.

In fact, don’t expect to hear much at all.

“I don’t anticipate sound at the meeting,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. “The president is not going to announce anything tonight.”

Crowley busted Gates on a charge of disorderly conduct after a confrontation at the Harvard professor’s home. The policeman had been dispatched to the scene to investigate a report of a possible burglary in progress. Words were exchanged.

The 58-year-old Gates, a well-known documentary filmmaker who walks with a cane as a result of a childhood injury, had returned home from a trip to China to discover his door jammed.

A neighbor saw two men, Gates and his driver, trying to shoulder their way into the house and phoned the police.

Charges were quickly dropped, but Obama inflamed the situation by saying police “acted stupidly” in arresting his friend.

The flare-up sparked a nationwide debate over race and became a distraction to Obama’s push for healthcare reform.

The president invited the two men to the White House for a beer to try to defuse the situation and discuss what can be learned from it.

Each of the men has made his drink order known. Obama drinks a Bud Light, Gates favors Red Stripe and Crowley prefers Blue Moon.

While Obama has called the incident a “teachable moment,” the White House made it clear any initiatives would not be coming from the administration.

“When the president talks about ‘the government can’t solve all your problems,’ I think you can put this under that umbrella,” Gibbs said.

While Gates is still demanding an apology, Gibbs said the aim of the meeting was not to negotiate apologies.

And will the president act as a mediator between the two men when they gather at a table just outside the Oval Office?

“No,” Gibbs said, “bartender.”

For more Reuters political news, click here.

Photo credit: Reuters/Jason Reed (Obama drinks a beer at a bar in Raleigh during the election campaign)

President Barack Obama may run the country, but when it comes to the Obama household, he seems to suspect somebody else is in charge. 
 
Answering healthcare questions Tuesday at a forum sponsored by the retirees group AARP, the president suggested the first lady did the talking in his house.
 
Moderator: We go next to North Carolina for a question we had all week last week. I think every town hall had this one. It’s from Colin. And, Colin, go ahead and ask this question.  Go ahead, Colin.
 
Mary: This is his wife, Mary.
 
Obama: Hi, Mary.
 
Mary: Hi.

Obama: What happened to Colin?
 
Mary: Well, I’m the one they talked to.
 
Obama: I got you. That’s how it is in my house, too. 
 
The president traveled to a Kroger grocery store in Bristol, Virginia, on Wednesday to stand next to strawberries and raspberries in the fruit section and talk about healthcare reform to 180 gathered employees and guests.
 
“They don’t let me do my own shopping, but I miss it,” he said. “So I may pick up some fruit on the way out.”
 
“I don’t want to … talk too long,” Obama added, “because I do have to take some questions from you, and also Michelle’s probably e-mailing me about grabbing some milk on the way home.”
 
In the end he did buy a piece of fruit — something that looked like a peach but may have been a nectarine. 

No word on the gallon of milk.
 
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Photo credit: Reuters/Larry Downing (Obama talking healthcare in the fruit section at Kroger’s; Obama taking a bite of fruit)

Finally the day has arrived for the much talked about beer summit at the White House with the two men involved in a racially-charged incident — Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates and Cambridge, Massachussetts police Sergeant James Crowley.

But before the beer diplomacy, President Barack Obama has to get through his day which is complete with traditional diplomacy and ongoing efforts to convince lawmakers to approve a healthcare reform plan.

Obama meets with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of the Philippines this afternoon in the Oval Office, before a meeting with his treasury secretary and then Vice President Joe Biden.

Then finally, it’s time to talk race over beer. Crowley and Gates are due to meet up at the picnic table outside the Oval Office just around Happy Hour time.

The beer with the boys is aimed at reducing tensions that Obama said he helped escalate when he said at a news conference he thought the Cambridge police had “acted stupidly” by arresting 58-year-old Gates at his home. Crowley had gone to the home after a report of a possible burglary, but Gates had just been trying to open his jammed front door.

The two men got in a dispute and Crowley arrested Gates, who is black, on a charge of disorderly conduct, sparking a debate over whether the incident involved racial profiling.

The White House will have a variety of beer on hand to offer the men, since each has requested a different one. Obama, who has been criticized for being elitist, will stick to a regular Budweiser.

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Photo credit: Reuters/Jason Reed (Obama drinks beer as he meets residents at a bar in North Carolina last year during presidential campaign)

Four words about race relations in a speech delivered by Attorney General Eric Holder in February set off a firestorm.

Fast-forward five months and the arrest of respected black Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates sets off another firestorm of racially-tinged debate.

So was Holder on to something when he said those four words, labeling the United States “a nation of cowards” when it comes to talking about race in America.

“Race is a tough issue. Wherever it has been found, whether in the United States or even in other countries, it’s an issue that has divided us, I think, in the past. It’s an issue that if unaddressed I think can divide us in the future. And (that’s) what that speech was about,” Holder said Wednesday in an interview with ABC News.

Holder talked about the race debate his words sparked in the context of the furor over the recent arrest of Gates at his Cambridge home by police Sgt. James Crowley. Holder said it was a “teachable moment,” something that could maybe help Americans improve the way they communicate.

Holder, the first black U.S. attorney general, said he had been profiled by police when he was a young man and the incident had left a lasting impression on him.

“I was a young college student driving from New York to Washington, stopped on a highway and told to open the trunk of my car, because the police officer told me he wanted to search it for weapons. I was at a rest stop. And, you know, I was a college kid. I didn’t know quite what my rights were,” Holder said.

“People walked by as I was opening this trunk and the officer was looking in there. And I remember, as I got back in the car and continued on my journey how humiliated I felt, how angry I got.”

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Photo credit: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst (Holder speaks during his confirmation hearing in January)

Sarah Palin is expected to make a visit next week to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in California, in what would be her first public appearance outside Alaska since resigning as governor, and the sponsors said on Wednesday the event will be closed to the media.

Palin, the self-described hockey mom turned politician, is slated as “our expected guest” on Aug. 8 for a 50th anniversary gala hosted by the Simi Valley Republican Women, Federated, a nonprofit group of GOP volunteers, according to an e-mail from the group’s president Peggy Sadler. An accompanying notice states bluntly: “No press or other media allowed.”

The group is renting space for the invitation-only event at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, a suburb north of Los Angeles. Tickets for the gala reportedly were going for $100 per person for members and $150 for invited non-members. Up to 900 people were expected to attend. Sadler said the party is “not a fundraising event” and that proceeds would go to pay for the event itself.

“Expected guest” may be the operative phrase since Palin’s personal representatives say she “has not confirmed her attendance at any event” and that the Simi Valley party is “one of hundreds of outstanding invitations” she has received.

If she does appear in Simi Valley on Aug. 8, and nowhere else before then, it would mark Palin’s first venture to the Lower 48 since stepping down as Alaska governor on Sunday, 18 months before her term of office was scheduled to end.

The surprise resignation has sparked intense speculation about Palin’s future ambitions and whether she has hurt or helped any chance she might have of seeking higher office. Palin became a darling of Republican Party conservatives in 2008 when she catapulted to the national spotlight as John McCain’s running mate and the first female GOP nominee for vice president.

In a reminder of her often-testy relations with the media, she took a parting shot at the press during her farewell address in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Sunday, saying: “Democracy depends on you. That’s why our troops are willing to die for you. So how about in honor of the American soldier you quit making things up?”

Photo credit: Reuters/Nathaniel Wilder (Palin delivering farewell address in Fairbanks, Alaska, on July 27)

A looming battle between two prominent Texas Republicans is heating up after U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison confirmed that she’ll leave the Senate this fall to challenge Texas Gov. Rick Perry for his post in 2010.

Hutchison, Texas’ senior senator whose term ends in 2012, has not formally decided to run against Perry — the longest-serving governor in the state’s history — and will likely make that announcement in August, she told Dallas radio host Mark Davis in an interview on Wednesday.

Hutchison told Davis that she will likely resign her U.S. Senate seat “sometime in October, November … in that timeframe,” and return to Texas to focus on her gubernatorial campaign, with a primary run-off by May 2010.

“I’m coming home to try to give leadership to Texas,” said Hutchison, a television news reporter before she entered politics. “For him to try to stay on for 15 years is too long,” she said, referring to Perry.

A big question is the possibility that Texas could turn Democratic in coming years. In a recent article, The Economist said Texas — a long-time bastion of conservative Republicanism and home of former U.S. President George W. Bush — could swing Democratic in coming years due to a rising population of immigrants.

The last time a Democratic governor sat in the Austin statehouse was 1990, when Anne Richards won the governorship. She was replaced by Republican George W. Bush, who went on to become U.S. president.

Photo credit: Reuters/Jason Reed (Hutchison at hurricane briefing in Austin in 2008, across the table from Perry and then-president Bush)

It’s too early to tell whether President Barack Obama’s new approach to China will be more successful than his predecessor’s. But this week’s high-level dialogue in Washington underlined how the balance of power is shifting.

The U.S. side, determined to be more respectful and less confrontational, tiptoed around the sensitive issue of China’s currency, avoiding any public appeal for an upwards revaluation in the yuan.

There was a passing reference to the rights of China’s ethnic and religious minorities, but no sign the other side would take any more notice of foreign interference in its internal affairs than it has in the past.

Not was there any evidence the Chinese and Americans were any closer on issues from climate change to how to deal with countries like North Korea and Sudan.

The Chinese, though, seemed less circumspect, more confident even in their public statements. Washington, they argued, should rein in its budget deficit and refrain from flooding the world with dollars.

They are, after all, holding more than $800 billion in U.S. Treasury debt, and don’t want to see the value of those investments fall.

And when you have such a big customer, you better listen to them, as the Wall Street Journal pointed out this morning.

Obama wants to see the two countries as partners, not rivals, for the 21st century, not always seeing eye to eye on everything but sharing common problems and common interests.

It was a beguiling vision, and China experts say his less confrontational approach may have more chance of success with a country not used to being told what to do.

But the question that must be asked is how seriously will the Chinese take American advice? Is talk of a real partnership between two countries with vastly different cultures just wishful thinking?    

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Photo credit: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst (Obama speaks at opening of U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Washington)