The Washington Times

Ahmadinejad Struggles with Crisis of Authority ; Disarray in Iran Intensifying

Iran's government appears to be imploding even before President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is sworn in for a second term, with three Cabinet ministers dismissed, resigning or on their way out and the opposition vowing to continue protests over disputed presidential elections. Iran specialists say Mr. Ahmadinejad - who has alienated some hard-liners and reformists in Iran through poor economic management and an adventurist foreign policy - is badly weakened as he heads into a second term and may not ...

Biden Penchant for Gaffes Takes Obama Off-Message ; Verbal Miscue On Russia Spurs Damage Control

The Obama White House's vaunted message machine has been thrown off-track with increasing regularity by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., whose five verbal missteps in the past three months have created obstacles at home and abroad. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was forced Sunday to correct publicly Mr. Biden's characterization of Russia as a crumbling country, a description that infuriated Russian officials and contradicted President Obama's efforts to "reset" relations with th...

Cbo Gives Boost to Obama's Health Plan ; Says Proviso Won't Kill Private Insurers

President Obama and his Democratic allies, scrambling to broker a health care deal Monday, finally got an upbeat assessment from Congress' official scorekeeper when it said the plan for government- run coverage would not force out private insurers. House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer trumpeted the report from the Congressional Budget Office, Congress' nonpartisan budget analyst, that said private insurers could survive competition from a government health insurance option - contradicting a c...

Legal-Aid Agency Hit for Wasteful Spending ; Hill Wary of Increasing Lsc Budget Amid Charges

During the worst economic downturn in decades, the federal program that provides free legal help to impoverished Americans has spent tax dollars on a decorative natural-stone wall, no-bid contracts for consultants, alcohol for a congressional party and more than 100 casino hotel rooms that were never occupied, government documents show. The Legal Services Corp. - which stirred national controversy a few years back by paying for limousines, first-class airfare and $14 Death by Chocolate pastri...

Nfl Reinstates Vick, but Stigma to Dog Qb ; Fitness to Play Again in Doubt

Michael Vick did his time, spending 20 months in federal custody after a dogfighting conviction. Now that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has conditionally reinstated the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback, the team that signs him - assuming that happens - will face its own trial in the court of public opinion.

Bunning Won't Seek Re-Election in '10

Sen. Jim Bunning of Kentucky, who tops the 2010 campaign list of the most vulnerable Republican senators, announced Monday that he would not seek re-election to a third term next year. Mr. Bunning, 77, the first member of baseball's Hall of Fame elected to Congress, said he was unable to raise the sums needed to run, blaming his problems on Senate colleagues whom had done "everything in their power to dry up my fundraising."

Rnc Lures Top Recruit to Money Post ; Pick by Steele a Relief to Party

Veteran Republican fundraiser and former Ambassador Peter Terpeluk Jr. will be named the national finance chairman of the Republican National Committee, The Washington Times has learned, in a coup for embattled party Chairman Michael S. Steele. The selection of the well-connected and well-respected Mr. Terpeluk comes as a relief to party insiders and caps a long and at times frustrating search to fill the key money post ahead of the 2010 and 2012 election cycles.

Baseball Players Find Ally in Sec Over Lawsuit ; Agency Asks Judge to Stop Receiver From Targeting Assets

Seven former and current major league baseball players and others who made money from R. Allen Stanford's purported Ponzi scheme and who now worry that their own cash will be taken have found an unlikely ally: the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC has asked a federal judge to stop the "receiver" - the lawyer charged with taking control of assets related to the supposed scam - from suing investors for their proceeds in the Stanford investment.

U.S. Courts China Cooperation in Two-Day Economic Summit

The Obama administration hosted top Chinese officials Monday for the start of two days of talks Washington hopes will steady China's confidence in the dollar and restore some balance to the lopsided U.S. trade deficit with Beijing. Public dialogue on both sides centered on the countries' special bond as two of the world's economic superpowers - sidestepping contentious issues of currency, trade and the growing U.S. budget deficit.

A Teaching Moment in Class Warfare

Henry Louis Gates Jr. and his friends - first among them President Obama - think the most celebrated arrest since Sacco and Vanzetti was all about race. Friends of Sgt. James Crowley think the incident off Harvard Square was all about law and order and a lack of respect for the cops. It's a shame they ruined a teaching moment by getting the fundamental fact wrong. Everyone with a pulse and a working lung knows the "facts" by now, even if some of the facts are mere factoids, as Norman Mailer f...

The Stimulus Is Actually Working

With the economy still mired in recession, critics have labeled the $787 billion stimulus package that the administration and Congress adopted earlier this year a failure. To a large degree, however, their main criticisms of the package and key elements within it reflect some misunderstanding of how it was supposed to work and what it was supposed to do. In fact, the stimulus is working pretty much as policymakers intended. Without it, the economy and the job prospects for millions of America...

Anglican Leader Foresees Two Paths ; Archbishop's Essay Draws Fire

A lengthy essay posted Monday by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams downplayed the U.S. Episcopal Church's recent decisions to consecrate gay bishops and allow blessings of same-sex unions, drawing criticism from the liberal and conservative wings of American Anglicanism. While the archbishop said "very serious anxieties" have resulted from the Episcopal Church's overwhelming votes on both matters at its July meeting in Anaheim, Calif., he refused to censure the 2.1 million-member denomi...

Sotomayor Vote Viewed As Benchmark ; Tally Eyed for Future Nominees

With Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation all but sealed, Senate Democrats and Republicans are now locked in a contest over the size of the victory margin for President Obama's first pick for the high court - a margin that will lay down some markers for future nominees. The Senate Judiciary Committee is due to endorse the Bronx-born judge's nomination Tuesday morning, and Democratic leaders have already won support from five moderate Republican senators and an endorsemen...

'Cash for Clunkers' Bashed ; Analysts Question Program's Stimulus, Gas Savings

Despite an early surge of interest from consumers, analysts say the federal "cash for clunkers" program will fall short of its potential to reduce emissions and stimulate the economy. Rules allow buyers to make only slight improvements in fuel economy, and any increase in cars sold will likely come at a steep cost.

New-Home Sales Climb for Third Straight Month

New-home sales jumped in June, increasing for the third consecutive month and providing more evidence that the beleaguered housing industry, which led the nation into its longest postwar recession, is beginning to stabilize. Sales of new homes climbed a surprising 11 percent in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 384,000, the Commerce Department reported Monday. Since new-home sales bottomed out at a 329,000 annual pace in January, they have increased during four of the past five mon...

U.S.-Israel Iran Gap Narrows ; Gates Gives Tehran Until Fall On Talks

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told top Israeli officials Monday that the United States expects Iran to respond to an offer of nuclear dialogue by late September, narrowing differences between Washington and Tel Aviv amid a growing paralysis in Iran over a disputed presidential election. If the U.S. policy of engagement fails to make progress, Mr. Gates said, the United States would press for tougher international sanctions. He added that Israeli officials had agreed to "let our strategy p...

Alexandria Leaders Rally Around Chief ; Dui Arrest Holds Legal, Pr Peril for Top Cop

Alexandria city officials rallied around beleaguered police Chief David P. Baker on Monday after his weekend arrest on drunken- driving charges. Council members reached by The Washington Times said they would reserve judgement until the facts of the case are established.

Barry Contract Probe Begins ; Grant Money Investigated

Federal law enforcement authorities have begun a preliminary investigation into whether D.C. Council member Marion Barry broke any laws when he awarded a city contract to a former girlfriend and arranged for city grant money to go to nonprofit organizations controlled by people close to him. The investigation, involving the FBI and Department of Justice, comes on the heels of Mr. Barry's July 4 arrest by U.S. Park Police, who charged him with misdemeanor stalking. The charge, involving Donna ...

Creating Space for Pg Startups ; Businessman Turns a Rebuff Into Place for Others to Grow

Richard Perry, managing partner of the Corporate Office, was on the verge of securing a lucrative $2 million deal with Motorola USA for information-technology consulting when he was turned away owing to insufficient business operating space. "They told me I wasn't credible. And from that moment, I was determined that would never happen again," said Mr. Perry, who worked as a technical consultant at the time.

Serving the Public ; Ex-Congress Member Sought a Greater Voice

"The woman's movement put the movement in me," said Constance "Connie" Morella, former ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and former Congress member for Maryland's 8th Congressional District. Highly motivated and armed with inspiration, she launched a career in public service that spanned more than three decades. These days, she is a faculty member at American University, where her husband is professor emeritus of the law school. Originally from Massachuse...