EMPLOYMENT
Mutual Fund Group Comes Out Against
Miller's 401(k) Enhanced Disclosure Bill
The Investment Company Institute, a mutual fund trade association, will send a letter today to House Education and Labor Chairman George Miller and other interested lawmakers stating its opposition to a bill to enhance disclosure requirements for 401(k) and other defined contribution plans.
The statement is significant because more than half of the $3 trillion 401(k) market consists of mutual funds. Until now, ICI had not taken a position on the bill. Other business associations, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, have also expressed concerns with the bill.
The committee will mark up the measure Wednesday. Committee staff said the bill has been changed since it was introduced to respond to one of the complaints of the business community -- that "unbundling" of investment fees for 401(k) package deals would be burdensome and confusing.
The original bill would have required plan administrators to individually list every service fee assessed against an individual's account. Miller has changed the language to simply require that fees be disclosed in four separate categories -- administrative, investment management, transaction costs, and "other."
For ICI, the change does not go far enough, according to spokesman Michael Shore. "Imagine if a car dealer had to present you with an itemized list of the cost of the engine, the tires, the radio, the fenders, etc. Would you be better off?"
ICI is concerned that the disclosure requirement will dissuade smaller employers from offering any 401(k) benefits to employees.
Committee spokesman Tom Kiley disagreed. "The legislation we'll be voting on this week will help workers better understand their retirement investing options, a critical part of helping workers save for a secure retirement, without putting unreasonable demands on service providers," he said.
ICI also opposes a provision in Miller's bill requiring all plan administrators to offer at least one 401(k) option linked to a market index such as the S&P 500. Nearly three-fourths of plans already include an index fund on the menu, but the association worries the mandate might sway the market.
ICI is running a series of print ads this week opposing Miller's 401(k) bill, and one of them targets the index fund requirement. "Some in Congress want to mandate one investment option for every 401(k) plan," one of the ads says. "They would stamp that option as the government-approved approach to savings."
A committee aide said the ads are misleading because the bill does not tell employers to offer just one retirement savings option. They can still provide a variety of investment choices to workers as long as one of them is an index fund.
Miller has been working on the disclosure bill for over a year. He wants to call workers' attention to the need to invest in 401(k) plans with the decline of defined benefit pension plans. Last year, GAO reported that without changes in savings behavior, 37 percent of workers born in 1990 will face retirement with no money in the bank.
Miller also wants to make sure that as much of workers' money as possible remains in their accounts. Undisclosed fees could amount to tens of thousands of dollars of a workers' retirement account.
No one disputes Miller's broader point. ICI and other business associations all say they support disclosure requirements and careful regulation of 401(k) plans. They may disagree when it comes to the details, however.
"Employers need to understand the services that would be provided to the plan, how those fees are charged, and how those plan administrators are compensated," ICI's Shore said. But, he added, "Let's keep it simple for employers too."
The aide said ICI overstates the complexity of Miller's disclosure requirement. "If the service provider bundles its services into a package, nothing says they can't continue to do that. They just need to provide cost of the components within that bundle."
By Fawn Johnson
SENATE RACES
Franken: Election Is No Laughing Matter
Establishment Democrats have been lukewarm about Al Franken and his chances of unseating Minnesota Republican Sen. Norm Coleman this November, but the joke may be on them.
"We have a new progressive majority in this country; I really believe that. I believe we are going to win in November. I believe we are going to have the reins of power in January," Franken said in an interview Friday with CongressDaily.
Seated on an incandescent blue banquette in the decidedly funky lounge of the Hotel Helix in Logan Circle, Franken repeatedly returned to universal health care as the top issue he wants to champion if elected. He ties half of U.S. bankruptcies to the issue and notes, "Universal coverage without care is only universal in name only."
Friend and American Enterprise Institute fellow Norman Ornstein said Monday that the operatives and establishment types who have been wary of his candidacy might be "uneasy simply because he's an untested figure and they want this seat badly."
Indeed, in 2007, Coleman was the target of MoveOn.org ads and his seat has been coveted by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee since his election in 2002.
But Democrats and Republicans have pointed to Franken's background as a swearing liberal comedian as a problem.
To the comedy, Franken said, "I've always felt that satire was kind of a serious thing," but conceded, "I take this very seriously, and I'm running so that I can win. There are some little kinds of techniques of humor that might be time to say bye-bye to."
As for swearing, Franken joked, "I don't plan to swear a lot in the Senate. I think that there's a difference between being a comedian and being a senator."
He went on, "You know if [Sen.] John McCain swears at me, I'll swear back," but also, "I'm not going to be disrespectful to my colleagues, and I'm not going to be disrespectful to the people of Minnesota."
He abruptly pivoted to say there are other ways of being disrespectful, suggesting it was disrespectful of Coleman "to vote against increasing veterans' health when they need it."
Several Republican operatives charged that Franken will have trouble working across the aisle because he has gone after them, but he pushed back on that theory and listed several Republicans he would approach. At one point, he leaned over the table and stuck his face into the recorder and said slowly and very deliberately, "I look forward to working with John McCain as a colleague in the Senate." Then he laughed.
Minnesota GOP consultant Jeff Larson predicted that Coleman will ultimately prevail in what will be a very close race. "It's not going to get personal or nasty," he said, and added that "people are looking for something better than personal attacks."
But the race already is very personal given Franken's background, Coleman's party-switch in 1996 and the seat's recent history following former Democratic Sen. Paul Wellstone's death in a plane crash just before the 2002 election.
"People want somebody of substance," Larson said. "Paul Wellstone had substance." He went on to assert that Minnesotans regret giving the governor's chair in 1998 to Jesse Ventura, an independent who has mused about running for the Senate this year, and tied Franken in by linking the two as entertainers.
It's not just Ventura; the state is known to go against the grain: Walter Mondale's home state was the only one in the nation to go for him in the 1984 presidential race. (The District of Columbia also supported Mondale.)
The state could also be trending blue. Freshman Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar beat then-GOP Rep. Mark Kennedy by 20 percentage points in 2006, the same year that popular Republican governor Tim Pawlenty won re-election by a single point over state attorney general Mike Hatch.
Franken said he hopes to be a workhorse, and although he conceded he might be less of a dealmaker, he affirmed he is a policy wonk. "I'd like to think that I'll be asked to communicate our message sometimes because I'm an effective communicator," he said.
But more than anything in this race, Democrats, especially Franken, plan to make the race a referendum on Coleman by branding him as a rubber stamp for the Bush administration.
They also note that Coleman has been trending to the center of late and has been pushing his bipartisan work with Klobuchar.
"He tried to attach himself to Bush's hip in 2002, and now he's trying to attach himself to Amy's hip. He's nothing if not flexible," Franken said.
Coleman and the GOP are not taking anything for granted, especially given that the Republican convention kicks off the homestretch of this year's national campaign after Labor Day right in his backyard. With $7 million in the bank, Coleman has twice as much money on hand as Franken.
Coleman campaign spokesman Tom Erickson said Monday that his campaign will be about what he has done for the state versus what Franken's done -- nothing.
"[Coleman] brought professional hockey back to Minnesota," Erickson said, "and he revitalized the city of St. Paul." But reminded that he did both of those things as mayor and that Franken called Coleman "a terrible senator," Erickson hurriedly listed a couple of things Coleman has done in the Senate, including voting to increase the minimum wage and working with Klobuchar to secure funding after a bridge collapsed there in August.
And the National Republican Senatorial Committee has pounced on Franken for legal issues with his company and has launched franklyfranken.com to publicize opposition research.
One sure sign that Coleman is taking the race seriously is that Scott Howell and Co. is producing Coleman's advertisements. Howell's company worked for South Dakota Republican Sen. John Thune in 2004 when his football-themed ads received accolades for depicting former Majority Leader Tom Daschle as an obstructionist and helped to take him down.
"There's no question that people in Minnesota are very savvy consumers of media," said Howell's creative director, Vinny Minchillo. "It's a super-wired place; you can't toss up the same old stuff," he said, adding, "People are expecting a lot from the ads in this race."
By Erin McPike
HEALTH
Pediatricians To Enter Debate On Generic Biologic Drugs
After sitting out the summer as senators debated giving FDA the authority to approve follow-on or generic versions of biologic drugs, the American Academy of Pediatrics plans this week to visit House Energy and Commerce Committee leadership and other members with a dog in the fight to assert their point of view, an academy source said.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee passed follow-on biologic legislation in June, but the academy took advantage of a slower pace in the House to study the issue.
Lawmakers introduced three separate follow-on biologics bills in the House, although Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and ranking member Nathan Deal, R-Ga., have yet to propose a consensus measure.
The academy is not advocating for a specific bill, nor will it get behind a specific number of years an innovator biologic should be granted to sell its product free of follow-on competition to recoup research costs, the source said.
The academy will push for an extra six-month exclusivity period for biologic drugmakers that study their treatments' effects on children, the source said.
Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and Energy and Commerce ranking member Joe Barton proposed the only bill so far to include a pediatric exclusivity period.
Eshoo championed children's issues during the debate over FDA user fee reauthorization last year, pressing for changes to pediatric clinical trial and exclusivity standards backed by pediatric advocates.
The academy will urge lawmakers to require follow-on biologic drugmakers to conduct clinical trials.
Chemical generic drug manufacturers often rely on innovator clinical trial data, producing savings that are passed on to the consumer.
Some experts believe biologic drugs, which are derived from naturally occurring substances produced by the human body, are too complex for follow-on firms to rely on prior clinical data out of concern follow-ons will not replicate the effects of brand biologics.
Lastly, the academy wants follow-on biologic legislation to prohibit interchangeability without physician consent.
As a consumer cost-saving measure, pharmacists sometimes substitute a generic drug for a brand one without physician knowledge.
The academy is concerned follow-on biologics will not mimic the effects of brands and do not want to unintentionally limit physicians who might think they have exhausted a treatment option, the source said.
Eshoo's bill allows interchangeability under strict circumstances, while legislation proposed by House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Henry Waxman leaves interchangeability decisions up to FDA on a case-by-case basis, and a measure by Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., opposes the action.
Waxman's bill also does not require follow-on manufacturers to conduct clinical trials, while the Eshoo and Inslee bills do. A measure approved by the Senate HELP Committee in June requires clinical trials, but allows FDA to waive them, and allows interchangeability. The Senate bill does not address pediatric exclusivity.
By Anna Edney
DEFENSE
Army Requests $252.5M Transfer To Boost FCS Priorities
In an attempt to keep its prized modernization program on track after years of congressional budget cuts, Army officials have asked lawmakers for permission to shift $252.5 million in FY08 accounts to pay for high-priority portions of the service's massive Future Combat Systems program.
If approved, the reprogramming request would help ameliorate the effects of the $228 million trimmed from FCS in the FY08 Defense spending bill, cuts that Army officials warned would slow down program development and ultimately drive up costs.
An Army official said the service could live with a $150 million cut to the program without causing serious delays. But anything more than that would prolong FCS development, the official said.
According to the six-page request signed by Pentagon comptroller Tina Jonas March 21, the transfers of money would net the program $78 million above its current-year funding and help keep FCS from veering off its ambitious schedule.
The reprogramming request would cut funding from two non-FCS accounts: $45 million from a military satellite communications effort that is facing a delayed contract award and $33 million from ground vehicle research and development funding the Army says it no longer needs.
But most of the requested reallocations -- $174.5 million -- would shift money from other areas of the FCS budget and require a reduction in the size of the small army of contract personnel working on the program.
These moves would allow the Army to make a significant increase in funding for FCS manned ground vehicles -- an additional $70.9 million this year. Among other changes, service officials would increase "sustaining and training" research and development efforts on the program by $113.6 million.
In a recent, unpublicized action, House Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton and ranking member Duncan Hunter denied an earlier Army request for permission to boost this year's FCS budget by $27 million to accelerate development of unmanned air and ground vehicle prototypes.
There are "already sufficient funds for Future Combat Systems in fiscal year 2008 to accomplish the goals of the reprogramming," Skelton and Hunter wrote in an April 1 memo to Jonas. The committee leaders suggested they would "look favorably" on a future reprogramming request for FCS if it was funded out of other areas of the program.
Congress has yet to rule on the latest reprogramming request. But given the House committee's earlier reluctance to increasing the FCS budget line, the Army may face an uphill battle getting its entire request approved despite the Army's proposal to shift money from other parts of the FCS budget.
The $160 billion modernization program, the most expensive and complex technological endeavor in the Army's history, has long been targeted for cuts on Capitol Hill, where many House lawmakers have questioned whether the effort is affordable during a time of war. The heavily deployed Army, opponents of the program argue, has more pressing budget priorities than FCS.
Last week, GAO investigators concluded in a report that the costs for FCS may continue to increase -- a scenario that would make it difficult for the Pentagon to fully fund the program as it struggles to pay for other priorities.
"FCS costs are likely to grow as the current level of knowledge does not support a confident estimate, and cost estimates made by two independent organizations are significantly higher," GAO said. "Competing demands from within the Army and DOD limit the ability to fund higher FCS costs."
But as costs concerns have mounted, Army leaders have warned repeatedly that FCS -- a system of manned and unmanned air and ground vehicles linked together by a complex network -- will provide crucial capabilities essential to bringing ground warfare into the 21st century.
"We need to continue to invest in that, because ... there are going to be fights in the next five years where that technology is going to be needed," Army Vice Chief of Staff Richard Cody told Skelton's committee last week. "And we can't turn around and say, 'Let's tradeoff those monies there to fix your current problems.' We have to take a balanced approach."
By Megan Scully
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Broadcasters Look Toward Not Just DTV, But Mobile DTV
LAS VEGAS -- The nation's historic shift to digital television signals remains a top priority for the National Association of Broadcasters -- but not in the way many in Washington expected.
With the Feb. 17 switchover on the horizon, one might expect the industry to be focused on ensuring that seniors, rural residents and other citizens considered vulnerable to losing television reception don't get cut off.
While public outreach remains a top priority, the buzz here on the first day of the annual National Association of Broadcasters conclave is about another form of digital opportunity -- beaming live DTV signals to an array of mobile devices, including cell phones, iPods, laptops, video players and TV screens in cars.
Broadcasters are bullish about mobile DTV because they see dollar signs -- by some projections a whopping $2 billion in advertising revenue by 2012. There is even talk about tapping the estimated $70 billion worth of airwaves that Congress gave stations for their transition to offer subscription-based mobile content.
In an interview with CongressDaily, NAB President and CEO David Rehr insisted that mobile DTV would complement the DTV transition and not distract from the challenges that full-power stations face in meeting the deadline.
"They're working on parallel courses," he said, adding that it complements the changeover because mobile video only works with digital broadcasts. "If we're going to do it at any time, now is the time to do it."
Media companies are promoting these ideas as television outlets increasingly grapple with the business model for ancillary channels promised as one of digital television's greatest benefits.
In many markets, the hype surrounding these extra channels has exceeded reality -- in Washington, D.C., three networks are using excess capacity to mostly offer redundant weather maps.
In a massive ballroom filled to capacity this morning, executives with the Open Mobile Video Coalition said the technology, now under development, would be available by next year's switch to digital. Harris Corp., Fox Television Stations, Gannett, LG Electronics, NBC, Post-Newsweek Stations and Sinclair Broadcasting are among the proponents.
Brandon Burgess, head of the coalition and chairman and CEO of Ion Media Networks, noted that mobile DTV can be introduced relatively quickly because it utilizes an existing infrastructure.
John Eck, president of NBC, added, "We don't think the problem will be demand. We think consumers are going to want the service."
But potential pitfalls await, including the possibility that sports leagues will demand extra compensation for their content and that some cellphone carriers might balk at the approach, especially if they already offer other forms of programming to their customers.
The embrace of mobile television is occurring amid lingering worries that government and industry stakeholders overseeing the digital transition are not doing enough to educate Americans about it.
During a Monday press briefing at the convention, Meredith Baker, acting administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, sought to alleviate those concerns.
"The program's working," said Baker, whose Commerce Department agency launched a massive coupon initiative to help analog-dependent households purchase converter boxes that will keep older sets functioning.
Seventy-three boxes have been certified, with Sam's Club and Target planning to soon join the list of participating retailers, she said.
On another matter, Rehr criticized the Justice Department's recent decision to approve the merger of the XM and Sirius satellite radio services without conditions.
"The Justice Department's notion that the two companies do not compete is simply absurd. If combined, these two companies will control more spectrum than the entire FM dial," he said during a keynote. Analysts predict the FCC will approve the merger with conditions.
By David Hatch
POLITICS
McCain, Obama Trade Shots Over 'Bitter' Comment Furor
Democratic White House hopeful Sen. Barack Obama's comments last week that some small town residents are "bitter" who cling to guns and religion were derided as elitist by the presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona who announced his plan to begin traveling to those areas next week.
"I want to tell the people living there that there must not be any forgotten part of America," McCain said in a Monday morning appearance before the Associated Press' annual meeting at the Newspaper Association of America.
McCain said he did know whether Obama was an elitist, but "I think those comments are elitist." He went on to accuse the Illinois senator of disparaging "honest, hard-working, dedicated people."
Although small town residents "suffered the worst in the Depression," it never destroyed their confidence in America nor their religious faith.
"On the contrary, their faith had given generations purpose and meaning, as it does today," McCain said. "And their appreciation of traditions like hunting was based on nothing more than their contribution of their enjoyment of life."
Obama fired back later during an Associated Press luncheon at the conference, asserting that although he used a "poor choice of words" in his original remarks, "I will never back away from the basic truth of what I was trying to say."
Many voters are "frustrated and angry ... and, yes, they are bitter" that their elected leaders have failed to take effective action to resolve such festering problems as the soaring cost of health care and the outsourcing of jobs to foreign countries.
The Illinois senator said the "real insult" would be the continuation of Republican policies that created these crises.
"John McCain is a worthy opponent and an American hero, but as he [has] proven time and time again, he just does not understand," said Obama, before adding that the "other side is hoping that the voters won't notice that John McCain is running for George Bush's third term."
On his plane after his speech, McCain said Obama's comments "may be defining because it shows a fundamental attitude about the heartland of America."
"He basically says that it's economic conditions that shape their values and their, and the things that they believe in, ranging from the Second Amendment to their religious beliefs or their religious convictions," McCain said. "And the fact that he continues to say that he does not apologize for those remarks I think indicates a certain out of touch elitism."
Meanwhile, for the fourth time in as many days, rival Democratic presidential contender Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York also lashed out at Obama's observations, which were made earlier this month during a fundraiser in San Francisco.
"I believe that people don't cling to religion, they value their faith," Clinton said during an appearance in Pittsburgh.
"You don't cling to guns, you enjoy hunting or sport shooting. I don't believe he really gets it that people are looking for a president who stands up for you, not looks down on you," she said.
By Terry Kivlan, with Adam Aigner-Treworgy contributing
EDUCATION
Despite April 30 Target, Higher Ed Talks Might Slip To May
House and Senate negotiators have made progress toward producing a compromise Higher Education Act reauthorization bill, but a few thorny issues might delay completion until at least next month.
Aides for Senate Health Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Edward Kennedy said panel staffers had been meeting daily with counterparts on the House Education and Labor Committee and that the target date for completing the conference was April 30, when the latest extension of the act will expire.
But other education committee aides and lobbyists following the talks said they believed the negotiations will spill into May.
"The biggest challenge is the sheer scope of this project to reconcile two enormous bills," said Luke Swarthout, a higher education specialist for U.S. Public Interest Research Group. "It is just a lot of legislation."
Although the conferees have not been named yet, the "big four" -- Kennedy, Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions ranking member Michael Enzi, House Education and Labor Chairman George Miller and ranking member Howard (Buck) McKeon -- have had meetings to discuss the differences between the two bills, according to aides.
The biggest possible stumbling block to an agreement is widely considered to be a House provision strongly backed by Miller that would dock the federal aid of states if they slash their higher education funding to a level less than a rolling average of the previous five years.
The measure has drawn vehement protests from state officials, including a letter of opposition signed by 44 governors and resolutions passed by several legislatures.
"We're just holding our breath," said David Shreve, a spokesman for the National Council of State Legislatures. He said that although Kennedy has not taken a public stand on the issue, the House provision was not believed to have much support, if any, in the Senate.
Shreve said the measure would have the "perverse effect" of punishing students with the loss of federal aid when their states are forced to reduce education spending due to budget crunches caused by economic downturns.
In other contentious issues, higher education officials have been lobbying for the removal or modification of the tougher House provisions on discouraging illegal Internet downloading and reining in college textbook costs.
To combat the unlawful downloading, the House bill contains language supported by the entertainment industry that would require schools to offer legal methods of file sharing, such as Ruckus software. The Senate bill merely directs colleges to warn students of school policies against copyright infringements.
"The House (language) is unnecessary and inappropriate," said Matt Owens, an analyst for the Association of American Universities. "The Senate got it right."
The association is leery of House provisions intended to crack down on the overpricing of textbooks by requiring publishers to sell books unbundled with CDs, and by requiring schools to provide students price quotes for books when they register for class.
Owens said the association would prefer language giving schools the "flexibility" to help reduce textbook costs without mandates.
U.S. PIRG and student advocacy groups have weighed in to support the House provisions.
"This is not particularly strenuous regulation," said Swarthout, noting that the provision for supplying students with price information during registration was "not even binding" because it merely directed schools to do so "to the maximum extent possible."
Student advocacy groups are lobbying for the retention of House provisions on private students loans. The language would require approval of the loans by college student financial aid officials, bar schools and banks from partnering to offer the loans, and impose new disclosure requirements for interest rates, fees and other loan terms on the lenders.
"We view this as common-sense reform," said Robert Shireman, the director of the Project on Student Debt.
By Terry Kivlan
GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS
GAO: Nine Of 16 Agencies Cut Backlogs Of FOIA Requests
Many federal agencies have reduced backlogs of unprocessed Freedom of Information Act requests since a 2005 executive order urging faster processing, though inconsistent data makes progress hard to track, according to GAO.
In a report released Monday, the congressional auditing agency evaluated how 16 agencies have responded to a December 2005 executive order in which President Bush called for agencies to cut the number of FOIA requests not processed within the 20-day period in which they are usually required to respond.
GAO said nine agencies had cut their backlog; five showed increases and two saw no change.
The largest actual drop came at the Homeland Security Department, which cut its backlog by about 30,000 requests between 2006 and 2007, a decline of 30 percent. The Veterans Affairs Department's backlog fell by 9,550 requests, or 81 percent, in that period.
(click to enlarge)
FOIA backlogs grew at NASA, the Social Security Administration and the State and Education departments. The Defense Department's backlog grew by at least 5,000 requests.
GAO did not evaluate HUD, USDA or the General Services Administration because these departments could not assure their data was correct. The CIA did not respond to GAO requests.
GAO said the results show that FOIA improvement plans called for in Bush's executive order "have had a positive effect."
That conclusion differs with a report on FOIA backlogs released last month by the National Security Archive, which is affiliated with George Washington University. In a study based on data from all federal agencies, the nonprofit said agencies have cut FOIA backlogs by 2 percent since 2005.
Bush's order has had little impact because it was not accompanied by new funding or penalties to improve processing, the report said.
Meredith Fuchs, general counsel for the National Security Archive, said that GAO's findings are mostly consistent with her group's study. "Though they have some rosy paragraphs, I don't think [the GAO report] shows much progress," Fuchs said.
GAO said that because agencies use differing metrics to judge the size of their FOIA backlogs, "it was not possible to make a full assessment of governmentwide progress." The report calls for the Justice Department to clarify how agencies measure FOIA processing. A bill amending FOIA that was signed late last year by the president also requires agencies to improve tracking of overdue requests.
GAO's report criticizes the Justice Department's Criminal Division, which gave low priority to FOIA requests that had been open for more than six years because officials believed the statute of limitations no longer made these unresolved cases subject to litigation.
"Although the goal of avoiding litigation is reasonable, the lack of priority given to the division's oldest case files is inconsistent" with the department's expressed emphasis, GAO said.
The report said the number of annual FOIA requests has increased from about 2.3 million in 2002 to more than 20 million in 2006, though almost all of the increase came in requests to the Social Security Administration for records.
By Dan Friedman
AGRICULTURE
Disaster Aid Program Agreed Upon, But Tax Issues Remain
Farm bill conferees formally agreed Monday on a core bill that would include a $4 billion disaster aid package, while House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel agreed to find offsets to pay for that program and the rest of a $10 billion increase over the next 10 years.
But Rangel said he does not have the authority from House Speaker Pelosi to raise taxes to offset an additional $2.5 billion in agricultural tax breaks included in the Senate-passed bill.
Senate Agriculture Chairman Tom Harkin, who chairs the conference, said it would reconvene today at 9:30 a.m. and continue in marathon sessions until the bill is finished. The $10 billion increase would be on top of a $597 billion baseline for the farm bill.
House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson said he would participate in those conferences but warned Harkin that until the exact offsets are agreed to, it will be difficult to get conferees to finalize titles of the bill.
An extension of the 2002 farm bill expires Friday, and Congress is under pressure to get close enough to a final agreement by the middle of the week so congressional leaders and President Bush will agree to a short-term extension to finish the bill.
Last week, the House proposed a $5.5 billion increase in farm bill spending over 10 years and leaving out the disaster aid and tax packages that were in the Senate-passed bill.
On Friday, the Senate made a counteroffer of a $10 billion increase with $4 billion in disaster aid and $2.5 billion in tax breaks on top of the $10 billion.
Peterson said the House conferees would accept the Senate proposal on the core bill with the condition that offsets be worked out, but would leave the fate of the tax breaks to the Senate conferees and the House Ways and Means conferees -- Rangel, Ways and Means ranking member Jim McCrery and Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D.
Rangel said he can come up with the $4 billion for the disaster program. As for the different offsets the House and Senate have proposed, Rangel said, "There's no problem that [Senate Finance Chairman Max] Baucus and I cannot work out."
Rangel said repeatedly he wants to help get the farm bill passed. "It's not that I am so straight no one has ever made me an offer," he said. "I'm not the president's best friend, but we can make him an offer he can't refuse."
But when Harkin told Rangel he did not care how the tax committees handle the offsets and tax package, Rangel began citing problems with the Agriculture committees' approach since he fulfilled Pelosi's request in the summer to provide $4.2 billion over five years or $11.5 billion over 10 years to pay for an increase in food stamps and other nutrition programs.
Rangel noted that most House Republicans did not go along with the offset he used at that time and said, if he had that to do over again, he would have consulted Republicans before the offset was used.
Referring to the $2.5 billion in tax breaks, Rangel said: "I don't want to debate things the House leadership isn't supporting. ... I don't feel we are part of the team. We are just the expediters."
Rangel later said he wants to be "enthusiastic about what they're asking me to fund. I want them to act like I'm here for an agricultural bill, not a tax bill. I want to get on the floor to explain what I did for the agriculture bill."
Rangel also noted that Ways and Means members have other pending, unresolved bills and said, "We could put other things in it since no one cares."
Rangel asked for assurances that conferees were in agreement on the importance of the tax package, but the reactions revealed splits between the House and the Senate.
Peterson said he does not believe the tax package belongs in the farm bill. House Agriculture ranking member Bob Goodlatte, who opposes the tax package, said his support for the overall bill still depends on the final product and the offsets. "I feel your pain, I really do," Goodlatte said to Rangel.
Harkin, who was mostly silent on the fate of tax breaks, said earlier he believes the package could be added to a tax extenders bill.
Baucus, Senate Finance ranking member Charles Grassley and Agriculture ranking member Saxby Chambliss defended the tax package, but mentioned only a few of the 60 measures that are included.
Chambliss noted that a conservation easement program would allow agricultural land to remain "unspoiled."
Grassley noted all the tax provisions are related to agriculture. A provision that would allow Conservation Reserve Program payments to be considered investment rather than self-employment income for Social Security recipients and the disabled will keep people from getting those payments cuts, Grassley said.
Aggie bonds would allow people to sell farms to young farmers and spread out the taxation of capital gains, he added.
"We're at square one" on the tax package, Grassley said after the conference.
By Jerry Hagstrom
TRANSPORTATION
Senate Moves Toward Debate On Highway Corrections Bill
The Senate approved a motion, 93-1, Monday to proceed with debate on a bill making technical corrections and other changes to the $286.5 billion surface transportation bill Congress approved in 2005.
The bill does not authorize or spend more money. It makes other changes including reducing the minimum penalty states must impose on repeat drunken driving offender to avoid losing federal highway funds.
Current law sets a minimum penalty of a one-year driver's license suspension, while the correction bill changes that to a 45-day suspension and a subsequent period where driving is only allowed for work, school and alcohol treatment purposes.
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., will offer an amendment that creates an eight-member bicameral committee to investigate the inclusion of a $10 million earmark upgrading Coconut Road in Fort Myers, Fla.
Then-House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Don Young is accused of modifying the earmark to include a specific reference to Coconut Road in the 2005 bill after the House and Senate had approved its final passage and before President Bush signed the bill. The corrections bill takes out that modification.
Coburn's fellow Oklahoma Republican, Senate Environment and Public Works ranking member James Inhofe, said while he agrees that investigation of the earmark's inclusion is warranted, it is likely to be handled outside of Congress.
The House approved a corrections bill in August. A Statement of Administration Policy issued late Monday said the White House "strongly opposes" the Senate bill because it would "make substantial and harmful changes to current law" and because "the majority of the bill is devoted to earmarks."
By Darren Goode
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Groups Aim To Send A Message To FCC On Text, Short Codes
Groups that petitioned the FCC last year to ban telephone companies from blocking text messages and "short codes," which are numerical strings used by consumers to opt-in for content on mobile devices, reiterated their call for action Monday.
Saying that text messages reside in a "regulatory purgatory," Public Knowledge President Gigi Sohn told reporters it is unclear whether they are telecommunications or information services.
The December complaint by Public Knowledge, the Consumers Union, Free Press and others stemmed from Verizon's high-profile refusal to issue a short code to NARAL Pro-Choice America last fall when the activist group wanted to keep supporters connected via text messages.
Verizon backed down swiftly, but the incident prompted a letter from Sens. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin.
Several wireless carriers, including Verizon and Alltel, have refused to provide messaging clearance to rival companies that offer Internet-based phone services.
They rejected such a request from Rebtel, a telecom entrant that offers service in more than 40 countries, according to Sohn, whose group planned to file fresh comments with the FCC.
Companies are still blocking content and claim editorial control over what texts are sent on their networks, said Jef Pearlman, who drafted the petition.
If wireless carriers are allowed to decide who can speak to whom and on what terms, there could be serious implications for free speech and accessibility, Sohn said.
Public Knowledge's description of the issue "is patently false and completely misleading," CTIA spokesman Joe Farren said Monday.
The American Foundation for the Blind and Communication Service for the Deaf have signed onto the campaign. If defined as telecommunications services, mobile providers could be required to ensure conversion of the inherently visual messages to another form.
Verizon Wireless said in an FCC filing in March that text messaging should not be part of the proceeding because no claims have arisen from wireless operators blocking customers' messages.
Text messaging is an information service, not a telecom service and the provision of short codes lies outside the Communications Act, the firm argued. AT&T and Verizon planned to file another set of comments Monday.
Wireless association CTIA told the FCC in its latest filing that the action called for in the petition is "unwarranted and uncalled for as both a matter of law and policy" and should be dismissed.
Verizon Executive Vice President Tom Tauke told the FCC at a recent field hearing that carriers accept short codes in accordance with policies that are designed to protect customers from unlawful or unwanted content.
Short codes started as a form of advertising and are commonly used for game-show voting, ring-tone sales, and sports-score alerts, he said, noting that they are not the same as text messaging, he said.
Short codes have been embraced by a number of advocacy and political groups whose work depends on public outreach.
CREDO Mobile CEO Laura Scher said she was worried that her firm's get-out-the-vote effort, which has registered than 2 million people, could be held back when it sends Election Day reminders if carriers decide to block political speech. "We can't depend on big telecoms to regulate themselves," she said.
New York Democratic Assemblyman Richard Brodsky said the petition, which he supports, "is one of many battlegrounds" and "we're going to be fighting this ... in state legislatures and in Congress for many years to come."
Free Press General Counsel Marvin Ammori said an FCC ruling could "set a precedent for lots of new technology coming down the pike." Distinctions between platforms are fading and the commission should adopt "a unified, open model for all communications," he said.
By Andrew Noyes
JUDICIARY
House Panel Leaders Say They Want Past Justice's 'Spin'
House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers and two colleagues Monday demanded answers -- not, as their release puts it, "public relations spin" -- from Attorney General Mukasey regarding revelations about intelligence failures and civil liberties violations prior to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The letter, signed by Conyers, Constitution Subcommittee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., and Crime Subcommittee Chairman Bobby Scott, D-Va., was the second to the Bush administration's top lawyer and directly follows an April 10 response from a lower-ranking Justice Department official that they say failed to answer several specific questions from their first.
Members initially asked about an instance involving communications about a terrorist facility that Mukasey mentioned during a recent speech at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco.
The response from Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski characterized their request as a general one, which the trio argues was anything but.
They inquired whether existing emergency Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act provisions would have allowed interception of the specific call at issue if the foreign portion of the call was a known terrorist location.
The lawmakers' letter also asked for a copy of a secret Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel memorandum concerning the purported authority to conduct certain military or other activities within the United States.
Furthermore, their letter did not, as the April 10 response suggests, "question the very premise for the joint congressional and executive branch effort over the past year to modernize FISA," they wrote.
"We have been deeply involved in that effort, conducting numerous hearings and passing two separate bills in the past six months," the letter said.
The administration's "refusal to engage in meaningful discussion with House Democrats on FISA reform has become untenable" and the time has come for meaningful negotiations, they said.
Questions on that topic might arise at a hearing today of Nadler's subcommittee, which will focus on the use of "national security letters," administrative subpoenas that let FBI agents analyze telephone, computer and bank records without warrants.
FBI General Counsel Valerie Caproni, Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine and former department officials are slated to testify.
In anticipation of the hearing, a watchdog group is accusing the FBI of delaying its probe of a former North Carolina State University student suspected of links to terrorism.
The agency used an improper security letter to seek information and failed to report the misuse for almost two years, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which used documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act and public records to piece together details of the case.
A similar Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, scheduled for Wednesday, has been postponed until April 23, due to scheduling conflicts, an aide said.
By Andrew Noyes
HOMELAND SECURITY
Firm Develops Interoperable Radios For First Responders
The Homeland Security Department has signed a $6.275 million contract with the Maryland-based Thales Communications, Inc., to test the Liberty, the first land mobile radio system capable of broadcasting across the all public safety frequency bands and designed to meet the specifications of first responders.
The company has developed several prototypes of the device and is now making copies to test the technology in large and small first-responder agencies across the country.
"We know they work but we need to try them out in working environments to test the [system's] ruggedness and to see if it has to be tweaked," said John Verrico, a spokesman for the department's office of research and technology.
The radio is approximately the same size and weight as conventional portables but will cost substantially more than most, around $6,000 each, about the same as the high-end hand-helds now carried by some first responders.
The interoperable radios are intended for use by commanders and other supervisory personnel.
"The concept is that not every single officer would have one of these." said Verrico. To equip all first responders in the country with an updated radio would be an "impossible dream," he added, estimating that this would cost over $100 billion.
Verrico said decisions had yet to be made on how many of the interoperable radios would be tested in the year-long demonstration program, and what city, state and county agencies would be selected to participate.
But he estimated that Thales could be ready to mass produce and start marketing the system within three or four years, or sooner.
"I have to tell you, there is a lot of interest out there," said Steve Nichols, Thales' director for business development and public safety.
The new Thales radio has a built-in scanner enabling users to move from channel to channel, and lock on to conversations. Under current conditions, first responders wishing to communicate across bands have to carry several radios or tap into a central network to have calls patched through.
"The unique thing about Liberty is that you have all of this in a single device on your hip," said Nichols.
More than a decade ago, Thales developed a multi-band portable system for the military, replacing 60 pounds of communications gear with a two-pound device. But Nichols said the radio could not be easily adapted for first responders because it did not have the capability to function in the "dense" communications atmosphere of public safety networks.
He said the company "got its toes wet" in first responder communications nine years ago when it introduced the Thales 25, a single-band digital radio for police and wildland firefighters.
By Terry Kivlan
OUTLOOK
People
SWEEPER. Andres Ramirez has signed on with NDN, formerly the New Democrat Network. Ramirez will serve as vice president of Hispanic programs for the advocacy group and think tank. Ramirez may have been born in Texas, but he grew up mostly under the bright lights of Las Vegas. "It's one of the most dynamic places in the country to live in," he says. "Being able to go to the grocery store at 2 in the morning ... it's those little things that make the quality of life a little better." Though Ramirez lives in Vegas, he'll commute to Washington for the job at NDN. Ramirez was an aide for Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., in the 1990s. At the behest of the now-Senate majority leader, Ramirez spent the past couple years working on the Nevada Caucus for the 2008 presidential campaign. "It was by far the most challenging and the most rewarding process I've been involved in," he says. In addition to helping establish caucus rules, the bilingual Ramirez was involved in launching parallel Hispanic programs and a Web site in Spanish. "There isn't even a Spanish word for caucus," he says. Ramirez, who also helped out on Reid's 1998 re-election campaign, worked in former Nevada Democratic Gov. Bob Miller's Washington office. In the 2006 congressional races, he was deputy national field director for Communities United to Strengthen America, a 501(c) 4 group. A big soccer fan, Ramirez played sweeper in a league and helped the Nevada Democratic Party establish a soccer team.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT. Gibraltar Associates, a strategic communications company, has hired Yier Shi as vice president in its Washington office. Shi formerly worked as a speechwriter at FDA. Most recently, he was senior director in the food and nutrition practice with FD Dittus.
By Gregg Sangillo. Have a tip for CongressDailyAM's People column? Call 202-739-8400 or send an e-mail to people@nationaljournal.com.
OFF TO THE RACES
Bitter Pills
Last week, this column speculated that there was a "95 percent chance" of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama winning the Democratic presidential nomination. Further, it stated that "short of a Rev. Jeremiah Wright-level embarrassment visiting Obama each week for four or five consecutive weeks, this thing is over."
Well, "Bittergate" is a Wright-size problem. To recap, last week Obama said at a fundraiser in San Francisco: "You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they feel through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not ... And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."
Alone, this incident is hardly enough to derail Obama's nomination. It would take much more than that.
While his delegate lead over Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., is not large, it is very difficult to overcome, given how few states are left to vote, how hard it is to close a gap under the Democrats' proportional representation system and that the remaining undecided superdelegates hardly seem ready to march lockstep into the Clinton column.
But it doesn't mean this isn't costly and doesn't hurt Obama in a general election. Even a cursory look at the national and state-by-state polling shows that voters are predisposed to vote Democratic and vote for change this year. But swing voters have to be comfortable with the change they are asked to make.
For voters who are only leaning toward Obama or are genuinely undecided, being asked to vote for a 46-year-old black man with a relatively thin resume on the national or statewide level, these kinds of stories do not make them comfortable.
When times are good and voters are reasonably happy with what is going on, they will usually make the safe choice, the known quantity. But with polls showing that less than a quarter of voters think the country is headed in the right direction and the vast majority say it is on the wrong track, a certain amount of uncertainty can be preferable to the status quo. That appears to be where we are now.
But if too much risk is associated with that uncertainty, voters might not be willing to take that big of a leap of faith. The more Jeremiah Wright and Bittergate stories come out, the greater the perceived risk.
One of the many unique aspects of Obama's candidacy is that his patterns of support differ from the traditional Democratic model.
An April 10 report by the Gallup Organization, based on 6,158 interviews with registered voters between March 31-April 6 (with a 1-point error margin) showed Obama and presumptive GOP nominee John McCain of Arizona both with 45 percent.
But among the sample of 1,440 voters (with a 3-point error margin) with a high school education or less, a group that normally favors Democrats, McCain had 46 percent to Obama's 40 percent. In comparison, Clinton had 48 percent to McCain's 43 percent among this sample.
Among the 1,936 registered voters (with a 2-point error margin) with some college, but no four-year degree, Obama got 46 percent, McCain 45 percent.
For the sample of 1,388 registered voters (with a 3-point error margin) with a four-year college degree but no postgraduate education, Obama and McCain were tied at 46 percent.
And among the 1,350 registered voters with some postgraduate education, Obama had 52 percent to McCain's 42 percent. That sample had a 3-point error margin.
Historically, the more education a voter has, the more Republican they tend to vote, up to the point of post-graduate. At that point, they tend to turn back more Democratic.
This is also where anything that smacks of elitism -- or anything that raises anxieties among lower-educated, working class, white voters -- exacerbates problems Obama already has with downscale voters. It also means he has to perform that much better among upscale voters.
For many downscale, white voters, casting a ballot for Obama might be a bit of a challenge, but not necessarily an insurmountable one. But more incidents like Bittergate will make it a very, very uphill climb.
For Clinton, the odds are it is too late to save her candidacy. But more Bittergates would increase her chances of drawing enough support in the April 22 Pennsylvania primary to justify, or even guarantee, her continued run.
There are likely to be more gaffes for each of the candidates as this campaign progresses, but in a race like this, each one is exceedingly costly and, cumulatively, can become fatal.
As of this column, I still believe that Obama has about a 95 percent chance of clinching the Democratic nomination.
The only way Clinton can win is to get enough pledged delegates through the remaining primaries and caucuses so superdelegates can perceive the race as a virtual tie and vote for her.
However, the window for that is pretty much closed.
She can't win the remaining contests by sufficiently large enough margins to appreciably close the gap and, and superdelegates appear to be breaking more toward Obama.
So again, short of a Rev. Jeremiah Wright-level embarrassment visiting Obama each week for four or five more consecutive weeks, this thing is over.
By Charlie Cook
HILL BRIEFS RSC Readies Amendment
Just In Time For Tax Day
Members of the conservative House Republican Study Committee are preparing to unveil today a constitutional amendment limiting annual spending increases to no more than the growth of the economy, provided overall spending does not exceed 20 percent of gross domestic product.
The proposed "Spending Limit Amendment" is part of the RSC's "taxpayer bill of rights," and its introduction is timed to coincide with today's tax filing deadline.
"The projected growth of federal spending is simply unsustainable, threatening the standard of living of our children and grandchildren," wrote the RSC chairman, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, and Rep. John Campbell, R-Calif., in a letter to colleagues.
"By 2040, taxes would have to double in order to pay for all of the spending that will compound if the federal budget is simply left on automatic pilot -- and that's if no more additional spending is created."
The spending limit amendment, which an aide said RSC members might ask the Rules Committee to make in order for floor debate this week on a tax bill, could be waived for any year a declaration of war is in effect or if two-thirds of lawmakers vote to waive it. "Although there is no substitute for our collective courage when considering specific spending proposals, the Spending Limit Amendment will prove a powerful and essential tool for ensuring fiscal discipline by transforming a system rigged to spend more at the expense of the American family," Hensarling and Campbell wrote.
House Approves Contract Ban
For Companies With Tax Debts
The House on Monday passed a bill barring companies with tax debts from receiving large government contracts or grants. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Brad Ellsworth, D-Ind., requires government contractors to certify they do not have tax liens with the IRS and allows the Treasury Department to share information on companies' tax debts with agencies awarding contracts.
"Companies that cheat on their taxes have an unfair competitive advantage when bidding for federal contracts because their costs are lower," said House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Henry Waxman, whose committee passed the bill last month. Waxman said the bill passed only after the resolution of jurisdictional issues with the Ways and Means Committee that complicated efforts to pass similar bills.
House Oversight and Government Reform ranking member Tom Davis said the administration is finalizing a regulation similar to the bill, but Davis said he had "no real objections" to the legislation.
Rep. Geoff Davis Apologizes
To Obama For 'Boy' Remark
Rep. Geoff Davis, R-Ky., is apologizing to Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., after referring to him as "that boy."
Davis told a Republican gathering Saturday in Kentucky, "That boy's finger does not need to be on the button." Davis said Monday it was "a poor choice of words" while discussing political and national security issues at an annual dinner.
Davis' campaign said it sent a letter to Obama apologizing. Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton called the comment a "condescending and personal attack."
Berman Excoriates Carter
For Planned Hamas Meeting
House Foreign Affairs Chairman Howard Berman criticized former President Carter Monday for planning to meet with the Islamic militant group Hamas.
By meeting with a group that controls Gaza and does not recognize Israel's right to exist, Carter "in effect is undermining a current policy which is not just American but held by many others," Berman told the Associated Press.
"Jimmy Carter's view of the forces at work in the Middle East and how he likes to attribute blame and responsibility is so warped to my way of thinking that I'm skeptical of any initiative he undertakes," said Berman, a longtime supporter of Israel.
The Bush administration also has criticized Carter's plans to meet in Syria this week with the leader of Hamas, and the plans have angered Israel. Israel's secret service declined to assist U.S. agents guarding Carter, a move one U.S. source called "unprecedented,"Reuters reported.
Overseas Contract Loophole
Expected To Be Closed
The Bush administration is removing a loophole from proposed federal-contracting rules that would have exempted companies working overseas from fraud-reporting requirements, the Associated Press reported Monday.
An April 4 draft copy of the updated proposal strips the overseas exemption from the pending rule, AP said. The move was not unexpected: A federal contracting official told CongressDaily April 3 that the loophole was likely to be closed. "Sometimes regulations are drafted imprecisely," the senior official said.
The original proposal, which would have exempted overseas contractors from a new rule mandating efforts to find and report fraud on contracts worth $5 million or more, had drawn strong criticism from members of Congress. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, proposed a budget amendment to close the loophole, and House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Henry Waxman, along with Reps. Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., have demanded that OMB turn over documents on how the rule was drafted.
Iraq War Vet Wins Democratic
Endorsement For Ramstad's Seat
Iraq war veteran Ashwin Madia won the Democratic endorsement Saturday for the race to replace Rep. Jim Ramstad, R-Minn., the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported.
The political newcomer secured the endorsement when state Sen. Terri Bonoff began losing support during the district convention and withdrew.
Madia will face Republican state Rep. Erik Paulsen in November.
He held the delegate lead through the early ballot rounds but began building on the lead in the last two ballots. Bonoff appealed for party unity after the battle for the endorsement.
Republicans portrayed Madia as too liberal for the suburban district, which has been held by Republicans for nearly five decades.
"DFLers obviously opted for the far-left alternative,'' said a spokesman for the state Republican Party.
Madia, a former Republican, said he would focus on finding a way out of the Iraq war, working toward a balanced budget and working on global warming.
Stupak Challenger Raises Less
Than $6,000 In First Quarter
Republican state Rep. Tom Casperson, who is seeking to challenge Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., raised $5,481 in the most recent quarterly fundraising period, the Detroit News reported.
Casperson says he has been traveling through the large 1st District to bolster his name identification with voters, which will lead to more contributions.
"This is going to be a competitive race," said Casperson. "I've got to get known. That's our game plan."
Casperson has $29,901 in cash, according to his FEC report.
Stupak has raised $109,292 in the most recent quarter and has $451,522 on hand.
"We still look at this as a very highly competitive race. I know the Michigan GOP has targeted this race," said Laurie Stupak, the treasurer of her husband's campaign. "They seem to be pulling out the stops for Mr. Casperson."
Lunsford's $470,000 Donation Trips Millionaire's Amendment
Democratic businessman Bruce Lunsford donated $470,000 to his campaign for the seat held by Senate Minority Leader McConnell last week in a move that pushed his self-funding over the $1 million mark, the Associated Press reported.
The donation tripped the so-called millionaire's amendment, allowing some of his opponents in the primary to accept up to three times the maximum contribution from each donor.
The other wealthy candidate in the Democratic primary, Greg Fischer, who gave $510,000 to his campaign, will not benefit from the move because the differential between Lunsford's and his contribution is only $505,000.
Five other Democrats are seeking the nomination.
A spokeswoman for Lunsford declined to say if Lunsford plans to contribute more to his campaign.
Former Talk Show Host
Seeks To Challenge Barrow
A former talk-radio host said Monday he is seeking the Republican nomination to challenge Rep. John Barrow, D-Ga., the Associated Press reported.
Ben Crystal spent six years on Savannah station WHBQ as a host touting conservative politics and lambasting liberals under the pseudonym Ben Bennett. He was fired in 2006 after the station settled a lawsuit by a Chatham County commissioner who accused Crystal of slander.
Crystal, 37, said he hopes voters don't see him as a local celebrity from radio.
"There's nothing regular about that career at all, but I'm a regular guy," said Crystal, who now works as a personal fitness trainer. "My goal is not to be a politician. My goal is to be one among the many in District 12 whose voice isn't being heard as well as it could be."
Crystal joins former congressional staffer John Stone and mechanical engineer Ray McKinney in the July 15 Republican primary.
In 2006, Barrow won a second term by 864 votes over former Rep. Max Burns, R-Ga.
Sixth County In New York
Open Seat Backs Powers
The Monroe County Democratic Committee last week endorsed Iraq war veteran Jonathan Powers' bid for the seat Rep. Thomas Reynolds, R-N.Y., will vacate, the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal reported.
Other Democrats running include attorney Alice Kryzan and industrialist Jack Davis.
Powers has won the support of six of seven county Democratic committees in the district. The Erie County committee has yet to pick a candidate.
Davis, who has unsuccessfully run for the seat in 2004 and 2006, is set to formally launch his campaign today. He has promised to put $3 million of his money into the race.
Several Republicans are considering running, but no candidate has declared.
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