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Protesters by the dozens carried signs, like "Security First, Amnesty Never," outside the Jackson office of Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott on Thursday. It was a shot at proposed legislation and Sen. Lott, who says the bill is not perfect, but it's better than nothing. "Sen. Lott has stated people in Mississippi have no problems with this bill, but as you see now, we are a cross section of Mississippi and we are very opposed to this bill," said Kim Wade of the Mississippi Federation for Immigration Reform and Enforcement, or MFIRE. Senate Bill 1348 adds more border patrol agents and...

A group of protesters is outraged Senator Trent Lott is supporting the controversial immigration bill now before the U.S. Senate. SB 1348 strengthens the Mexico border and provides a path to citizenship for illegal aliens already here. Dozens rallied at Lott's Jackson office Thursday carrying signs that read things like "Security first. Amnesty never." Protesters took shots at the proposed legislation and Sen. Lott, who on Wednesday said the bill is not perfect, but "it's better than nothing." "Senator Lott has stated people in Mississippi [have] no problems with this bill," said protester Kim Wade. "But as you see now,...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: We'll go to Bloomington, Illinois, and start. This is Jack. Nice to have you, sir. Welcome. CALLER: Hey, Rush. J. B. Three here from Wilmington. I need to talk to you about something. I believe with this bought-and-paid-for Congress, whether they're Republican or Democrat, doesn't make any difference, they're all in the same pocket on this illegal immigration business, and if the American people don't stand up and be counted, and they can't do it by calling into talk shows. We need -- and talk shows are great -- but we need something more important. We need...

Senate defenders of the reform plan cite misinformation, as e-mails clog their mailboxes and calls jam the switchboards. Washington-Trent Lott doesn't usually answer his Senate phone himself, but when angry callers are burning up the lines – as they are over this week's debate about revising America's immigration laws – the Republicans' No.2 Senate leader has picked up to hear what they've got to say. A lot of the talk is misinformation, he says. Talk radio and the blogs were blasting the compromise bill, which includes a guest-worker program and a path to legal status for many of the 12...

NASA announced plans on Monday to build a new engine test stand at Stennis Space Center in Hancock County. The announcement represents an estimated $175 million investment in Stennis and serves to support the Constellation Project. That's NASA's plan to return the United States to the Moon and eventually to Mars. The new stand at Stennis will test NASA's J-2X engines, which will be used in the second stage of the Ares I launch vehicle. NASA officials say the new 300-foot-tall open-frame design will allow engineers to simulate conditions at different altitudes. The new stand will be completed in time...

You'll be happy to hear that Biloxi's gaming business not only has made big strides since Hurricane Katrina devastated the coastline, but also that the restored casinos have expanded what they offer, and new properties are on the way. Before the storm that destroyed tens of thousands of gulf-area homes, Biloxi had nine casinos. Today, seven are back in business, including the glitzy Beau Rivage Resort & Casino, which reopened at the end of August, a year after Katrina hit. After the hurricane, the city changed its laws to allow casinos -- previously confined to floating structures at the water's...

Newly elected Senate Republican Whip Trent Lott will host a 10 a.m. coffee session for invited Republican guests Tuesday at the Phoenix Park Hotel on Capitol Hill in Washington to discuss Sen. John McCain's impending campaign for president with him and McCain. Lott, a supply-sider and social conservative, had not been allied with McCain previously. However, in his e-mailed invitation, Lott asserted, "John and I have been friends for many years, and my respect for him is unparalleled." Tuesday's meeting with McCain, Lott said, will "begin to build an organization that focuses not on our differences, but on our shared...

The following letter appeared in a Florida newspaper this week: 11/16/06 Voters handed win to the terrorists Editor: I find it painful that I had to see Americans through Islamic terrorists' eyes, for what they really are. You Americans who voted the Democratic ticket, handed the Al Quaida and Islamic terrorists their second greatest victory after 9/11. Through the brainwashing rhetoric of the Democratic party, you bought into their aspirations to recapture the White House at the expense of the safety of our country and children. I am ashamed of my fellow Americans who no longer have the will to...

Breaking

As rumored since last year, Political Wire has learned that Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) will run for Senate Minority Whip. He launched a "quiet campaign" just before the midterm elections in anticipation that the previous holder of the position, Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), would lose his re-election race. However, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) declared last week he has lined up the votes for the leadership post.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) has been a disaster and the rest of the House and Senate leadership has not been any better. The lean, ascetic, ideological purity of the Gingrich Republicans of 1994 had yielded to the corrupt, feather-your-own-nest psychology of the current Republican congressional leadership. They assumed that the partisan gerrymandering of 2000 left them invulnerable and they dipped into the till to get earmarks for their favorite lobbyists in return for contributions and free vacations. It's time to get rid of this kind of leadership and to bring in people with a fine, tough partisan and ideological...

I'm trying yet another format change this week.  I have left the background links on the entry for each guest for each show, like last week, but I've broken the Sunday shows out into separate posts to try to make each one more easy to read and discuss.  The Saturday shows will still be posted as one message, then I'll do the ping.  Please me know if this works.And I've put my (expanded) witty commentary here instead of in the ping...The most interesting guest this week should be Secretary Rice, who is on Fox, CBS and ABC, but she probably...

by Mark Finkelstein July 7, 2006 If you're a Republican senator who makes a remark with insensitive racial connotations, you're toast. Ask Trent Lott. But if you're a Democrat? Hey, no problem! Then again, woe betide the Republican senator who offers an awkward description of the workings of the internet. That's the world according to Time reporter Ana Marie Cox, who appeared on last evening's Scarborough Country. For those who might have missed the Biden flap, on a recent campaign swing to New Hampshire, Biden told an Indian political activist: “You cannot go into a Dunkin Donuts or a 7-Eleven...

House of Reps Boots Democrat from Committee It’s about time that bribe taker and thief, William Jefferson, Democrat Louisiana, was booted off his committee assignments in the House of Reps. Now, obviously we should not ask him to resign until the investigation is complete, but it is perfectly sensible to tell him to vacate his position on any committees where he can influence legislation. The House stripped Democratic Rep. William Jefferson of his committee seat on Friday in an unprecedented action against a lawmaker ensnared in scandal, but not under indictment. (article) Interesting that they feel they have to say...

The main message is the Sunday Shows.  Message 1 will be the Saturday Shows and message 2 will be the show guest links post.  Then I'll post the ping list.ABC This Week (George Stephanopoulos) Meme: It's the oil companies faultOK, if it's not the oil companies, then it's the incompetent Bush administration foreign policiesGeorge Clooney is a serious and important voice on the international stage (can you say "presidential material?") Topics: Oil, Iraq and foreign policy Turmoil overseas is pinching American pocketbooks at the gas pumps. On Sunday, I'll speak with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to ask how the...

E-mail Author Author Archive Send to a Friend Version April 26, 2006, 11:22 a.m. Bridge to November The inability of a handful of House Republicans to stomach a long-overdue belt-tightening reform is threatening to prevent the House from passing a budget resolution for the first time since 1974. Fortunately for fiscal conservatives, a pork-laden spending bill has come along just in time to remind the public why this particular reform is so desperately needed. On Tuesday, President Bush threatened to veto an emergency spending bill for Iraq and Katrina if it exceeds $92.2 billion. Bush, who has yet to...

Lott re-emerges as Republicans' go-to guy in the Senate BY JILL ZUCKMAN Chicago Tribune WASHINGTON - As the Senate struggled recently to resolve an impasse over immigration reform, Sen. John Cornyn needed advice from an expert. He did not turn to President Bush nor to Majority Leader Bill Frist. "I said, `Trent, how do we get out of this mess?''' said Cornyn, R-Texas, meaning Sen. Trent Lott, the former Senate Republican leader from Mississippi whose knack for legislative strategy remains undiminished, if newly appreciated. Lott was forced from his leadership post in 2002 after he praised then-Sen. Strom Thurmond's segregationist...

Lott Lawyer: State Farm Destroying Papers Monday April 10, 2006 11:31 PM By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press Writer BILOXI, Miss. (AP) - A lawyer for U.S. Sen. Trent Lott said Monday that State Farm Insurance Co. is destroying documents that could show the insurer has fraudulently denied thousands of claims by Lott and other policyholders whose homes were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Zach Scruggs, one of Lott's attorneys, says his client has a ``good faith belief'' that several State Farm employees in Biloxi are destroying engineering reports that gave conflicting conclusions about whether wind or water was responsible for storm...

PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., says he is running for a fourth term this year, a decision that ends months of speculation on the Mississippi political scene. Lott, 64, told a hometown crowd Tuesday that he wants to continue working on federal issues related to Mississippi's recovery from Hurricane Katrina. The former Senate majority leader also has hinted that he might seek another leadership position in Washington. Lott was first elected to the U.S. House in 1972 and to the Senate in 1988.

This Week, U.S. Senator Trent Lott, From Mississippi, Will End Speculation About Whether He Will Seek Re-Election Or Not. Lott Lost His Pascagoula Home To Hurricane Katrina And Has Said, With Retirement Age Approaching, He May Need To Do Something "More Lucrative". But Mississippi Republicans Have Urged Him To Run Again. Lott Plans To Hold A Press Conference Tuesday Morning To Announce His Decision.

The Talk Shows Sunday, January 15th, 2006 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Sens. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; Reps. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., John Boehner, R-Ohio, and John Shadegg, R-Ariz., candidates in the upcoming House majority leader race; Harry Johnson, president, Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation. MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Paul Bremer, former U.S. administrator in Iraq; Taylor Branch, civil rights author and historian; Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow John McWhorter; Children's Defense Fund President Marian Wright Edelman. FACE THE NATION (CBS): Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and...

Former House Majority Leader Trent Lott is mulling over two widely divergent options: Retiring from Congress – or running again in 2006 and trying to regain a top GOP leadership post. His decision could determine whether Republicans retain control of the Senate next year, according to nationally syndicated columnist Robert Novak. GOP officials in Mississippi believe Lott will probably retire, and they fear that would leave the door open for former State Attorney General Mike Moore, a Democrat, to win his Senate seat, Novak reports. But Lott has dropped hints that he might not only seek a fourth term, but...

Trent Lott within the next week plans to decide between seeking a fourth term in the U.S. Senate from Mississippi or retiring from public life. That could determine whether Republicans keep control of the Senate in next year's elections. For the longer range, Lott's retirement and replacement could signal that Southern political realignment has peaked and now is receding. Mississippi, one of the reddest of the red Republican states, has not even been on the game board of the Washington analysis forecasting the 2006 Senate outcome. But in Mississippi, prominent Republicans are worried sick. They believe Lott will probably retire....

Trent Lott within the next week plans to decide between seeking a fourth term in the U.S. Senate from Mississippi or retiring from public life. That could determine whether Republicans keep control of the Senate in next year's elections. For the longer range, Lott's retirement and replacement could signal that Southern political realignment has peaked and now is receding. Republican National Chairman Ken Mehlman pleaded with Lott last week to run again. The senator was as blunt with this emissary from President Bush as he was with me. "Where is our vision and our agenda?" he asked. The malaise afflicting...

GOP's Control of South Is No Sure Bet by Robert Novak Posted Dec 26, 2005 Text Size: S M L printer-friendly email to a friend respond to this article Ex-FISA Judge Is Liberal, Partisan Hack Dems: We're Losing the War and Our Economy Stinks Live and Let Spy Rumsfeld Sends Signals He'll Stay at Defense Trent Lott within the next week plans to decide between seeking a fourth term in the U.S. Senate from Mississippi or retiring from public life. That could determine whether Republicans keep control of the Senate in next year's elections. For the longer range, Lott's retirement...

GULFPORT - U.S. Sen. Trent Lott and wife Tricia are suing State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. over its refusal to cover the loss of their Pascagoula home to Hurricane Katrina. The Lotts' suit, filed today in U.S. District Court, accuses the insurance company of fraud for denying coverage based on a "flood" exemption and asks that the court order the claim paid. It further asks that the insurance company be prohibited from using the flood exemption to deny coverage. Attorney Richard "Dickie" Scruggs is representing his sister and brother-in-law in the lawsuit. The Lotts paid insurance premiums for more...

WASHINGTON - New evidence is emerging that the top Democrat on the Senate committee currently investigating Jack Abramoff got political money arranged by the lobbyist back in 2002 shortly after the lawmaker took action favorable to Abramoff's tribal clients. A lawyer for the Louisiana Coushatta Indians told The Associated Press that Abramoff instructed the tribe to send $5,000 to Sen. Byron Dorgan (news, bio, voting record)'s political group just three weeks after the North Dakota Democrat urged fellow senators to fund a tribal school program Abramoff's clients wanted to use.The check was one of about five dozen the Coushattas listed...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 26 - ...During an appearance last weekend at the University of Mississippi, Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, predicted that Mr. Lott would become Republican leader again... He also relishes keeping people guessing. After spending more than half his life in Congress, Mr. Lott, 64, is coy about plans...[he] is weighing whether to stay or leave for a more lucrative opportunity... Meanwhile, he is having a blast. "My outlook on life," he declared, "is whatever you do in life, do it with gusto and have fun. And I am." The senator has also thrown darts in the direction...

Investigate the Senate for CIA Leak November 9, 2005 Download Windows Media PlayerListen to Rush Conduct Broadcast Excellence BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: I want to talk about this latest CIA leak investigation, because something's going on here, folks, and I don't like it. As you know, about this time yesterday Senator Frist and Congressman Hastert sent out a letter demanding a bicameral investigation into the latest CIA leak (story) that resulted in a story in the Washington Post last Wednesday about these black sites, these so-called black prisons, these prisons that nobody knows about where we're housing these Al-Qaeda terrorists...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Breaking with the White House and fellow conservatives, Republican Sen. Trent Lott and the head of the Cato Institute questioned on Tuesday whether top White House adviser Karl Rove, who remains in legal jeopardy in a CIA-leak probe, should keep his policy-making job. Rove was not indicted on Friday along with Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis Libby. But lawyers involved in the case said Rove, President George W. Bush's top political adviser and deputy chief of staff, remains under investigation and may still be charged by prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. The identity of covert CIA...

Yesterday President George W Bush attended the World Summit and 60th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York and gave the toast a the official luncheon Upon the President's return to Washington yesterday evening he visited the Sixth and I Historic Synagogue in Washington DC before giving remarks at the National Dinner Celebrating 350 Years of Jewish Life in America Today 9.00pm Eastern time the President is due to address the nation from New Orleans regarding the Katrina Hurricane disaster prior to that he will view hurricane damage in Mississippi. The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on John Roberts...

Hurricane Katrina's destruction of the Gulf Coast region is factoring into Sen. Trent Lott's decision about whether to seek a fourth term, as he weighs his family's own financial situation with the dire needs of his constituants and neighbors.

Political operatives at the Democratic National Committee in Washington developed the plan to turn the memorial service for Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone into a political rally, top party sources tell Capitol Hill Blue. The party also urged the Wellstone family to ask Vice President Dick Cheney to not attend the service and concocted the excuse that security for the VP would disrupt the event even though Secret Service security was required for former president Bill Clinton, who was invited and who did attend. Rick Kahn, the Wellstone campaign worker and friend, worked the highly partisan crowd into a frenzy with...

Cut the red tape, Lott says Criticizes FEMA for holding up 20,000 trailers 'sitting in Atlanta' Monday, September 5, 2005; Posted: 9:12 p.m. EDT (01:12 GMT) POPLARVILLE, Mississippi (CNN) -- Sen. Trent Lott berated both the Federal Emergency Management Agency and his own state's emergency management, MEMA, for being mired in red tape at a time of urgent need given the devastation left by Hurricane Katrina. Lott said he has been trying to get FEMA to send 20,000 trailers "sitting in Atlanta" to the Mississippi coast, and he urged President Bush during a meeting Monday to intervene. He said...

An oak tree may be the only remains of the home where Sen. Trent Lott raised his family and joined other political leaders for a rocking chair view of the sea. Lott, R-Miss., learned from neighbors and relatives that the storm surge from Hurricane Katrina, rising as high as 30 feet, leveled his Pascagoula home along the Gulf coast of Mississippi near the Alabama border. Lott's press secretary, Susan Irby, said Lott and his wife were driving to Pascagoula Wednesday to search for personal effects that may have survived the storm. "He's among the many who have losses and it...

WASHINGTON -- When Sen. Trent Lott decides which GOP presidential candidate to support in 2008, it apparently will not be Sen. Bill Frist, the Tennessee Republican who Lott says betrayed him at a low moment in his political career. Asked Sunday whether Frist, who succeeded Lott as Senate majority leader in 2002, has the character to be president, Lott paused before answering. ''I think I'd have to think about that,'' said Lott (R-Miss.). Lott said ''a lot of good people out there'' are thinking about whether to run and that ''I probably would lean toward some of the others, let...

WASHINGTON - When Sen. Trent Lott decides which GOP presidential candidate to support in 2008, it apparently will not be Sen. Bill Frist, the Tennessee Republican who Lott says betrayed him at a low moment in his political career. Asked Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" whether Frist, who challenged and succeeded Lott as Senate majority leader in 2002, has the character to be president, Lott paused before answering. "I think I'd have to think about that," said Lott, R-Miss. Lott said "a lot of good people out there" are thinking about whether to run and that "I probably would...

The Talk Shows Sunday, August 21th, 2005 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D). MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Sens. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and Trent Lott, R-Miss. FACE THE NATION (CBS): Former (Clinton Administration) Labor Secretary Robert Reich; former Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Glenn Hubbard. THIS WEEK (ABC): Sens. George Allen, R-Va., and Chuck Hagel, R-Neb.; New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D); Kinky Friedman, musician, mystery novelist and Texas gubernatorial candidate. LATE EDITION (CNN) : Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.; Rep. Duncan Hunter,...

WASHINGTON - The Senate is crammed with "lone wolves and immense egos," former Majority Leader Trent Lott writes in a memoir that settles a few scores with fellow Republicans and recounts an improbable partnership with a Democratic president. ADVERTISEMENT In "Herding Cats, A Lifetime in Politics," Lott wrote that Sen. Bill Frist (news, bio, voting record), his successor as majority leader, was one of the "main manipulators" in the events that resulted in his own loss of power. Lott lost his post in 2002 after making racially tinged remarks at a 100th birthday party for one-time segregationist Sen. Strom Thurmond."Frist's...

Sen. Trent Lott's upcoming book, Herding Cats, is far less catty than anyone could have anticipated. The book was expected to be explosive, given how famous Lott is for his temper and ability to hold a grudge, and thus apparently ready to take no prisoners in gaining revenge for the political downfall he suffered in the aftermath of his remarks at a Strom Thurmond birthday party. But the book's publication date was delayed at least twice, seemingly at a time when the political winds were shifting in a way advantageous to Lott. Regan Books held back galleys, and rumors swirled...

Lott Singles Out Frist, Nickles, Allbaugh For Criticism In His New Book Mon Aug 15 2005 10:05:29 ET In his new autobiography HERDING CATS, Sen. Trent Lott accuses Sen. Bill Frist and former Sen. Don Nickles "of helping mastermind" his fall from power in 2002! ROLL CALL reports: "While Lott continues to work with Frist on legislative matters, it is clear the Mississippi Republican remains angry with the man he describes in his book as his former 'protoge' ... As for Nickles, Lott now says he should have expected the GOP Whip to attempt to undermine his authority. Lott contends...that...

Sen. Trent Lott is considering a return to the GOP leadership — the culmination of a multiyear effort to rehabilitate his image after being forced to resign his post as majority leader. Lott has set his sights on the job of party whip — the No. 2 job in the GOP leadership — a position expected to be won without opposition by GOP Conference Chairman Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) if Santorum wins reelection. Santorum faces a reelection campaign in a Democratic, blue state, although Republicans express confidence that he will prevail when voters go to the polls in November next...

Senate Committee Head Wants Bush to Stand by Bolton By DOUGLAS JEHL WASHINGTON, June 24 - The Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said Friday that it would be a mistake for the White House to bend further to Democratic demands related to John R. Bolton's handling of intelligence material. In an interview, the chairman, Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas, said he now expected that President Bush would grant a recess appointment to Mr. Bolton, whose nomination as ambassador to the United Nations has been blocked by Senate Democrats for more than a month. Some other Republican senators, including...

After abandoning the negotiations with a declaration that he wanted to see up-or-down votes for all judges, Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) quietly made a late, brief re-entry into the talks that resulted in a bipartisan deal short-circuiting the "nuclear" option efforts. On Thursday evening, May 19 - 10 days after he said he had given up on the talks - Lott trotted down from his fourth floor offices in the Russell Senate Office Building and dropped in to the second floor offices of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). With most of the group set to leave town within hours for a...

Students of American politics are about to witness a real battle royal in the Senate. The use of the filibuster is the issue. We are not talking about the filibuster as used by Southern Democrats to preserve segregation. That filibuster was the parliamentary standby resorted to by Democratic reactionaries for much of the 20th century. This filibuster is the parliamentary standby resorted to by liberal Democrats. They use it to preserve not segregation but rather judge-made law. They are the reactionaries of the 21st century. In the federal system of government, created by our Constitution, the legislature makes the law,...

Tony Snow just finished an interview with Trent Lott. Senator Lott wanted to respond to an article in Roll Call to the effect that he had crafted a deal to dump certain judges to guarantee others an up-or-down vote on the Senate floor. According to an account (I didn't hear the interview), Lott called the report "exaggerated," adding that he has worked with Ben Nelson "from time to time" on a deal, but that the proposed deal "isn't much of a deal at all." Lott also stated that he won't accept criticism from Republicans for working with Democratic senators because...

The Peter Principles: Sanity clause By Peter Roff UPI Senior Political Analyst Published May 9, 2005 WASHINGTON -- Within the next two weeks, say those in the know on Capitol Hill, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., is going to pull the trigger on the so-called constitutional option and break the logjam over judicial nominations. Unless something happens. Frist and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who refuses to yield on the filibuster as a matter of party policy, are staring across the abyss at each other with no way to move ahead without falling in. They are also limited...

Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott charged on Sunday that partisan critics had "manufactured" the so-called scandal swirling around House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. "This is a manufactured controversy," Lott told ABC's "This Week." "It's a continuation of the politics of personal destruction that we've seen in Washington for years." Lott called allegations that DeLay had broken House ethics rules by taking trips paid by lobbyists and placing family members on his campaign payroll - "a rehash of a rehash of something that was reported two years ago, which is not a violation of ethics or the law." The Mississippi...

State Rep. Erik Fleming, who endorsed Lyndon LaRouche's 2004 Presidential Campaign, is currently the only announced candidate against Trent Lott.

WASHINGTON - A bipartisan plan to rein in spending by independent groups that exerted a profound influence on the 2004 presidential election - such as the liberal group MoveOn.org and the conservative Swift Boat Veterans for Truth - got a friendly hearing in the Senate on Tuesday. Sen. Trent Lott, the Republican chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, said he wants to move quickly to put limits in place by next year's midterm elections. But critics warned that if Congress caps the amount of money individuals can give to so-called 527s, known for the section of the tax code that...