Camp Wellstone & Catching Up

It's been a relief to have the trial over with and be able to relax more.

That being said, it's still a busy time here for us at NPI. We continue to work on various different projects, and I'm also attending Camp Wellstone this weekend - a training camp for progressive activists, prospective candidates, and campaign workers. I'll have more on how that's going later.

In Other News: An AP poll says that Bush is at his lowest approval levels ever - wonder why. Here's some quick numbers:

45% support Bush's foreign policy
35% think the country is going in the right direction
37% approve of Bush's handling of Social Security
43% support Bush's handing of economy

Not looking so good, eh Karl Rove?

Also, Doc Hastings is getting yanked into the DeLay vortex:

Doc Hastings, the laconic Republican congressman from Pasco, has spent much of the past three days trying to avoid being sucked into the vortex of ethics complaints swirling around House Majority leader Tom DeLay of Texas.

News reports earlier this week linked Hastings to GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who is under investigation for his lobbying on behalf of Indian tribes and is a key figure in the DeLay ethics dispute. The reports also tied Hastings to Seattle's largest law and lobbying firm, Preston Gates Ellis, where Abramoff used to work.

Hastings is chairman of the House Ethics Committee, which admonished DeLay last year for violating conflict-of-interest guidelines and may investigate him over allegations that Abramoff paid for DeLay's trip to a Scottish golf course in 2000. House members cannot accept free travel from lobbyists.

Uh oh. Seems we have another conflict of interest on the ethics committee. Hastings needs to step down from the panel and let someone else take over.

Finally, visit AfterDowningStreet to learn more about what Rep. John Conyers is doing to make more Americans aware of this document.