Dodd volley sinks Fox's nomination

[Dos Equis]

Dodd volley sinks Fox's nomination
PETER URBAN purban@ctpost.com
Article Last Updated: 03/28/2007 10:38:37 PM EDT

WASHINGTON — Under pressure from Senate Democrats, President Bush gave Sam Fox a swift boot Wednesday, withdrawing his nomination as ambassador to Belgium.
Fox, a Bush supporter from Missouri, had come under fire for contributing $50,000 in 2004 to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which spent $26 million disparaging Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's service during the Vietnam War.

Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., said the White House had made a "wise decision" in withdrawing Fox from consideration.

"His unwillingness to denounce the reprehensible activities of the Swift Boat organization and express regret for providing $50,000 to bankroll the organization convinced me that he would not be an acceptable candidate to represent the United States abroad," he said.

Dodd is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which had planned to hold a vote on Fox's nomination Wednesday until Bush announced the withdrawal. Dodd issued a statement Tuesday saying he would oppose him.

Kerry, who also serves on the committee, said Wednesday that the White House made "the right decision."

"Sam Fox had every opportunity to disavow the politics of personal destruction and to embrace the truth," Kerry said.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Bush believes Fox is qualified to serve as ambassador but withdrew the nomination "because of politics."

"Some members of the Senate would have voted against his nomination, which would have prevented him for serving in this important position," Perino said. "So we are disappointed that they made their decision based on partisan politics instead of his leadership abilities."
Fox, 77, of St. Louis, is national chairman of the Jewish Republican Coalition and has helped raise millions for the Republican Party over the last three decades. He hosted a record-setting Washington fundraiser in 2000 that took in $21 million. Fox and his two sons, Gregory and Jeffrey, were named "rangers" in Bush's 2004 re-election campaign because each raised at least $200,000.

Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman had testified in favor of Fox at his February confirmation hearing and stood by him as of Tuesday. The Fox family contributed $23,500 in October to Lieberman's re-election campaign.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20070328/pl_bloomberg/ais8byghtng

[240 is Back]

Shame on the ambassador to Belgium.  Then again, I guess not everyone can have the integrity or our Attorney General.

[Dos Equis]

Hahaha!  Outsmarted.     Poor John Kerry.   

Bush Uses Recess Appointment Power to Install GOP Fundraiser Sam Fox as Ambassador
Wednesday, April 04, 2007

WASHINGTON —  President Bush named Republican fundraiser Sam Fox as U.S. ambassador to Belgium on Wednesday, using a maneuver that allowed him to bypass Congress where Democrats had derailed Fox's nomination.

Democrats had denounced Fox for his 2004 donation to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. The group's TV ads, which claimed that Sen. John Kerry exaggerated his military record in Vietnam, were viewed as a major factor in the Massachusetts Democrat losing the election.

Recognizing Fox did not have the votes to obtain Senate confirmation, Bush withdrew the nomination last month. On Wednesday, with Congress out of town for a spring break, the president used his power to make recess appointments to put Fox in the job without Senate confirmation.

This means Fox can remain ambassador until the end of the next session of Congress, effectively through the end of the Bush presidency.

Kerry, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued a statement critical of the appointment and of Bush.

"It's sad but not surprising that this White House would abuse the power of the presidency to reward a donor over the objections of the Senate. This nomination was withdrawn because the Administration realized it would lose in the Foreign Relations Committee," Kerry said.

Bush Withdraws Ambassador Nominee Over Swift Boat Veterans Donation "Unfortunately, when this White House can't win the game, they just change the rules, and America loses. Our country would be stronger if this Administration spent more time getting body armor for our soldiers in Iraq than it did helping their powerful friends," he added.

Bush also used his recess appointment authority to make Andrew Biggs deputy director of Social Security. The president's earlier nomination of Biggs, an outspoken advocate of partially privatizing the government's retirement program, was rejected by Senate Democrats in February.

In August 2005, Bush riled Democrats — who then were in the minority in Congress — when he used the same power to appoint John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations. That appointment expired late last year. Zalmay Khalilzad, who is exiting as U.S. ambassador to Iraq, is expected to succeed Bolton.

Fox, a 77-year-old St. Louis businessman, gave $50,000 to the Swift Boat group. He is national chairman of the Jewish Republican Coalition and was dubbed a "ranger" by Bush's 2004 campaign for raising at least $200,000. He is founder and chairman of the Clayton, Mo.-based Harbour Group, which specializes in the takeover of manufacturing companies.

Fox has donated millions of dollars to Republican candidates and causes since the 1990s.

In answer to questions about the Swift Boat donation, Fox has said he gives when asked, insisting he did not know how his money would be spent or exactly what message the group was pushing.

In his first six years in office, Bush made 167 recess appointments, 101 of which were to full-time positions, according to a January 2007 report by the Congressional Research Service. In his eight years in office, President Clinton made 139 recess appointments, 95 of where were to full-time positions.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,264090,00.html

[Dos Equis]

Outfoxed.   

Dems Call for Review of Bush Appointment
ANNE FLAHERTY  |  AP  |  April 5, 2007 08:40 PM EST


WASHINGTON — Democrats called for an investigation Thursday into whether President Bush acted illegally in appointing Sam Fox ambassador to Belgium.

A day earlier, Bush named Republican fundraiser Fox to the post as a recess appointment _ a maneuver that allowed him to bypass Congress, where Democrats had derailed his nomination.

"We view the recess appointment of Mr. Fox as a clear abuse of the President's recess appointment power," three Democratic senators wrote in a letter to the Government Accountability Office, Congress' auditing agency.

The senators _ Democrats Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, John Kerry of Massachusetts and Robert Casey of Pennsylvania _ also asked if Fox's appointment could be terminated if a Senate vote rejected him.


Democrats have denounced Fox for his donation to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth during the 2004 presidential campaign. The group's TV ads, which claimed that Sen. John Kerry exaggerated his military record in Vietnam, were viewed as a factor in the Massachusetts Democrat's election loss.

Recognizing Fox did not have enough support for Senate confirmation, Bush withdrew the nomination last week. On Wednesday, with the Senate on a one-week break, the president used his power to make recess appointments to put Fox in the job without Congress' blessing.

Dodd said in a statement that Bush's actions were "deceptive at best and illegal at worst."

White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe defended the use of recess appointments as a presidential prerogative.

"I think the president views recess appointments as an appropriate way to get people who are qualified into jobs that need to be filled," Johndroe said Thursday.

"And it's a process that's been used many times over the years for people whose nominations have lingered or have been stopped for various reasons," he said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070405/bush-outflanking-congress

[Colossus_500]

Sweet!  hahahahaha