Briefly

$447 billion defense bill approved without debate

Washington Congress on Saturday approved a $447 billion defense bill with a military pay raise and new money for Iraq and Afghanistan.

Underscoring the bill’s lack of controversy, the House approved the measure by 359-14 and the Senate gave its blessing by voice vote. Neither chamber debated the legislation before sending it to President Bush.

The bill includes an across-the-board 3.5 percent pay raise for military personnel and expanded health care for reservists, as well as $25 billion to support operational costs for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The legislation would overhaul the way sickened nuclear weapons industry workers are compensated and let South Carolina and Idaho store radioactive waste from Cold War bomb projects.

Also included is a provision that allows base closings to move forward and rejects pleas to delay the next round until 2007. The Bush administration had threatened to veto the entire bill if the base closures were delayed.

There have been four previous rounds of base closings from 1988 to 1995, in each case over the objections of lawmakers concerned about economic losses a closure would bring to their districts. The Pentagon contends it still has more than 20 percent excess capacity and could save billions by closing unneeded facilities.

Lawmakers renew effort for stiffer indecency fines

Washington After a short-lived victory for broadcasters, lawmakers Friday launched a new bid to sharply boost indecency fines for radio and TV stations one day after a similar effort was abandoned.

On Thursday, a provision in a defense bill that would have raised the maximum fine against broadcasters to $500,000 was killed as Senate and House negotiators were trying to fashion a compromise from two bills that had passed both chambers, said Brian Hart, a spokesman for Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., who has been a driving force to raise indecency fines.

But lawmakers, including Brownback, quickly regrouped: On Friday a new stand-alone bill was introduced to raise maximum indecency fines to $500,000.

The current maximum fine that can be levied against broadcasters by the Federal Communications Commission is $32,500 per incident.

Public concern over indecency in the media reached a new high in February when singer Janet Jackson bared her breast during the Super Bowl halftime show aired by Viacom Inc.’s CBS stations.

The FCC, which regulates broadcast networks, this month imposed a record $550,000 fine on CBS-owned stations for airing the stunt.

The FCC, which has issued more than $4 million in indecency fines since 1990, has intensified its scrutiny of broadcasters as lawmakers have pressed for stricter rules.

Bush campaign cuts back on advertising in Washington

Washington President Bush sharply curtailed television advertising in Washington state this past week, a sign that national Republicans may be privately conceding the state’s 11 electoral votes.

With California already being counted in the Democratic column, the apparent Bush pullback from Washington would leave Oregon as the last competitive state on the West Coast in the presidential race. It would also strengthen Democratic nominee John Kerry’s electoral base.

The Bush-Cheney campaign broadcast only a handful of commercials targeting the state’s largest TV markets on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, according to independent data compiled for the Los Angeles Times.

For most of September, Bush was airing on average 20 or more spots a day in Spokane and Seattle combined.

Equally telling, neither Bush nor Vice President Dick Cheney has visited Washington since well before the Republican National Convention. Bush was last there to raise money in a Seattle suburb on Aug. 13.

Republicans acknowledge that the president faces a tough challenge in the Evergreen State, which Democrat Al Gore carried by 5 percentage points in 2000.

“Look at a map and you see clearly that the West Coast and the Northeast are very different from the rest of America,” said state GOP chairman Chris Vance. “Washington state is very socially liberal.”

GOP candidates give identical answers to AARP survey

Louisville, Ky. A Kentucky congressional candidate copied his answers to an AARP survey from materials distributed by the National Republican Congressional Committee, his spokesman says.

Geoff Davis submitted answers identical to those of least five GOP candidates from California, Florida, Nebraska and Georgia, to questions about Social Security, health-care costs and prescription drugs.

“We didn’t see anything that we disagreed with,” said spokesman Justin Brasell, adding that Davis had received permission to use the material which was posted online as part of the AARP’s voter guides.

The Democratic candidate, former TV personality Nick Clooney, said through a spokesman that Davis apparently missed the point of the “honor code” at West Point, Davis’ alma mater.

“We knew that the folks in Washington were going to tell Geoff Davis how to vote,” said campaign manager B.J. Neidhardt. “We just had no idea they were going to tell him how to answer questionnaires also.”

Brasell said it’s ridiculous for Clooney to suggest that Davis is a puppet of the national GOP. He said Davis differs from his national colleagues on issues including a proposed buyout of tobacco farmers.

Davis is making his second run in the northern Kentucky district. He lost two years ago to Democratic Rep. Ken Lucas, who is retiring.

Aides deny Bush is fed answers via transmitters

Chanhassen, Minn. Campaign aides to President Bush on Saturday laughed off rampant Internet speculation about whether the president was wired to get help from advisers during his first debate with Sen. John Kerry.

“It’s not true. It’s ridiculous,” Bush campaign spokesman Scott Stanzel said.

A still photo from television footage of Bush as he debated Kerry on Sept. 30 in Coral Gables, Fla., appears to show a small, boxy shape between the president’s shoulder blades.

Campaign officials declined to discuss it further because they weren’t certain a bulge even existed and do not want to appear to take seriously what they consider a “wild accusation.”

Bloggers and others began to muse on various Web sites that the bulge could have been a radio receiver that the president’s aides could use to give him answers during the debate. One Web site, www.isbushwired.com, is devoted solely to the matter.

“Some people have been spending too many hours looking at left-wing conspiracy Web sites,” Stanzel said. “Did you hear the one about Elvis moderating the third debate?”

Six out of 10 choose God for fantasy long-distance call

Given a choice between making a free long-distance call to God or ringing up one of nine living or dead celebrities, six in 10 Americans said they would telephone God, according to an online survey by Harris Interactive of 2,719 adults conducted last month.

Eleven percent said they would call President Bush, while 4 percent said they wanted to speak with Sen. John Kerry.

Here’s how some of the other phone pals fared: Abraham Lincoln (5 percent), Albert Einstein (5 percent), Bill Gates (5 percent), Marilyn Monroe (3 percent) and Hillary Clinton (3 percent). Two percent said they would ring up Elvis or Martha Stewart.