Think Progress

IMMIGRATION -- BUSH ADMINISTRATION BYPASSES ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS TO BUILD BORDER FENCE: Homeland Security officials announced yestday that they will use waivers "to bypass more than 30 federal and state laws to finish building 670 miles of fence along the southwest U.S. border" by the end of 2008. In doing so, the administration will "sidestep environmental laws that currently impede the Homeland Security Department from building" the fence, constituting the "biggest use of legal waivers" since the administration started construction. Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) said that yesterday's "waiver represents an extreme abuse of authority." Environmental groups and even President Bush's Interior Department have "raised objections to some fencing" over the possibility it could threaten "endangered species and fragile ecosystems along the Rio Grande." The Sierra Club and Defenders of Wildlife have asked the Supreme Court to determine the constitutionality of the Bush administration's waiving of "any and all laws it views as inconvenient in its rush to build an unpopular, ineffective border wall."

IRAQ -- CIVILIAN CASUALTIES AND ATTACKS ON U.S. FORCES INCREASE: According to figures compiled by the Iraqi government's interior, defense and health minitries, "[a] total of 923 civilians were killed in March, up 31 percent from February and the deadliest month since August 2007."  The recent clashes between Shi'ite militias and Iraqi and coalition security forces are partly responsible as "[h]undreds of people were killed and many more wounded in last week's fighting" in Basra. At the same time, "[a]ttacks against U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces soared across Baghdad in the last week of March to the highest levels since the deployment of additional U.S. troops" in Iraq and "reached full strength last June, according to U.S. military data and analysis." Of the 728 attacks on U.S. forces since the Iraqi military launched the offensive in Basra last week, 60 percent occurred in Baghdad. While "surge" architect and American Enterprise Institute "military analyst" Frederick Kagan recently said "the situation in Iraq today is, I think, not that fragile," U.S. military spokesman Rear Adm. Gregory J. Smith said the recent fighting in Basra and Baghdad "shows the tenuous nature of security, which is something we've been stressing for some time now." 

ECONOMY: STIGLITZ SAYS PAULSON IS 'WRONG,' ATTRIBUTES ECONOMIC CRISIS TO REGULATORY FAILURES: This week, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson proposed a shake-up of financial regulations, a plan that had its "genesis in a yearlong effort to limit Washington's role in the market." The administration's proposed new oversight, however, "would have a light touch, enabling the government to do little beyond collecting information -- except in times of crisis," the New York Times observed. On Monday, Paulson defended this hands-off regulatory approach. "I do not believe it is fair or accurate to blame our regulatory structure for the current turmoil," he said. "I am not suggesting that more regulation is the answer." In contrast, Monday on CNN, Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz sharply disagreed with Paulson, stating that the regulatory failures were indeed to blame for our current situation: "He [Paulson] is wrong, it is a failure of regulation.. ... [T]hat's why you have regulations. You just don't build better hospitals. You try to stop the diseases before they lead you to be in the hospital." Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) argued that Paulson's proposal reflected misplaced priorities, a "failure to utilize the regulatory tools" such as the Home Owners Protection Act 1994 that could have prevented the current housing crisis.

In 2003, the Justice Department issued a legal memo "asserting that federal laws prohibiting assault, maiming and other crimes did not apply to military interrogators who questioned al-Qaeda captives because the president's ultimate authority as commander in chief overrode such statutes." Former Justice Department lawyer Marty Lederman says the memo "effectively gave the Pentagon the green light to disregard statutory limits on torture" and "maltreatment."

Approximately one-third of U.S. soldiers "in hard-to-reach outposts in Iraq and Afghanistan lack timely access to mental health care, according to Pentagon officials and a recent survey." In Afghanistan, for example, "it can take an average of 40 hours for a psychologist to visit soldiers."

A new BBC World Service poll finds that the U.S. image abroad "has begun to improve after worsening for years, but the United States is still viewed more negatively than the European Union, Brazil, China, India and Russia." According to the new survey, 35 percent of the world believes the United States has a positive influence, but 47 percent still believe its influence is negative.

Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday, Army vice chief of staff Gen. Richard A. Cody said the 30,000-plus troop increase in Iraq and Afghanistan is "inflicting 'incredible stress' on soldiers and families and posing" a significant risk to the nation's all-volunteer military."

Six months after British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced phased withdrawal from Iraq, "his defense secretary announced on Tuesday that the reduction had been postponed" after recent violence in Basra. The U.K. will maintain about 4,000 troops outside Basra instead of 2,500.

"The Pentagon is expected to shut a controversial intelligence office," known as the Counterintelligence Field Activity office, which has been described by critics as "part of an effort by the Defense Department to expand into domestic spying." In 2005, it was revealed that the office managed a database "that included information about antiwar protests planned at churches, schools and Quaker meeting halls."

Intelligence centers run by states called "fusion centers" have access “to personal information about millions of Americans, including unlisted cellphone numbers, insurance claims, driver's license photographs and credit reports." The centers were created after the 9/11 attacks.

Lawmakers urged Exxon Mobil yesterday to invest more in alternative energy, beyond its $100 million for research at Stanford University. "Does the oil fairy have to show up? ... When are you going to put some real money into it?" said Jay Inslee (D-WA).

And finally: Yesterday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee's telecommunications subcommittee held a hearing on "online virtual worlds." The hearing was also broadcast online in Second Life, where several avatars -- including a pink cat, winged grasshopper, and "a naked man floating through the air" -- were allowed to participate. Chairman Ed Markey (D-MA) noted that his avatar -- named EdMarkey Alter -- looked "like he's been working out." The guest avatars also "kept up a virtual dialogue," adding comments such as "smile," "wave," "hooo!" and "hahahaha."