Tuesday News Roundup

by Sheri Divers [courtesy of Blog for America]

High Court Won't Hear Birth Control Case

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court on Monday declined to enter a church-state dispute over whether some religious organizations can be forced to pay for workers' birth-control health insurance benefits, a growing trend in the states.

The court let stand a New York court ruling upholding a state law that forces religious-based social service agencies to subsidize contraceptives as part of prescription drug coverage they offer employees.

Most in Poll Want War Funding Cut

Most Americans oppose fully funding President Bush's $190 billion request for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a sizable majority support an expansion of a children's health insurance bill he has promised to veto, putting Bush and many congressional Republicans on the wrong side of public opinion on upcoming foreign and domestic policy battles.

The new Washington Post-ABC News poll also shows deep dissatisfaction with the president and with Congress. Bush's approval rating stands at 33 percent, equal to his career low in Post-ABC polls. And just 29 percent approve of the job Congress is doing, its lowest approval rating in this poll since November 1995, when Republicans controlled both the House and Senate. It also represents a 14-point drop since Democrats took control in January.

Despite discontent with Congress this year, the public rates congressional Republicans (29 percent approve) lower than congressional Democrats (38 percent approve). When the parties are pitted directly against each other, the public broadly favors Democrats on Iraq, health care, the federal budget and the economy. Only on the issue of terrorism are Republicans at parity with Democrats.

Blackwater Fired First In 84 Percent Of ‘Escalation Of Force’ Incidents Since 2005

On Sept. 16, private security contractors working for Blackwater USA opened fire in a crowded traffic circle in Central Baghdad, killing 11 Iraqis. Since the incident, Blackwater and the State Department have insisted that the guards were responding to a “hostile attack.”

But a comprehensive report by Iraq’s Ministry of Interior, released last week, concluded that the Blackwater employees “fired an unprovoked barrage in the shooting” and that the “company is considered 100 percent guilty” for the incident.

Congress Members: Slow Response of Pawlenty Administration Could Cost Minnesota

Members of Minnesota's Congressional delegation sent a strongly worded letter Monday to Gov. Tim Pawlenty urging his administration to apply for emergency funds for the 35W bridge collapse -- funds that could quickly disappear.

Reps. Jim Oberstar, Collin Peterson, Betty McCollum, Tim Walz, and Keith Ellison criticized the Pawlenty administration's slow response in applying for several streams of funding for disaster relief, reimbursements for the Metropolitan Council, and the rebuilding of the bridge.

An Iranian University Invites Bush to Speak

After the controversial appearance of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at Columbia University last week, an Iranian university yesterday invited President Bush to travel to Iran and speak on campus about a range of issues, including the Holocaust, terrorism, human rights and U.S. foreign policy, the Fars News Agency reported yesterday.

The invitation from Ferdowsi University in the northeastern city of Mashhad asked Bush to answer questions from students and professors "just the same way" that Ahmadinejad took questions "despite all the insults directed at him."
 
The White House said yesterday that Bush would be willing to travel to Iran, but under different circumstances.