By ANNE FLAHERTY
Democrats, expecting House passage Friday of a resolution opposing President Bush’s military buildup in Iraq, are turning their sights on an even loftier target  the Pentagon’s multibillion-dollar budget.
Congress next month is to consider Bush’s request for nearly $100 billion more for the war, a request that promises to become a new battleground over his Iraq policy.
By BONNIE ERBE
It’s too bad the brash-mouthed babes of John Edwards’ campaign blog resorted to gutter-speak to make their points because, in the resulting fracas, their points got lost in amid the right- and left-wing jabbing and parrying so prominent in today’s nonstop news cycle.
It’s too bad because their points were worth considering.
By ARSHAD MOHAMMED
The United States said on Wednesday it aimed to interview about 7,000 Iraqi refugees for possible U.S. resettlement by the end of September as it sought to blunt criticism that it took in only 202 last year.
The State Department also said it would offer $18 million to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to help displaced Iraqis, acting after lawmakers sharply questioned why the United States had resettled so few since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
The testimony phase of the long-anticipated trial of former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby ended with a whimper rather than the bang of testimony from high-profile defense witnesses like Vice President Dick Cheney and Libby himself.
Libby’s attorneys rested a trimmed down defense Wednesday after the judge barred much of their classified evidence because Libby decided not to testify in his perjury trial.
Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald wrapped up the government’s rebuttal in minutes.
Comedian Al Franken has announced that he will run for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota, seeking to oust Republican incumbent Norm Coleman in 2008. He is giving up his Air America radio talk show to run.
Minnesota is indulgent of nontraditional politicians, as witness former Gov. Jesse “The Body” Ventura, and has a tradition of robust political activism.
His day job aside, Franken is a serious student of politics and a prominent figure in liberal Democratic circles. Besides, if he wins it will be something of a novelty to have someone in Congress who is funny intentionally.
By JOSE de la ISLA
It’s stunning how little we learn from the events closest to us. Take, for instance, how we got into this situation about guest workers and how leadership avoids the obvious.
A century ago, Mexican workers came across the virtually unknown border to work in this country’s agriculture and on the railroads. Then, as now, we had labor shortages. Then, as now, some U.S. companies were doing land-office business south of the border.
By REG HENRY
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
One of the great pleasures of life is the daytime nap, but it remains a guilty pleasure in our American culture. A person in bed around noontime is considered lazy and good-for-nothing — can’t think why! — particularly if that person is somebody’s husband.
Perhaps this is because the country was founded by Pilgrims who kept obsessively busy, chopping down forests, plowing fields, attending to daily devotions or washing up dishes for days after Thanksgiving.
 By ROB KEZELIS
“As a senator from New York, I lived through 9/11 and am still dealing with the aftereffects.”
With these words, Senator Hillary Clinton just changed her justification of supporting the IraqNami invasion. Presumably 9/11 also explains why each time the issue came up, she voted for hundreds of billions more in Iraq war funding.
Before this (January), Hillary admitted that mistakes were made. But she ruined it by qualifying it: “by Mr. Bush.â€Â
By SANDY PRICE
When we file for our income taxes will we then be taxed for the average donation for the locals and federal elections? Or will we find an election tax on our property taxes? Am I the only one who believes that my donating money to candidates is my right of free speech?
If I want qualified candidates and a qualified well read voter base, I might be better off insisting that our Civics classes in school actually teach about the U.S. Constitution. I would also want some kind of training of critical thinking and survival skills.