Posted on 03/01/2004 12:01:55 PM PST by TruthNtegrity
President Bush plans a week of heavy fund raising starting Monday, collecting campaign cash in the nation's capital, California and Texas for his re-election and for fellow Republicans.
So far, no pictures from today's events have appeared anywhere.
Pres. Bush starts with a reception Monday for the National Republican Senatorial Committee in Washington. Most of Bush's fund-raisers are open to the news media, but reporters are barred from this event.
On Wednesday, Pres. Bush flies to Los Angeles for a pair of fund-raisers — a midday event for his re-election campaign, and a dinner for the Republican National Committee (news - web sites). It will be his 11th visit to the state since taking office.
Bush has a third California fund-raiser scheduled for Thursday in Santa Clara. He also planned a public event on the economy in Bakersfield, Calif. He lands in the state one day after California's primary, which has focused much of the public's attention on the Democrats seeking his job.
Bush was spending a long weekend, from Thursday to Monday, at his Crawford, Texas ranch. Mexican President Vicente Fox will be visiting him there March 5-6.
Pres. Bush opens the following week with a pair of fund-raisers, including events in Dallas and Houston. Those two fund-raisers bookend an appearance by Pres. Bush at a Houston livestock and rodeo event.
Bush has raised more than $153 million toward his re-election. His stated goal is $170 million.
Bush will be on the road raising campaign cash Thursday when his re-election committee begins a major expenditure: airing its first wave of TV commercials.
Saturday radio address: This year, we will expand our strategy so that we can make even greater progress in the fight against drugs. The best way to cut drug use is to cut demand for drugs at the ground level. So my budget includes a $10-million increase for drug-free communities, a common-sense prevention program that supports local coalitions working to stop young people from using drugs.
That was my first thought too.
LOTR sweeps the Oscars! The Passion is a major hit! I feel a change a comin'.
Thanks for all you do to bring us our daily Dose of Dubya.
Sunday, returning to the White House:-
President George W. Bush makes remarks on Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide's resignation, upon his return to the White House in Washington DC. He told the Press he had ordered U.S. Marines to Haiti to head an international peacekeeping force.
I found some news on the First Lady and am going to post it.
News on the First Lady -
WASHINGTON - Laura Bush is pushing a $100 million children's medical center she hopes will be built in the southern Iraqi city of Basra.
Congress approved $50 million for the project in November as part of $87.5 billion for U.S. military operations and aid in Iraq (news - web sites), although some lawmakers, including Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Operations Subcommittee, have questioned whether the money would be better spent on basic public health measures instead of a modern facility.
The project, in its initial phases, eventually is to be a public-private partnership between U.S. Agency for International Development and Project HOPE, a private organization that has helped establish similar facilities in Poland and China, said Mrs. Bush's spokesman Gordon Johndroe.
The Coalition Provisional Authority has informed Congress that it is ready to do the project, but is waiting for the lawmakers to respond with guidelines on how the money could be used.
The $87.5 billion approved by Congress includes $18.6 million for reconstruction. Of this amount, Congress approved $493 million for improving hospitals and clinics across Iraq, including $50 million for the pediatric facility in Basra.
- President Bush (news - web sites)'s national anti-drug strategy will for the first time target the use of pain relievers, sedatives and stimulants for nonmedical purposes, a problem that has exploded in the last decade.
A key part of the strategy being released Monday involves government efforts to help states develop monitoring systems to track a patient's use of prescription medicine. The monitoring programs flag cases that indicate a pattern of abuse, such as "doctor shopping," where a patient gets prescriptions for drugs from multiple physicians.
Prescription medicine now ranks second, behind marijuana, among drugs most abused by adults and young people, said the report by the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy. It cited a recent study by the Health and Human Services (news - web sites) Department.
Twenty states have prescription monitoring programs, the report said. John Walters, director of the drug policy office, said he expects to expand the program to 11 more states by next year. About $10 million in federal funds will bankroll the expansion.
The Drug Enforcement Administration plans to aggressively pursue pharmacies selling controlled substances illegally over the Internet, an effort that will include deploying modern Web crawler technology to search out those peddling prescription drugs online.
Physician training and education programs will also be a part of the new campaign.
Bush outlined other facets of his anti-drug strategy during his State of the Union address in January. They include additional financing for drug-prevention efforts and a sharp increase in funds for schools that want to use drug testing to expand early intervention programs.
His proposal to boost funding from $2 million to $23 million for student drug testing has come under fire from some parents, school administrators and civil liberties groups concerned about privacy violations and the effectiveness of the testing.
(((((BIG HUG)))))
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.