- Amnesty International report brands Libya's militias 'out of control'
- Obama proposes bringing jobs home from overseas. Would his plan work?
- Obama's NASA budget: Mars takes a hit, but space science isn't dead
- Payroll tax deal close: Why did Republicans back down? (+video)
- Israel says Bangkok, Delhi, and Tbilisi attacks all linked – to Iran
- Rick Santorum's new machine-gun ad: Will it work? (+video)
- Honduras prison fire kills more than 300, highlights regional problem (+video)
- Angry Birds joins Facebook in bid to reach 800 million users
Monitor Breakfast
Selected quotations from a Monitor breakfast with Joseph Lieberman
Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee and the Democratic nominee for vice president in the 2000 election, was Thursday's guest at the Monitor breakfast in Washington. Here are excerpts:
On whether he "salivates" for the presidency:
"I am certainly meditating, and I am activating which is to say I am moving around talking to people and speaking out on the issues and challenges of the day. But my saliva glands are, for the moment, under control."
On whether he communicates with former running-mate Al Gore:
"We communicate occasionally often by e-mail....He has told me that he is undecided, literally 50-50. And, of course, I said to him, 'The sooner you decide, the happier I will be.' And he said he understands that and I believe him. And he said this publicly, that he will make a decision by the end of this year.
"I love my work in the Senate. Every day is interesting and has an opportunity to get something done. So if Al decides to run I am going to be OK. I have been a very blessed person in my life."
On prospects for compromise over worker rights provisions in the homeland security bill:
"At this point, it is hard to see a compromise. For me, the compromise is the one I suggested to Gov. [Tom] Ridge when we first talked about it several months ago, in which I pleaded with him, before the president put his bill in, please don't make this into a battle over civil service and conditions of work of federal employees. It is a snare; it is a trap, and it will make it harder for us to do what we all agree we want to do and should do urgently which is to create this new department of homeland security.
"There are two things going on here: One is a disagreement on the merits of the administration proposals. But you are right, the other is a context of mistrust about what this administration's intentions are regarding the rights of federal employees....Why is there a question of trust here? This is not, generally speaking, a pro-worker, pro-labor administration. Secondly, the very fact that the administration came in with this proposal to give the president unprecedented, unaccountable authority to waive the civil service rules ...has created anxiety."
On whether the president should seek United Nation's approval before attacking Iraq:
"Clearly, the ideal circumstance would be if there was a United Nations Security Council resolution that was a preface to any military action in Iraq. I know there are different proposals out to see if the Security Council would adopt a resolution calling for aggressive, no-limits inspections, even a large international force to be ready to go in and act militarily to first carry out the inspections and to act militarily if there was a problem the Iraqis gave in carrying it out. That is the ideal.
Page: 1 | 2 
