Miers supported constitutional amendment to ban abortion

James Kuhnhenn and Stephen… Miers supported constitutional amendment to ban abortion

James Kuhnhenn and Stephen Henderson, Knight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON – In 1989, Harriet Miers endorsed amending the U.S. Constitution to ban abortion except when necessary to save the life of the woman.

Evidence of that stand by President George W. Bush’s latest nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court emerged Tuesday from background papers provided to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

But in separate written answers for the committee, Miers also conveyed views that raise questions about whether she would now vote to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which permits abortions, or let it stand as settled precedent.

The mixed messages further confused senators on Miers’ stance and raised the stakes for her performance next month during confirmation hearings.

Miers took the anti-abortion stance during her campaign for Dallas City Council in answers to a questionnaire from the anti-abortion group Texans United for Life. Miers checked “yes” to a number of questions supporting the anti-abortion agenda, including whether she would support a constitutional amendment.

Yet in her written answers to the Judiciary Committee, Miers said that believing a previous case was wrongly decided isn’t reason enough to cast it aside.

Presidential tax panel outlines bold changes to popular tax breaks

Kevin G. Hall, Knight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON – The chairmen of President Bush’s special tax-advisory panel outlined a controversial plan Tuesday to overhaul the nation’s tax code by cutting popular tax breaks.

The committee would reduce mortgage-interest deductions, treat some health-care benefits as taxable income and eliminate the federal deduction of state and local taxes from taxable income.

However, with Bush’s poll numbers plunging, Republican congressional leaders indicted or under federal investigation and midterm congressional elections next year, it’s unclear whether lawmakers will want to risk a public backlash by trimming popular tax breaks.

The bipartisan panel, chaired by two former senators, will send the Bush administration a plan to overhaul the tax code by Nov. 1. Bush had asked it for ideas to simplify the tax code and promote economic growth while not adding to the national debt or reducing revenues. The president is expected to recommend tax-code changes to Congress next year.

Iraqi election officials to investigate possible voting irregularities

Tom Lasseter and Mohammed al Dulaimy, Knight Ridder Newspapers

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Iraq’s electoral commission said Monday that it would delay announcing the results of the nation’s constitutional referendum because of possible voting irregularities.

In at least six provinces, the turnout to vote on the measure appears to have topped 95 percent, said Izzadin al Mohammadi, a senior commission official.

“We have seen statements coming from most governorates indicating-high numbers that require us to recheck, compare and audit them, as they are unusually high according to international standards,” the commission said in a statement Monday evening.

Asked about the political ramifications of possible fraudulent voting in a referendum held up by the Bush administration as a significant step toward democracy, Mohammadi stressed that the audit “is not because we’re concerned about fraud. It is a random check done on certain provinces and polling stations.”

The audit announcement came amid allegations by the nation’s Sunni minority, some 20 percent of Iraq’s population, that the voting was marred by fraud. While it appears that Sunni voters mustered a two-thirds vote against the constitution in two provinces – Anbar and Salahuddin – they couldn’t do so in a third, the requisite number for defeating the document.

Tulane students mark ‘overcoming’

Jill Moon, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

ST. LOUIS – Fire ants. Mold. Those are just a couple of things confronting Tulane University students as they return to New Orleans.

But on Sunday, Crescent City favorites red beans and rice were served up for displaced students while Zydeco music played in the background. The evacuees gathered behind the Art Museum in Forest Park to share trials and triumphs. It wasn’t a homecoming, it was “Tulane Overcoming 2005.” Tulane University Alumni Association’s St. Louis Chapter was the host.

Displaced chemistry professor Scott Grayson contacted the association’s president, Ruth Zarren-Koch, about getting Tulane students together to share their experiences in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Grayson is temporarily teaching at Washington University, where 80 Tulane students are enrolled. He provided a way to contact students through their adopted universities, which include St. Louis University, Maryville University, the University of Missouri at St. Louis and Webster University. About 40 people came, including 10 St. Louis alumni.