By Courtney Ann Jackson-Talk Radio News Service

By attempting to run for reelection, did ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya’s violate his country’s constitution? On Friday, representatives from seven Latin American organizations testified before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Western Hemisphere Subcommittee to discuss the question.

Certain members of the committee were adamant in their view that Zelaya’s actions had, in fact, crossed constitutional boundaries.

“I think it was clear that virtually all major Honduran political institutions and actors opposed President Zelaya’s efforts. Not only were the Supreme Court, Congress, and Zelaya’s own Attorney General against him, even members of his own political party and the influential Catholic Church were hostile to Zelaya’s efforts to change the constitution,” said Committee Chairman Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y).

Cynthia Arnson, Director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars’ Washington Office on Latin America, noted that Zelaya’s actions should serve as a “wake-up call” that further progress to advance democracy in Latin America is still needed.

Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.), the committee’s ranking member, said, “It seems to me that the more we look at Mr. Zelaya, the more we find a man who believes he is above the law, untouchable, and clearly a man who has no respect for democracy.”

Guillermo Perez-Cadalso, former Foreign Minister and Honduran Supreme Court Justice, said he believes the international community rushed to judgement over the coup before evaluating all the facts. He testified under the title of “Concerned Honduran Citizen” rather than using his official government title.

Perez-Cadalso argued that Zelaya was “legally and constitutionally removed from office,” and that the “military is not in charge of Honduras; the consitutional order of [the country] remains intact.”

The U.S. State Department headed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has endorsed a dialogue process with the Organization of American States. On that subject, Perez-Cadalso noted, “I am optimistic that this situation can be resolved through the dialogue. This process will be successful if both sides refrain from emotional personal reactions and stick to constructive discussions about the issues.”

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Senior White House Adviser David Axelrod read to young children at the Education Department’s outdoor plaza. The “Read to the Top!” initiative promotes summer reading among young children. June 30, 2009

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) says, “In cases that she decided Judge Sotomayor, earlier this year, rendered an opinion that held that the Second Amendment is not a fundamental right.” He says the fundamental right question is of real significance. (0:24)

 

 Standard Podcast [0:24m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

By Courtney Ann Jackson-Talk Radio News Service

Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour (R) discusses what should be done with health care legislation in the House and how it will affect individual states.

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) spoke out Tuesday in favor of Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court nomination. Menendez says Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court is proof that the American dream is within reach for everyone who is “willing to work hard, play by the rules, and give back to their communities, regardless of their ethnicity, gender or social economic background.” Menendez noted that it shows further proof of the deep roots the Hispanic community in the U.S. (0:12)

 

 Standard Podcast [0:12m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

By Courtney Ann Jackson- Talk Radio News

The Council on Economic Advisers reports that they will be monitoring the saving and changing of jobs in the United States on individual state basis.
 
The CEA this year will report to Congress on all estimates of jobs saved and created. The estimates will be combined with numbers from state by state reports.

An unnamed senior administration official said they are going to “be monitoring every state, every county, finding out what’s happening in terms of the actual reporting of where the jobs are being created and how things are going.”

A January report said that 3.5 million jobs would be saved as a result of the program under the Recovery Act. The official said those estimates have not changed “in terms of what the program is going to do.”

The program is expected to fulfill its original promises, the official said. “We are seeing unemployment interestingly throughout the spectrum,” the official said. The effects have crossed over into a variety of industries and geographic groups. The CEA hopes to receive description of exactly what types of jobs are being created when they receive the individual state reports.

The report spells out the general principles of how the states will be asked to report on the specifics of their progress. The official said it is important to see how each state’s projects and progress compares across the country. That is the type of information the CEA hopes to gain with the direct reports.