Thompson Wants Answers On FEMA Trailers

Congressman Seeks Inquiry on Trailers

A Mississippi congressman asked the Justice Department on Thursday to investigate the use of potentially contaminated FEMAtrailers to house cleanup workers involved with the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The request, by Representative Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, followed an article about the trailers Thursday in The New York Times.

In his letter, Mr. Thompson, a Democrat who was one of the most vocal opponents of the public sale of the trailers, also demanded that the General Services Administration and FEMA provide documents by July 15 indicating how each agency has enforced the legally binding requirements on the buyers of the trailers.

More than 100,000 of the trailers were publicly auctioned this year by the federal government on the condition that they not be used for long-term housing and with the requirement that placards be posted warning of the trailers’ potential hazards from high levels of formaldehyde, a carcinogen. Buyers were required to sign a legally binding waiver agreeing to these terms.

Before the auction, Congressional opponents of the sale said there would be no way to enforce these rules. New evidence emerged this week indicating the validity of those concerns.

In a separate letter, Representative Edward J. Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat and chairman of the House Energy and Environment Subcommittee, asked the G.S.A. for documentation relating to the trailers’ sale and oversight of their use.

On Friday, Mr. Markey also said that he had asked for the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether the sales of the trailers constituted an unfair or deceptive practice under the Federal Trade Commission Act.

Laura J. Gerdes, a spokeswoman with the Louisiana attorney general's office, said there office has opened an investigation into the matter as well.

The New York Times

Hasn't Steele Crammed His Foot Far Enough Down His Throat, Yet? Apparently, Not.

Latest Steele Gaffe Prompts Fresh Calls for His Resignation

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele’s recent comments that the war in Afghanistan is “a war of Obama’s choosing” released on YouTube have led prominent Republican columnist William Kristol to ask him to step down.

And some Republicans on Capitol Hill wouldn’t mind if he took that advice.

"Exhibit 2,345 as to why Steele should not be chairman," one GOP aide said. "The question is, who does he fire this time? Mr. Chairman, Please listen to Mr. Kristol."

Steele’s comments, captured in a poor-quality video at a fundraiser, had Democrats in attack mode and had Republicans cringing, even as Gen. David Petraeus arrived in Afghanistan to oversee the war effort.

“This was a war of Obama’s choosing,” Steele said in the video. “This is not something the United States had actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in.”

The former Maryland lieutenant governor later added, “It was the president who was trying to be cute by half by flipping a script demonizing Iraq, while saying the battle really should be in Afghanistan. Well, if he’s such a student of history, has he not understood that you know that’s the one thing you don’t do, is engage in a land war in Afghanistan? All right, because everyone who has tried, over a thousand years of history, has failed. And there are reasons for that. There are other ways to engage in Afghanistan.”

The gaffe-prone RNC chairman also called the situation involving the dismissal of Gen. Stanley McChrystal “comical” during his talk, which appeared to be an attempt at giving messaging advice to Republican candidates for Congress.

Democratic National Committee spokesman Brad Woodhouse ripped Steele for calling the war in Afghanistan unwinnable.

“The American people will be interested to hear that the leader of the Republican Party thinks recent events related to the war are 'comical' and that he is betting against our troops and rooting for failure in Afghanistan,” Woodhouse said.

“It’s simply unconscionable that Michael Steele would undermine the morale of our troops when what they need is our support and encouragement. Michael Steele would do well to remember that we are not in Afghanistan by our own choosing, that we were attacked and that his words have consequences.”

Roll Call