Vincent Feli Boy’s Blog

WASHINGTON - The White House defended its $108 billion request for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on Wednesday, only to be upbraided by senators in both parties for taking a hard line against efforts to add money for domestic programs. At a sometimes combative Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, White House budget director Jim Nussle chided lawmakers for a “sky-is-the-limit mind-set” regarding “the desire of some in Congress to load up this troop funding bill with tens of billions in additional spending.” Democrats and Republicans alike questioned why U.S. taxpayers should provide an additional $2.9 billion for reconstruction efforts in Iraq at the same time the Iraqi government’s coffers are overflowing with revenues because of record oil prices.

“Here is a country that’s making billions of dollars at our expense and yet we pay for their reconstruction,” said Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii. “I’m going to have a very difficult time going home and telling the people of Idaho that we’re going to spend their money while Iraqi money is drawing interest in some bank somewhere in the world,” said Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho. Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., noted reports of rampant waste and corruption in Iraqi government ministries and suggested that the Iraqi government match any U.S. reconstruction funds provided in the upcoming war funding bill.

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NEW YORK - Resigning won’t spare Eliot Spitzer from the heat of a criminal investigation - federal prosecutors must still decide what to do with the case of the disgraced New York governor and the prostitutes. A law enforcement official said Spitzer’s high-powered defense team was believed to be negotiating a plea deal with prosecutors over his connection to a high-end prostitution ring, but attorneys would not comment Thursday about the discussions. “Corruption cases often pose a dilemma for the prosecutor,” said Evan Barr, a private practice lawyer who once handled such cases for the same Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office that is now weighing how to proceed with Spitzer.

“If you charge a public figure under an obscure or rarely used legal theory, the critics will say the prosecution is politically motivated; if you decline to charge under the same circumstances, the critics will say the prosecutor is going easy on the would-be defendant because he or she is a prominent person,” Barr said. The legal snarl was being untangled as Lt. Gov. David Paterson prepared to take over the state following Spitzer’s spectacular fall from power.

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Coddington died Wednesday at Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital in suburban Whittier. His La Habra office spokeswoman Amanda Curry wouldn’t disclose the cause of death. Coddington, who started building cars when he was 13 and once operated a gas station in Utah, set a standard for his workmanship and creativity, with his popular “Cadzilla” creation considered a design masterpiece. The customized car based on a 1950s Cadillac was built for rocker Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. “That was a groundbreaking car.

Very cool,” said Dick Messer, executive director of the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. “He did things to hot rods and customs that weren’t being done by anyone else. But the main thing is he designed cars that were drivable.” Coddington was a machinist by trade, working at Disneyland during the day and tinkering with cars in his home garage at night and on weekends. His rolling creations captured the imagination of car-crazy Southern Californians and soon he was building custom cars and making money.

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