Inside the Beltway

BUMPER PATROL

Yes, it had to happen.

“Honk if you have H1N1.”

- Bumper sticker spotted near Olney, Md.

FIT TO A TEA

There is still history in the air, the kind that might strike the fancy of Samuel Adams and other patriots of yore. The Taxpayer March on Washington on Sept. 12 took on a dramatic new sensibility Tuesday via HR 870, a congratulatory resolution introduced by Rep. Tom Price.

The Georgia Republican says those who stood up to be counted during the massive grass-roots rally on the Mall last month deserves “the gratitude and recognition” of the nation.

“Hundreds of thousands of Americans from every corner of the country came here to participate,” Mr. Price tells Inside the Beltway.

“They came as individuals, as families, as community groups and as patriots to voice their disgust with the out-of-control spending and government overreach being pursued in Washington. While these patriots strive for greater prosperity and individual liberty, many of their representatives in Congress seek to give the federal government ever more power and control,” he says. “They sent out a clarion call for our citizens to take back control of their government.”

The language in the bill is pretty feisty. Good luck with the Democrats on that, Mr. Price. See the actual legislation here: www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.RES.870:

The 76-member sponsor list includes Republican Reps. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, Steve King of Iowa and Eric Cantor of Virginia.

JUST SO YOU KNOW

“We’ve been asked about whether the president, Mrs. Obama, and Sasha and Malia have received their H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccines. All four members of the Obama family have received their seasonal flu vaccine. Malia and Sasha were both vaccinated for H1N1 last week, after the vaccine became available to Washington, D.C., schoolchildren. President and Mrs. Obama have not yet been vaccinated for H1N1, and they will wait until the needs of the priority groups identified by the CDC … have been met. The girls’ H1N1 vaccine was administered by a White House physician.”

- Catherine McCormick-Lelyveld, press secretary to first lady Michelle Obama, in a White House blog post Tuesday.

PROTECTIVE MEASURES

There’s a little H1N1 vaccine shortage and some other swine flu shenanigans afoot, creating a singular moment of liberal bias in the news according to Brent Baker of the Media Research Center.

“The Obama administration has escaped blame for the H1N1 flu vaccine shortage and delay,” Mr. Baker tells Beltway, pointing out that news anchors on CBS, NBC and ABC skated over the naming of names in recent news accounts - instead citing generic “federal health officials” or “government agencies” as the culprits.

That was not the case during Hurricane Katrina and during other public health emergencies, he says.

“In the Bush years, the media loved to hold George W. Bush accountable for every federal agency decision. Back in October of 2004, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry beat the media to it in blaming Bush for a shortage in the midst of fears over the ’bird flu,’ ” Mr. Baker recalls.

MAKEUP SESSION

Get ready to expand the family list of scary stuff. Along with sun exposure and E. coli, it’s now time to fear children’s Halloween face makeup.

There’s lead - a “potent neurotoxin” - in kiddie makeup kits, along with nickel, cobalt and chromium, says one lawmaker and the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a coalition of eight nonprofit health groups that includes Friends of the Earth and the Clean Water Fund. The California-based group tested 10 makeup samples.

“Lead and other hazardous chemicals have no place in face paints kids use for dress-up and play on Halloween or any other day of the year,” says Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Illinois Democrat, who advises we strengthen “cosmetic laws” and dole out enforcement authority to the Food and Drug Administration.

All eight samples contained lead; six contained nickel, cobalt and/or chromium. Something called Snazaroo Face Paint, labeled as “nontoxic” and “hypoallergenic,” contained some of the highest levels of lead, nickel and cobalt, the study said.

Here at the Beltway Paranoia Desk, we were poised to blame China for everything. A closer examination of the research revealed that four of the offending facepaints were produced in China, four in the U.S., one in Spain and one in Britain. Want a look-see? It’s all here: https://safecosmetics.org/downloads/PrettyScary_Oct2709.pdf.

TAKE TWO ASPIRIN

Wait … there’s a GOP Doctors Caucus?

Apparently so. The group - “13 Republican members of Congress with backgrounds in the health care profession” - debuts Wednesday in a Capitol Hill hearing, primed to examine health care reform and chaired by Reps. Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania and Phil Gingrey of Georgia - a child psychologist and an obstetrician, respectively.

“Physicians to review symptoms and offer diagnosis of health plan,” they say.

Note to docs: If C-SPAN is there, wear a stethoscope.

POLL DU JOUR

• 73 percent of Republicans trust the military to given an accurate picture of Afghanistan.

• 25 percent do not have much trust in the military for the news.

• 33 percent of Republicans trust the press for accurate news from the nation.

• 66 percent do not trust the press.

• 54 percent of Democrats trust the military for accurate news on Afghanistan, 45 percent do not.

• 52 percent trust the press for the news, 47 percent do not.

Source: A Pew Research Center survey of 1,004 adults conducted Oct. 16-19.

• Accolades, loud huzzahs, terse commentary to jharper@ washingtontimes.com.