Washington Journal

Washington Journal is by far my favorite TV program. At this website you can watch or listen to the live show from 7:00AM to 10:00AM or tapes of many recent shows - though it's a bit sketchy with my modem connection.

This morning it's well worth listening to Donald Marron, Congressional Budget Office, Acting Director. For one thing, his speaking style is a bit comical. But especially because he offers such an objective analysis of the Federal Budget. It's just amazing to witness his command of the budget, his instantaneous replies to complex questions. And, by all means, visit the Congressional Budget Office site for the Budget and Economic Outlook report or the Cost Estimate of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. Even though they're PDFs they download in a reasonable amount of time and are fascinating to read.

Also on Washington Joural this morning is Benazir Bhutto, Former Pakistani Prime Minister, 1988-90, 1993-96. If you think Middle Eastern women are cowering behind the burka, think again.

From the Women's International Center

Benazir Bhutto, Prime Minister of Pakistan, 1988-90, 1993-96

On December 2, 1988 Benazir Bhutto was sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan, becoming the first woman to head the government of an Islamic State.

In the preceding decade of political struggle, Ms. Bhutto was arrested on numerous occasions; in all she spent nearly 6 years either in prison or under detention for her dedicated leadership of the then opposition Pakistan Peoples Party. Throughout the years in opposition, she pledged to transform Pakistani society by focusing attention on programs for health, social welfare and
education for the underprivileged.

Since assuming the office of Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto has emphasized the need to heal past wounds and to put an end to the divisions in Pakistani society - including reducing discrimination between men and women. Ms. Bhutto has launched a nationwide program of health and education reform.

Benazir Bhutto was born in Karachi in 1953. After completing her early education in Pakistan, she attended Radcliffe College and Oxford University. As well as obtaining a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, she also completed a course in International Law and Diplomacy at Oxford.

Ms. Bhutto is the author of "Foreign Policy in Perspective" (1978) and her autobiography, "Daughter of Destiny" (1989). She received the Bruno Kreisky Award for Human Rights in 1988 and the Honorary Phi Beta Kappa Award from Radcliffe in 1989.

Though Bhutto faces several corruption charges, she's hardly hiding out.