In Kabul on Sunday, Afghans approved the country’s first constitution since the fall of the Taliban. The agreement came after a three-week grand council [or loya jirga] attended by 502 delegates. The constitution will put in place a strong presidential system with a two-chamber national assembly as called for by the U.S.-backed interim president Hamid Karzai. Presidential elections will take place in June followed by parliamentary elections six months later. Under the constitution, women will be recognized as equal citizens and about one-fifth of the lower-house assembly seats will be reserved for women. Afghanistan will be ruled in accordance with international codes on human rights but the constitution states that no law can be contrary to the “provisions and principles of Islam.” The country will be officially renamed the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

Bush Budget Cuts To Hurt Poor, Veterans and Unemployed
The New York Times is reporting that the White House is working on a new budget that would cut health care benefits for veterans, place new restrictions on housing vouchers for the poor and eliminate some job training and employment programs. Administration officials say the cuts in this election-year budget are designed not to alienate what the Times describes as “politically influential constituencies.” According to the Times total federal revenues have decreased for three years in a row, for the first time since the 1920s. Over the same three years, federal spending has increased by 20 percent. Spending on defense and homeland security have fueled the increases. Even with the cuts, the federal budget deficit is expected to top $400 billion for the first time.

Bush to Announce Election-Year Immigration Reform
On Wednesday, President Bush is expected to announce major changes to the nation’s immigration laws that would allow undocumented workers to receive benefits for money paid into the social security system. The main beneficiaries of the change are expected to be undocumented workers from Mexico. According to the Washington Post the move was calibrated by Bush’s senior advisor Karl Rove in an attempt to bolster support for the president with Latino voters who are seen as a key constituency in Florida and New Mexico, two states that Bush barely won in 2000.