Hostage Situation At Clinton's N.H. Office Ends Peacefully
New Hampshire TV station WMUR is reporting that an armed man has taken people hostage at Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign office in Rochester, N.H. FOX News is reporting that the man claimed to have a bomb and walked into the office demanding to speak with the New York senator.
Clinton is scheduled to speak today at the DNC's fall meeting in Northern Virginia.
[UPDATE 2:03] Two campaign workers are being held hostage, WMUR reports. Police were alerted to the situation after the hostage-taker released a woman who was with her infant.
[UPDATE 2:06] The area surrounding the office is in lockdown and a nearby school is to be evacuated in a "soft lockdown" with buses on site in case an evacuation is ordered. You can watch WMUR's coverage here.
[UPDATE 2:14] Clinton has cancelled her speech at the DNC meeting, FOX News and CNN report. The former first lady's whereabouts are not being made public at the moment.
Ignore those FOX News chyrons -- today's Wall Street rally has nothing to do with how healthy the economy is, and everything to do with how unhealthy it is.
"The combination of higher gas prices, the weak housing market, tighter credit conditions and declines in stock prices seem likely to create some headwinds for the consumer in the months ahead," Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said yesterday. Stocks are up today because investors are relieved that there will probably be another rate cut when the Fed next meets on Dec. 11. No one is overjoyed at why that cut is needed.
The Bush administration still wears an upbeat face on the economy, trumpeting October as the 50th consecutive month of job growth and noting that GDP has grown an average of 2.8 percent every year since 2001. But behind the scenes, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and HUD Secretary Alphonso Jacksonare negotiating a deal to freeze interest rates on certain subprime loans in order to help struggling borrowers fend off delinquency and foreclosure. Reports of the pending deal are also driving the surge on Wall Street, as the housing market crisis is one of the main forces pushing us close to a recession.
Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers is one of the more prominent economists to predict the U.S. is now more likely than not headed for recession. In an op-ed published by the Financial Times on Sunday, he wrote of the housing freefall, "We do not have comparable experiences on which to base predictions about what this will mean for the overall economy, but it is hard to believe declines of anything like this magnitude will not lead to a dramatic slowing in the consumer spending that has driven the economy in recent years."
Administration. The White House cut its forecast for economic growth yesterday and moved closer to a deal with financial institutions that would temporarily freeze interest rates in the troubled subprime mortgage market(subscription).
Economy. Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke last night signaled he is open to cutting interest rates further.
Congress.President Bush renewed his push for war funding without strings, as Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said he is "optimistic" Congress and the White House will be able to reach a compromise.
Schwab Hails China's Decision To Halt Contested Subsidies
China yesterday agreed to end subsidies challenged by the United States as a violation of world trade rules, a move touted by the Bush administration as proof that its policy of engagement is working. "I think this announcement makes clear that the administration's policy of serious dialogue and resolute enforcement is delivering real results," U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said. "It clearly shows the wisdom of this approach over some legislative approaches that would simply impose retaliatory tariffs."
Schwab said the subsidies, which were the subject of a World Trade Organization case the United States filed in February, had provided significant benefits to China-based exporters across a range of industries, including steel, wood products and information technology. A U.S. official said the United States had made no concessions. China has agreed to terminate the subsidies by the end of the year.
CNN's sorry, so very sorry, for the Clinton plant at last night's debate.
"We regret this, and apologize to the Republican candidates. We never would have used the General's question had we known that he was connected to any presidential candidate," said CNN exec David Bohrman.
"The Most Trusted Name In News" protests that it checked out retired Brig. Gen. Keith Kerr, the gay serviceman who asked the Republican candidates about "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," to make sure he had not contributed to any of the candidates. But if CNN's producers had just, say, Googled the guy, they would have found that he is a member of Hillary Rodham Clinton's LGBT steering committee. Bloggers did, and they were alerting the media about it before the debate was over.
Let's assume that CNN tried its level best to ensure a fair and balanced debate for the Republicans. The network's defense of how it not only let the Kerr question through without full disclosure but gave him five minutes on the floor for follow-up rings pretty weak because of the swiftness and ease with which bloggers found him out. As I noted in my liveblog coverage yesterday, conservatives were already dubious about whether they would be treated fairly at last night's forum, and afterward, a few prominent bloggers agreed they were not.
What it comes down to is this: The debate last night was first and foremost about Republican primary voters, not the general electorate. The reasonable thing to have done was make sure there were plenty of questions being asked by Republicans on issues of primary concern to Republicans. Those illegal immigration questions were a good start, but the evening took several bizarre turns as the night went on. Since the debate ended, conservative bloggers have found out the following:
We can't get Al Jazeera English's livestream to work [UPDATE 3:04: It works in Internet Explorer, not Firefox], but according to Sky News, the new audio message purportedly from Osama bin Laden seeks to persuade Washington's NATO allies that the fight for Afghanistan is a losing proposition.
"The American tide is ebbing, so it is best for you to press your leaders to change their policies," the speaker says, addressing Europeans.
As per usual, the CIA and other intelligence agencies are working to verify that the speaker is indeed the fugitive al-Qaida figurehead. According to the SITE Institute, which monitors jihadist Web sites, the recordings were released by al-Qaida's media arm, indicating they probably are authentic. If that's the case, it would mean that bin Laden has been unusuallychatty this fall.
Enthusiasm for the anti-Taliban effort in Afghanistan has been on the wane for some years. Washington has struggled to persuade its NATO partners to commit to more troops and funding for the military and reconstruction effort there as Taliban fighters and warlords seize ever-greater parcels of territory.
"Europe went along with [the invasion] because they had no other alternative, only to be a follower," the speaker continues. "It is better for you to stand against your leaders who are dropping in on the White House, and to work seriously to lift the injustice against the believers."
Former Illinois Rep. Henry Hyde (R), best known for leading the impeachment proceedings against former President Bill Clinton and authoring an amendment banning federal funding for abortions, died at the age of 83. The House Republican leadership confirmed his death today, AP reports.
Hyde was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom earlier this month but was unable to accept it in person because he was recovering from surgery. According to The Swamp, Hyde "had triple bypass surgery on his heart in July and has been in failing health." Family members told the Chicago Sun-Times that Hyde died around 3 a.m. this morning at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. "I believe his heart just gave out," his stepdaughter, Sue Schiesser, told the Sun-Times.
The long-serving conservative representative of Chicago's western suburbs left the House last year, after 32 years in office. The Chicago Tribune reports that Hyde was "known for his courtly manners, oratorical skills and historical knowledge" and was "often seen as a throwback to a more genteel era in Washington."
Administration. In the wake of the Annapolis meeting, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice named retired Marine Gen. James Jones the new U.S. special envoy for Middle East security.
Transportation. Bush appointed an emergency board yesterday to help Amtrak avoid a strike and settle disputes with labor unions.
See Earlybird(subscription) for more of this morning's headlines.
President Bush's top economic adviser for the past three years, Al Hubbard, announced yesterday that he will leave his post by the end of this year, continuing an exodus of White House aides heading into the administration's final year.
Bush promptly named Keith Hennessey, a White House deputy economic aide for five years, to succeed Hubbard as assistant to the president for economic policy and director of the National Economic Council. Hennessey has also worked for Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., and the Senate Budget Committee.
Hubbard has been one of Bush's closest advisers and friends since the two earned their MBAs together at Harvard Business School in the early 1970s. Hubbard has been involved in tax policy, health care, Social Security reform and other economic issues, including the recent debate over the State Children's Health Insurance Program.
Hubbard, a native of Indiana and former president of an Indianapolis investment firm, has not revealed his plans.
End note. I rode CNN pretty hard earlier, but overall this was a very good forum for these candidates. The producers did a better job than last time at picking interesting and varied questions (with the requisite gotchas, of course), and the holdouts for facing the YouTube Generation -- Romney, Giuliani -- probably did themselves a favor by deciding to show up.
What will get the most attention tomorrow is the knife-fight between Giuilani and Romney that kicked things off. Their cases against each other -- that Giuliani ran a liberal government in a crazy city and that Romney is a political changeling who accomplished little as governor -- went public only recently, and tonight is the first time we saw the candidates make their arguments mano a mano. Their squabbling produced a good moment for Thompson, who got to play the grown-up in the room as he methodically parsed what was wrong with both their records on immigration.
But as those anti-Huckabee press releases indicate, Thompson's camp realizes their man is in trouble. The "Law & Order" star was the one who was supposed to swoop in and rescue stranded GOP voters; now it looks like Huckabee's doing the rescuing, among evangelical Iowans, anyway.
Mideast: Bush Pledges Personal Involvement But Few Trips
The world was treated to the sight of a united President Bush, Mahmoud Abbas and Ehud Olmert once again today after more meetings following by a brief photo-op on the White House lawn.
"Yesterday was an important day, and it was a hopeful beginning," Bush said of Tuesday's Annapolis Conference on Israeli-Palestinian relations. "No matter how important yesterday was, it's not nearly as important as tomorrow and the days beyond."
The Israelis and Palestinians along with the U.S. have been emphasizing that the work ahead will be painful but necessary to reach the goal of final agreement on a two-state solution by 2009. Washington is taking on the main oversight role in the negotiations after years of what administration critics say was neglect of the region.
Looking ahead to tonight's highly anticipated CNN/YouTube debate, we find ourselves pondering a few weighty matters.
How much representation will CNN give to questions about Iraq, now that coverage of the war has dropped off steeply on that network and elsewhere?
Will the format of tonight's debate prove more hostile to the Republican candidates than to the Democrats, as we suspected in July?
And finally: What are the chances Mitt Romneywon't be asked to take a question from that Snowman?
These and other issues will be resolved starting at 8 p.m. EST tonight on CNN; The Gate will be liveblogging the action starting at 7:45. But first, some prognostication, after the jump.
In the weeks and months following the much-anticipated congressional testimony from Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker on the progress of the Iraq war, the anti-war movement has been eerily silent.
Compared with the outcry that accompanied previous failed attempts by Congress to pass a timetable for withdrawal, the most recent vote came and went without much noise from MoveOn.org, Americans United for Change and the umbrella group Americans Against Escalation in Iraq. Aside from the occasional Code Pink outburst and angry op-ed, liberal activists seem to have refocused their energies on health care and other domestic issues.
Introducing National Journal's New Campaigns '08 Page
Lots of good stuff, including comprehensive stats on the candidates, details on the latest ads and polls and political analysis from political director Ronald Brownstein and Hotline's John Mercurio and Amy Walter.
A new Pew Research Center poll [PDF] gauging public attitudes toward the war shows an increasing number of Americans see Iraq turning a corner, both in terms of reducing violence and reaching political accord. In an open-ended question that asked respondents to describe Iraq, "improving" was the word that came up most frequently -- in stark contrast to "mess," the word that came up most frequently in a September poll.
See today's Poll Track(subscription) for analysis of Pew's latest results on Iraq.
President Pervez Musharraf made good on one of his often-repeated promises today, stepping down from his post as the head of the country's military and taking off his ubiquitious uniform. Musharraf is set to be sworn in as Pakistan's civilian president tomorrow.
"The army has been my life. The army has been my passion. The army has been my pride. The system has to carry on; there is a time when everyone has to go," he said during an elaborate ceremony this morning. "Tomorrow I will no longer be in command, but I am happy I spent these 46 years in very excellent manner. What I am is just because of this force."
Gen. Ashfaq Kiyani, Musharraf's vice army chief, was promoted to the top spot. His predecessor leaves him a country in turmoil, still under the emergency rule imposed in early November.
The Post has a broader view on the army and more on Musharraf's legacy, and The Gate's previous coverage of Pakistan can be found here.
Earlybird Roundup: Bush Economic Adviser To Resign
Administration. The Wall Street Journal(subscription) reports that Al Hubbard, President Bush's top economic adviser, will resign at the end of the year.
Washington. After lengthy negotiations yesterday, the Federal Communications Commission voted for watered-down regulations for cable companies.
Congress. The Senate is set to take up an intel bill when it returns from recess Monday, and negotiators are closing in on a deal to set higher fuel-economy standards.
Courts. Texas oil mogul Oscar Wyatt Jr. yesterday got half the maximum sentence -- a year and a day in prison -- for violating rules of the U.N. oil-for-food program.
Mark Everson, president and CEO of the American Red Cross, was forced to resign today over what appears to have been an improper relationship with an employee.
Everson, who is married, had been on the job since May 29 of this year. In an unusually candid statement, the Red Cross announced, "The Board acted quickly after learning that Mr. Everson engaged in a personal relationship with a subordinate employee. It concluded that the situation reflected poor judgment on Mr. Everson's part and diminished his ability to lead the organization in the future."
The blunt language may be an indication that the organization, the nation's most prominent domestic humanitarian aid agency, is taking measures to shield itself from a harassment lawsuit. The statement also said that the board was forming a search committee for Everson's replacement, and that General Counsel Mary Elcano would serve as interim president and CEO.
Everson served as IRS commissioner from 2003 until he left in May to take the helm at the Red Cross.
The Writers Strike: Good For Candidates, Bad For Voters
When the Writers Guild of America launched its nationwide strike four weeks ago, The Gate sort of joked that the extended hiatus for late-night talk shows and political satires would spell doom for Washington. But now that it's been nearly a month since the last new "Daily Show" episode, we're starting to get nervous... seriously.
With the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses and Jan. 8 New Hampshire primaries rapidly approaching, the presidential campaigns have shifted into high gear. And with at least eight debates scheduled between now and Christmas, the media's coverage of the campaigns has reached a fever pitch. Meanwhile, the candidates and those responsible for covering them in the press are going about their business free from the scrutinizing eyes of Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and "Saturday Night Live." That's not just bad for comedy -- it's bad for democracy.
Reading a joint statement issued by the international participants of the Annapolis conference on Israeli-Palestinian relations, President Bush heralded what is widely seen as a last-ditch attempt to broker a lasting peace between the two Mideast parties.
"We express our determination to bring an end to bloodshed, suffering and decades of conflict between our peoples; to usher in a new era of peace, based on freedom, security, justice, dignity, respect and mutual recognition; to propagate a culture of peace and nonviolence; to confront terrorism and incitement, whether committed by Palestinians or Israelis," Bush said before representatives of the U.N., EU, G-8 and nearly every major Arab League nation. "In furtherance of the goal of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security, we agree to immediately launch good-faith bilateral negotiations in order to conclude a peace treaty, resolving all outstanding issues, including all core issues without exception."
Seated on stage to the president's side were Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the two leaders who will do the heavy lifting in the negotiations. The joint statement was, as expected, a declaration of support from the world community of the two-state solution advocated by both parties as well as the United States. The statement also included a recommitment to the 2003 road map established by the Quartet -- the U.S., EU, U.N. and Russia -- shepherding the peace process.
But Bush also clarified the role the U.S. will play during the coming stretch of talks. While Washington won't exactly be in the thick of negotiations, it will be overseeing and assessing Israel's and the PLO's progress on the road map requirements. Exactly how much of a taskmaster the U.S. is in the process will probably be determined by the depth of involvement by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the mastermind behind the new push for a two-state solution.
President Bush's plan to tackle one of the most mundane yet most trying problems in America -- holiday travel delays -- met with some initial skepticism when he announced it ahead of the long Thanksgiving weekend. But did it actually work? The Gate gives thanks to The Lede for putting that question to the experts. Tentative verdict: sort of.
Earlybird Roundup: 'Soft Power' Options, Riots In Paris Suburbs
Administration. Defense Secretary Robert Gates noted yesterday that the U.S. cannot rely on military solutions alone and called for more "soft power" measures like diplomacy and economic help.
Congress. GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham and Saxby Chambliss threatened to cut funding for the Iraqi government unless Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki can produce political progress by January.
Iraq. The U.S. will negotiate a formal deal with Iraq to define the long-term relationship between the two countries that could keep American troops in Iraq indefinitely.
Courts. A judge upheld a ruling that five Muslim-American citizens' rights were not violated when customs officers detained and searched them at the Canadian border.
World. More than 70 police officers have been injured in the Paris suburbs during a second day of rioting.
See Earlybird(subscription) for more of this morning's headlines.
Government officials in Iran announced today that the country has developed a new long-range missile that can hit a target more than 1,200 miles away -- far enough to reach Israel and U.S. military bases in the Middle East. Iran already possesses a fairly wide arsenal of missiles as part of its existing arms program, which was begun in 1992 to make up for a U.S. weapons embargo.
Although it's not part of the nuclear program that negotiators are trying to wrestle Tehran into dismantling, the announcement of a new missile (regardless of whether it can live up to the hype) is likely to be a source of friction between the U.S. and Iran. Rumblings about the U.S. taking military action against Iran have persisted for several months.
Agence France-Presse has a full rundown of Iran's missile capabilities.
Rep. Carson Will Not Run Again After Cancer Diagnosis
Rep. Julia Carson, D-Ind., might return to Washington in January despite being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer last week, but the six-term member has ruled out a re-election bid next year, a spokesman said yesterday.
Len Sistek, Carson's chief of staff, said the 69-year-old lawmaker intends to return to work after the first of the year, but said he could not say whether she was considering resigning. "We are trying to stick with the facts and a lot is not known right now," said Sistek, explaining that Carson's staff in Washington learned of her diagnosis from media reports. He confirmed that Carson did "not intend at this point to seek re-election in 2008."
No doubt that helping forge an independent Palestinian state at peace with Israel would be the jewel in President Bush's pretty beat-up crown come 2009, hence his commitment to the Herculean task of getting the two parties to strike an accord before he leaves office. Analysts of the region are largely of two minds on whether Bush and his go-to on the issue, Condoleezza Rice, can get it done.
Some have come to believe that the Bush administration, so heavily mired in Iraq, completely gave up on Mideast negotiations after the road map fell apart in 2003. "The Bush administration has hung a 'Closed for the Season' sign on serious Arab-Israeli diplomacy," Aaron David Millerdeclared in April. "The Rice initiative is almost certainly way too little, way too late."
Both sides badly want an end to the bloody and costly conflict, and for the first time maybe ever, the Palestinians are being represented by a man the West views as an honest broker, President Mahmoud Abbas. The Palestinians and Israelis are still about as far apart as they ever were on their demands, yet the ground seems especially fertile for compromise -- the essential and long-missing component for these negotiations.
We couldn't post this until now thanks to a certain ailing (current) vice president. What were you expecting, fisticuffs? Judgingbytheseheadlines, the MSM was really, really hoping for a slapfight -- tsk. These are probably the same guys who refusetobelieveAl Gore isn't running for president next year, despite his repeated insistence he has no plans to do so. Note to pollsters: Maybe it's time to start leaving Gore off the matchups, hmm?
Vice President Dick Cheney will be undergoing an evaluation for an irregular heartbeat later today in what his office describes as a routine test, FOX News is reporting.
Cheney will be examined at George Washington University Hospital, where he is regularly treated for his cardiovascular ailments. Cheney, who turns 67 in January, has had four heart attacks since 1978, and his semi-regular trips to GWUH are generally followed with close media interest as a result. In July, the vice president had minor surgery to replace a battery in his pacemaker. In March, Cheney was treated for a blood clot in his left leg.
FOX News reports that Cheney's office is downplaying the seriousness of his condition, as is usually the case when he makes a trip to the hospital. The vice president is expected back home this evening.
Cheney was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, which may be treated with a small electrical shock. According to the American Heart Association, Cheney's condition means that his heart's upper chambers "quiver instead of beating effectively."
Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott, longtime Senate majority leader and current minority whip, said he had no health problems when announcing his early retirement today.
"It is time for us to do something else," he said at a press conference in his hometown of Pascagoula.
The 66-year-old senator denied that he was stepping down early to get a jump on a lobbying career, a lucrative next step for many who leave Congress. Lott handily won re-election last November after previously stating he would not run; he attributed his change of heart to Hurricane Katrina. Today, Lott said that he had accomplished much in that regard but acknowledged that there was more work to do. He expressed confidence that his eventual successor would "pick up the flag and carry on."
"The legislation that we needed for the most part to be put on the books has been completed," Lott said, speaking of post-Katrina reforms. "We feel like it is time now, an opportunity to make this move," he said, speaking for himself and his wife, Tricia.
Annapolis Confab Begins After Syria Agrees To Participate
Officials got some optimistic news on the eve of the U.S.-hosted Mideast peace talks when Syria committed to attending. The two-day meeting begins today at the White House and then moves tomorrow to Annapolis, Md.
Negotiators are still scrambling to construct a larger framework for the talks. President Bush will meet separately with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at the White House today; tomorrow will be the only time the three meet together for the now-obligatory handshake photo-op.
Syria's goals are focused on the Golan Heights, a small strip of land annexed by Israel when it won the Six-Day War in 1967. Israeli and Syrian officials tried to negotiate over the future of the land in 2000, but the talks fell apart.
Syria wants to regain control of the land and had said it would not come to Annapolis unless the Golan was on the agenda. Initially, U.S. brokers had said that only the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was on the table, but they later broadened their scope.
Washington.President Bush will welcome the 2007 Nobel Prize winners -- including his former rival Al Gore -- to the White House today.
Administration. Legal challenges are mounting after the White House invoked the "state secrets" doctrine to block efforts aimed at forcing officials to reveal information about the warrantless wiretapping program.
Pakistan. President Pervez Musharraf has promised to leave his post as military leader and be sworn in as a civilian president on Thursday. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also registered as a candidate in the upcoming parliamentary elections.
Iraq. Nearly 5,000 soldiers will have left Iraq when a combat brigade finishes its pullout from the Diyala province at the end of December.
Economy.Recession worries rose with shaky signals from the stock and bond markets.
See Earlybird(subscription) for more of this morning's headlines.
The Supreme Court has agreed to interpret for the first time whether the Second Amendment grants individuals the right to possess handguns.
The amendment states only that "a well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." The court has never made the distinction between militias and individuals on gun ownership, nor has it delineated the authority of states and localities on the matter.
At issue is Washington, D.C.'s 31-year-old ban on handguns, one of the strictest gun-control laws in the nation. In March, a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled 2-1 that the District's law was unconstitutional. "I am personally deeply disappointed and frankly outraged by this decision," said Mayor Adrian Fenty (D) at the time. "It flies in the face of laws that have helped decrease gun violence in the District of Columbia."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is making sure the White House won't have anything to be thankful for these next couple of weeks.
The House has adjourned until Dec. 3, but Reid announced that he will keep the Senate in a "pro forma" session throughout the scheduled two-week Thanksgiving break after being informed that several recess appointments by the Bush administration were likely.
So, who are the lucky senators charged with trudging back up to the Hill while their colleagues are back home enjoying turkey and the fixins?
As The Holidays Begin, Campaigning Doesn't Slow Down
This week, Americans have turkey on the brain. But with a pushed-up primary schedule and the first-in-the-nation caucuses only six weeks away, it seems the holiday season and the campaign season will go hand-in-hand.
Several of the 2008 presidential candidates are not breaking from their busy schedules to celebrate Thanksgiving this week. Arizona Sen. John McCain will use the holiday recess to take his seventh trip to Iraq, while Democratic Sens. Christopher Dodd and Joseph Biden will head to Iowa to serve meals with their families and celebrate the holiday with supporters, according to The Caucus.
Meanwhile, a new poll shows some candidates would be more welcome at American dinner tables than others. Quinnipiac University pollsters asked likely voters which candidates they would most like to share their Thanksgiving meals with, and perhaps not surprisingly, the front-runners of each race were perceived to be the most desirable house guests.
One of the few benefits of living in New Jersey (and this native Garden Stater should know) is the plethora of shopping malls. From just about anywhere in the state, the nearest Nordstrom, Macy's or Wal-Mart is just a stone's throw (or jughandle) away. So it's little wonder that one of the most hallowed days for Jerseyites is Black Friday, the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season.
But for state workers this year, Gov. Jon Corzine has already ruined the fun.
"Jersey Scrooge" ended the long-standing tradition of giving state government workers Black Friday off as a paid holiday this year. The former Goldman Sachs chairman says he merely wants to keep the state running efficiently to serve taxpayers. His employees, not surprisingly, see it a little differently.
Two big birds weren't on the menu at the annual presidential Thanksgiving turkey pardon today.
After announcing that Americans had voted online to name the lucky fowl May and Flower, President Bush noted that the winning nom de plumes were "certainly better than the names the vice president suggested, which were Lunch and Dinner."
The reference to Dick Cheney's love of hunting was greeted with appreciative chuckles from the audience and enthusiastic warbling from May and Flower, the guests of honor.
Delivering a message "for our two feathered friends," Bush said, "You cannot take the heat, and you're definitely going to stay out of the kitchen."
A new United Nations report due out this week shows a dramatic drop in the number of AIDS and HIV cases around the globe. The numbers, reduced from 40 million to 33 million infected people worldwide, are challenging conventional wisdom about the scope of the disease. Scientists now believe the epidemic has been slowing down for nearly a decade.
There are a few factors at play in the slowdown:
· The way the U.N. runs its numbers. The organization used a new model to create more accurate estimates of full populations this year, after being criticized for keeping the numbers high to continue to secure funds for prevention programs -- a claim U.N. officials strenuously deny.
· Increased educational programs.Billions of dollars spent to teach people about HIV/AIDS may be helping to curb the spread of the disease in places such as sub-Saharan Africa, which recorded 2.2 million new cases per year in 2001. In 2007, that number was down to 1.7 million.
· Better treatment. New drugs and increased access to existing ones have helped people live longer with the disease. (One expert notes, however, that in countries like the United States and Uganda, where good treatment transforms the disease into a chronic but livable condition, some patients have been "backsliding" and returning to high-risk behavior.)
The AIDS epidemic should still be kept in perspective, U.N. officials note: The disease remains the No. 1 killer in Africa and claims nearly 6,000 lives every day.
"I've kind of pulled back. I'm not not supporting him, but I'm not doing anything,” said one House Republican who previously rallied for the former Tennessee senator. None of the lawmakers who spoke to CQ would go on the record with their discontent "because they did not want to damage him or themselves publicly." Any guesses on who they are? E-mail us: jroh[at]nationaljournal.com.
Remember that audience member question from the Las Vegas Democratic candidates debate that we slammed? Turns out that while young Maria Luisa Parra-Sandoval dreamed up the diamonds vs. pearls question, it was a) among several substantive questions she submitted, and b) in response to CNN's request for a "light" question, The Caucus reports. As the debate was winding down, another audience member asked a question about Yucca Mountain, one of the topics Parra-Sandoval was most eager to raise. At a CNN producer's request, when it was Parra-Sandoval's turn to query the candidates she went with that silly jewelry question.
TPM's Greg Sargentnotes that while Parra-Sandoval ultimately agreed to ask the question of Hillary Rodham Clinton, CNN betrayed shady news judgment by picking it. In the meantime, Parra-Sandoval, an honors scholarship student and Princeton fellowship winner, is being hounded online and elsewhere for her performance.
Eighty-one percent of CBS news writers voted to authorize a strike. According to the Writers Guild of America East's Web site, the vote means the WGAE and WGAW are authorized to call a strike against CBS anytime. It is not yet clear how a strike would affect such programming as "CBS Nightly News" or "60 Minutes."
The WGA strike has already shut down most late-night variety programming, and several TV series and movies have been forced to halt production. The Los Angeles Times' Show Tracker blog has been posting regular updates on the strike.
Thanks to the New York Times, we know more about the extent to which Washington has been secretly aiding Pakistan's military. It's doubtful, though, that this new information is making anyone feel better about the situation.
The bright line here is between Taliban sympathizers/al-Qaida and Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. Everyone agrees that crossing that line would be disastrous beyond imagination. So, we aren't too surprised that Michael O'Hanlon and Frederick Kagan, of the Brookings Institution and American Enterprise Institute, respectively, agree that the U.S. needs to consider military intervention.
"The task of stabilizing a collapsed Pakistan is beyond the means of the United States and its allies," they wrote in an op-ed published in yesterday's Times. "Thus, if we have any hope of success, we would have to act before a complete government collapse, and we would need the cooperation of moderate Pakistani forces."
After more than four and a half years as one of the Bush administration's most visible post-9/11 counterterrorism advisers, Fran Townsend is leaving her post on the White House Homeland Security Council to pursue work in the private sector. Townsend joins a steady stream of top advisers who have departed the White House as President Bush's tenure there enters its final year.
"Fran always has provided wise counsel on how best to protect the American people from the threat of terrorism," Bush said in a statement. "With her extensive experience, intellect and candor, Fran has ably guided the Homeland Security Council. She has played an integral role in the formation of the key strategies and policies my Administration has used to combat terror and protect Americans."
Townsend has frequently communicated Bush's counterterrorism policies and the rationale behind them in press conferences and appearances on television talk shows. She is slated to appear on CNN's "Situation Room" this afternoon at 4 p.m. EST.
Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore confirmed today that he will run for the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. John Warner.
"America has a lot of work to do, and doesn't have the right leaders to do it," the conservative Republican said in his announcement video. "I'm running for the United States Senate from Virginia, because I want to be one of those leaders who call on the spirit that's common in all of us, and use it to restore our country for the benefit of our people and in the eyes of the world."
Gilmore's entry in what is expected to be one of the hotter Senate races next year comes four months after he ended his bid for the White House. Gilmore had little name recognition in the crowded field for the Republican nomination, and made barely a fingernail scrape on that contest.
Bangladesh. The death toll from Cyclone Sidr, which ripped through the country Thursday, has surpassed 3,000 and is expected to keep climbing; the U.S. has provided an initial $2.1 million in emergency aid.
Pakistan. A classified report reveals a U.S. plan to enlist Pakistani tribes to help fight al-Qaida and the Taliban. Meanwhile, a Pakistani court dismissed challenges to President Pervez Musharraf's re-election bid.
Congress. A House task force began circulating a final proposal for the creation of an independent ethics office.
Congress Adjourns With Farm Bill & Bridge Fund Still Outstanding
Some legislators left frustrated for the Thanksgiving recess after a cloture vote on the farm bill failed on Friday afternoon. Democrats fell five votes short of the 60 needed to end discussion, which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid tried to cut off after he and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell could not come to an agreement on amendments.
A failed cloture vote also left up in the air the fate of the $50 billion bridge fund that would continue military operations in Iraq. Again, Senate Democrats fell short of the 60 votes needed. But Reid sounded the death knell for the bridge fund -- unlike the farm bill, which could still come up when legislators return from recess -- and said that no money would be forthcoming this year.
This iteration of the Democrats' supplemental funding bill tied money for the war to a withdrawal timeline. Now, the Pentagon will continue to cover war costs out of its base budget, a move that officials have threatened to translate into layoffs and furloughs for Defense Department employees. Lawmakers did OK the Pentagon's $470 billion base budget before they left town.
Reid said Friday that senators will focus on FY08 appropriations bills and legislation addressing the alternative minimum tax when they return on Dec. 3.
CongressDaily(subscription) has details, as well as a full roundup of developments in the appropriations process.
The Senate this morning defeated both Republican and Democratic attempts to consider supplemental funding for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, CongressDaily reports (subscription). The Republican motion to invoke cloture on a $70 billion bill without restrictions failed 45-53, while the Democratic cloture motion on the House-passed $50 billion bridge fund with restrictions, including a plan to withdraw troops from Iraq, failed 53-45.
The Democrats' continued inability to pass legislation forcing a change in President Bush's war policies one year after their victory in the 2006 midterm elections may be frustrating to lawmakers and voters who had high hopes for the Democratic majority. But two new surveys show that the troop surge instituted last winter and Gen. David Petraeus' testimony earlier this fall have done little to change the country's deep partisan divides over the war.
National Journal's latest survey [PDF] of congressional insiders shows Republican lawmakers nearly united in their belief that the "outlook for a stable, democratic Iraq" has improved over the past year, while a majority of Democrats said it has either deteriorated or remained static. Meanwhile, a new FOX News/Opinion Dynamics poll shows an American public similarly divided along party lines on whether the surge has had an impact. See today's Poll Track(subscription) for more on these polls, plus the latest numbers from the White House race.
DOD photo by Cpl. Shane S. Keller, U.S. Marine Corps
... and little gained. Barack Obama and John Edwards continued to pepper front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton with pointed attacks -- and seemed to have shot themselves up a bit instead. By dint of steely preparation Clinton swiftly crushed the immigration ID debate with a simple "no" and hit the gender card question out of the park.
"I'm just trying to play the winning card," Clinton said to tremendous applause. "People are not attacking me because I'm a woman, they're attacking me because I'm ahead."
Ker-pow. Not only is that almost certainly correct, but it's also a great talking point. In a remarkable contrast to her would-be Republican rivals, Clinton has powered through the media's sometimes great mistrust of her to what increasingly resembles a bulletproof lead. This is not a case of base-wide amnesia; the Democratic left's concerns about Fortress Clinton are still quite real. But those voters seem to have decided that there are bigger issues to worry about this election.
Highlights, lowlights and frosted tips (stay with us) after the jump.
Administration. The White House has nominated Chicago Judge Mark Filip to serve as No. 2 at the Justice Department under new Attorney General Michael Mukasey.
Congress. Democrats are vowing to get tougher and wield the power of the purse in their battle with the White House over the Iraq war.
Nation. A U.S. appeals court ordered the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to set stricter miles-per-gallon fuel standards for light trucks and SUVs.
World. A powerful cyclone swept through Bangladesh late yesterday, killing hundreds and leaving destruction in its wake.
See Earlybird(subscription) for more of this morning's headlines.
Leahy's Panel OKs FISA Bill Without Immunity Provision
Defying the White House, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill yesterday that does not include protections for telecommunications companies that helped the Bush administration spy on U.S. citizens without warrants.
The action sets the Judiciary Committee on a collision course with the Senate Intelligence Committee, which had overwhelmingly approved legislation last month that would revise the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and give the companies retroactive legal immunity from lawsuits. President Bush has threatened to veto any bill that did not include such protections.
WH '08: They're After You For A Reason. No... Not That Reason.
Within the first 15 minutes of tonight's Democratic presidential candidates debate in Las Vegas, expect Hillary Rodham Clinton to make a self-deprecating joke about her last debate performance and then try to move on. Will her rivals let her? Fat chance.
Two weeks ago, Clinton's uncomfortable equivocations on drivers licenses for illegal immigrants and on her husband Bill's White House records reminded Democrats of what they like least about her: that she sometimes appears to be a politically savvy cyborg. Clinton's nearest rivals, Barack Obama and John Edwards, aren't very near at all, according to polls. As expected, Obama and Edwards went after Clinton pointedly in Philadelphia. They are expected to go after her even harder tonight.
While Clinton's numbers slipped a bit by some measures since the MSNBC forum in Philly, she still appears to be Democratic primary voters' candidate of choice to go against a Republican next year. That last part is key. Recent history indicates that voters no longer believe they have the luxury of being swept off their feet by a candidate. Funny that the last time this appears to have happened for Democrats was when Bill Clinton was the nominee...
If all this is somehow hurting Hillary Clinton's feelings, she isn't showing it. Mark Penn, her top strategist, had this message for Democrats today: Suck it up, and keep your eye on the ball.
President Bush's "Boy Genius" has crossed over to the dark side -- the mainstream media, that is.
The Poynter Institute's Jim Romenesko posted a press release from Newsweek earlier today announcing that former White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove would join the magazine as an op-ed contributor. Pointing to former Clinton adviser George Stephanopoulos as a model, Newsweek editor Jon Meacham explained the magazine's decision: "Whether one agrees or disagrees with Karl, there is no arguing that he has been a critical player in the political world with insights and experiences that we think will give our readers something unique."
Former Speaker Dennis Hastert addressed his colleagues as a fellow member for the last time this afternoon, ending two decades of service in the House.
"As members of Congress, we are not here just to vote but... to give voice on this floor to the aspirations of our constituents. So this place where we speak, the well of the House, is very special to me," Hastert said from behind the floor podium facing the chamber.
The 65-year-old former teacher recalled that he delivered his first-ever remarks as a freshman and as Speaker from behind that podium.
"I explained at the time I was breaking the tradition of Speaker by [not] making my acceptance remarks from the Speaker's chair because my legislative home is on the floor with you, and so is my heart. Well," he continued, "my heart is still here and always will be."
As Americans gear up for yet another hectic holiday travel season, President Bush met with reporters at the White House today to address an issue that almost all Americans agree on: airline delays.
After 2006 set a new record for delayed flights at the nation's busiest airports, this year witnessed a number of high-profilereports of passengers being stranded, not only at airports, but also inside aircraft cabins for hours on the tarmac.
Bush referenced those horror stories in his brief address this afternoon as he laid out a four-point plan to reduce such problems in the short term. First, he said the military will open up airspace along the East Coast during a five-day period around the Thanksgiving holiday next week.
The United States' lonely venture in Iraq has taken its toll on the American public, according to a new poll commissioned by the U.N. Foundation and the Better World Campaign. The bipartisan survey and follow-up focus group discussions, conducted by Public Opinion Strategies (R) and Garin-Hart-Yang (D), reveal a shift in the public's international priorities and what pollster Bill McInturff calls a "repudiation" of President Bush's "go it alone" foreign policy.
The overwhelming majority of those surveyed said America's reputation has suffered in the last few years, and 86 percent of likely voters said that, in order to achieve its foreign policy goals in the future, America needs to renew its partnerships with other countries and work through international organizations rather than act alone.
For more on the survey, including voters' foreign-policy wish list for the next president, see today's Poll Track(subscription).
Rudy Giuliani upped the ante in the White House 2008 ad war today when he debuted the first TV spot of his presidential campaign in New Hampshire. The 60-second ad, entirely focused on the GOP front-runner's record as mayor of New York City, describes how he transformed the Big Apple from the crime and welfare "capital of America" to a city so clean and shiny, Disney filmmakers recently found it to be a fitting location for a live-action fairytale. But perhaps more interesting is what doesn't get mentioned in the ad: Giuliani's post-9/11 leadership.
See today's Ad Spotlight(subscription) for more details. Plus: Fred Thompsonfollows Tom Tancredo with an immigration-themed ad of his own.
The Washington Post has an A-1 story this morning summarizing interviews with senior military officials who concur that the biggest U.S. obstacle in Iraq is not al-Qaida or sectarian violence, but the nascent Iraqi government itself.
"The lack of political progress calls into question the core rationale behind the troop buildup President Bush announced in January, which was premised on the notion that improved security would create space for Iraqis to arrive at new power-sharing arrangements," the Post reports. Army Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the commander of day-to-day U.S. military operations in Iraq, told interviewers that the drop in attacks against U.S. troops and Iraqis has opened a window of opportunity for the Iraqi government to reach out to former enemies, but "it's unclear how long that window is going to be open."
Meanwhile, at home, Bush is facing his own closing window in the form of war funding. The House yesterday passed a bill to fund further military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, but Democrats tied it to a host of measures -- including a troop withdrawal to begin within a month and to be nearly completed within a year -- that the administration wouldn't find acceptable.
Earlybird Roundup: State Dept. IG Quits Blackwater Probe
Washington. Citing a conflict of interest, State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard abruptly resigned from the government's Blackwater investigation yesterday.
Terrorism. Undercover agents were able to smuggle all the components necessary to build a bomb through security checkpoints at 19 airports, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.
Courts. A British judge today ruled that radical Islamic cleric Abu Hamza can be handed over to the U.S. to be tried on terrorism charges.
Administration.President Bush will meet new Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda for the first time tomorrow, when he visits the U.S.
Congress. Two leaders of Hollywood unions came to Capitol Hill yesterday to try to drum up support for their striking writers, although the unions are not seeking direct intervention from legislators.
See Earlybird(subscription) for more of this morning's headlines.
It's do or die for the children's health bill -- again.
House Republicans seeking changes to the bill will present Senate sponsors with their final proposal today.
"There's a consensus that we get this done tomorrow or we just kind of confide to each other that we can't," Senate Finance ranking member Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said after a meeting yesterday. "We're getting finality, one way or the other."
Snapshot of a rally organized by the New York State, County and City bar associations yesterday expressing solidarity with the thousands of lawyers in jail or protesting Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's decision to suspend the constitution and impose martial law. Hundreds of lawyers turned up at the steps of the New York County Supreme Court building at 1 p.m. to show support for their foreign counterparts.
In case you missed it, the $54 million pants judge, Roy Pearson, is no longer sitting on the D.C. bench.
According to AP, the D.C. Commission on Selection and Tenure of Administrative Law Judges decided last month not to reappoint Pearson, whose term had already expired. Pearson came into national notoriety when he sued a mom-and-pop dry-cleaning business for millions over a pair of missing trousers. Following a particularly emotional (for him) day of testimony last summer, Pearson "had to leave the courtroom with tears running down his face... after recalling the lost pair of trousers," the Washington Postreported.
Instead of damages, Pearson was gifted with the scorn and ridicule of the legal community. Pearson was informed that he was out of a job last month, but not, sources told the Post, because of the pants lawsuit. Rather, following a review of Pearson's on-the-bench performance, a committee concluded that Pearson "did not demonstrate 'appropriate judgment and judicial temperament.'"
Musharraf Remains Defiant Amid Calls To End Emergency Rule
As U.S. envoy John Negroponte prepares to visit South Asia later this week to try and smooth over the political rift between Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, the two leaders continue to spar, blaming each other for the chaos that has been brewing ever since Musharraf threw out the constitution and instituted emergency rule there.
In an interview with AP, Musharraf rebuffed Bhutto's call for his resignation and accused her of stoking the flames of unrest. Although he acknowledged an "acute trust deficit" between him and the former prime minister, he said he would still be open to working with her. "If she does become the prime minister, we will see.... It depends on her if she wants to be on a confrontational course or a conciliatory one," he said. Bhutto, however, closed the door on a possible power-sharing agreement with Musharraf in comments made yesterday.
It's no secret that Tom Tancredo has a one-track mind when it comes to his bid for the GOP presidential nomination. The Colorado congressman has made it clear that he is trying to push the immigration issue to the forefront of the conversation, and in some states (particularly Iowa), he appears to be succeeding.
For those who haven't heard the message, the Tancredo campaign released a new TV ad this week in Iowa and New Hampshire that is sure to grab viewers' attention with provocative images of real terrorist attacks in London and Madrid and an imagined scenario in which an illegal immigrant leaves a bomb in a crowded shopping mall -- just in time for the holidays, no less.
See today's Ad Spotlight(subscription) for more on Tancredo's debut ad buy. Plus: Did you know John Edwards is the son of a mill worker? The Democratic hopeful is once again reminding South Carolina voters of his humble beginnings in a new TV ad.
Bush Takes Swipe Over Gonzales Again As Mukasey Sworn In
President Bush could not resist expressing his anger at the unceremonious way in which longtime confidante Alberto Gonzales was disposed from his job -- even as the man who replaced him as U.S. attorney general, Michael Mukasey, was just feet away for his own formal swearing-in.
"Our new attorney general, Michael Mukasey, follows in the footsteps of a fine man and fine American, Al Gonzales," Bush said, as Mukasey and Chief Justice John Roberts stood by for the ceremony. "As White House counsel and attorney general in my administration, Al Gonzales worked tirelessly to make this country safer and to ensure all Americans receive equal justice in the eyes of the law," the president continued, thanking Gonzales and his family for their "service to our nation."
Few in Washington share Bush's high opinion of Gonzales, however, which is the reason why the former AG resigned in late August after months of bipartisan calls for his ouster. Bush has apparently not gotten over the slight to his longtime friend and to his own judgment. When he announced Mukasey's nomination in September, he also took time from praising his pick to indirectly chide critics over Gonzales.
Spitzer Pulls Driver ID Plan For Illegal Immigrants
New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer formally dropped his plan to issue driver's licenses to illegal workers, saying the problem is a federal responsibility that can't be covered by state or local governments.
His idea was "the consequence of the federal government's failure," he said during a news conference this morning. Spitzer spoke after a meeting with New York's congressional delegation, and yesterday his office told state lawmakers that he would abandon the plan.
Originally, Spitzer introduced the idea as a way to increase security and help immigrants "out of the shadows," but it quickly came under fire when skeptics asserted it could help potential terrorists slip through legal channels. During today's news conference, Spitzer also frowned about "turning a practical security measure into a political referendum" -- a reference to the negative attention the plan received after Hillary Rodham Clinton whiffed a question on it during the Democratic debate a few weeks ago, prompting her rivals on bothsides to pounce.
Lebanese National Convicted Of Stealing FBI Secrets
A new window into problems at the nation's intelligence agencies popped up recently: Nada Nadim Prouty, a Lebanese woman who used a fake marriage to obtain citizenship and got jobs at the CIA and the FBI. She used her positions to access classified information about an investigation of Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based militant Islamic group the U.S. has designated a terrorist organization.
Prouty also used her position to find information about her brother-in-law Talal Chahine, who fled to Lebanon more than two years ago to avoid prosecution for tax evasion connected to his La Shish restaurant chain. Prouty's sister was convicted in May on charges of helping Chahine and is serving an 18-month prison term.
In a Detroit courtroom yesterday, Prouty pleaded guilty to charges of illegally using the FBI's computer system, naturalization fraud and conspiring to obtain U.S. citizenship. As part of her sentence, she will give up her citizenship and may face fines and jail time.
Washington.President Bush cleared the way for the Justice Department's ethics investigation into warrantless wiretapping at the National Security Agency.
Iraq. A long-awaited FBI report on a September incident in which private security guards shot at a convoy of Iraqi civilians shows that at least 14 of the 17 Blackwater shootings were unjustified.
Congress. Debate over the war-funding bill is coming to a head as Senate Democrats vow to tie the money to a withdrawal timetable and force Republicans into a filibuster.
Courts. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case of a Guantanamo Bay detainee who claims his life would be in danger if the U.S. sends him back to Algeria as planned.
Pakistan. Despite an appeal from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asking him to end emergency rule in his country, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf yesterday said he would continue the decree so that scheduled elections could proceed "in an undisturbed manner."
World. Three people were killed in the Philippines yesterday when a bomb exploded outside the House of Representatives, including a former Muslim rebel-turned-congressman who had backed a U.S.-Philippine offensive against Islamic militants.
See Earlybird(subscription) for more of this morning's headlines.
This is what Wanda Franz, president of the National Right to Life Committee, said of today's Fred Thompson endorsement:
Our endorsement is a testament to Senator Thompson's long-standing pro-life record, his commitment to protecting unborn children, and our belief in his ability to win.
Emphasis ours. Ed Morrissey rightly points out that NRLC could have easily waited until a nominee emerges to make its decision, rather than casting its lot so soon with a candidate who's not completely on board with them. Rudy Giuliani winning the nod puts all the pro-life grassroots in an awkward position, so they'd all be in the same boat.
The reason this endorsement is significant is because of what it says about Mitt Romney's candidacy. It's nothing new, by the way. But it's worth chewing over.
On the issues, Romney is more in line with the pro-life grassroots than Thompson (a federalist) or Giuliani (pro-choice). It doesn't take much to figure out what's going on here. The institutions that are the face of evangelical America won't come out and say it, but the men and women who make up that base will.
Pop quiz: Socrates and a mastodon are running for president. A year out from the election, a head-to-head matchup in a poll with a margin of error of +/- 3 percent puts Socrates at 55 percent and the mastodon at 49 percent. Who's winning?
If you said they're statistically tied, you're right -- and you're in the minority of Americans who actually knows how margin of error works. Harris pollsters conducted an experiment in a new survey and asked respondents if they knew what MOE really was. About half of them got it wrong, saying it meant results were accurate to within 3 points given all types of error -- not just sampling error, which is only one possible deviation.
President Bush vetoed the $606 billion Labor-HHS appropriations bill this morning, setting up another showdown with congressional Democrats. The House fell three votes short of a veto-proof margin when it approved the spending bill. Bush sought to cut spending in the package below the prior year's level, but Democrats added more spending.
Also this morning, Bush signed a $471 billion Defense appropriations bill that includes a continuing resolution extending funding for the government through Dec. 14.
See CongressDailyPM later this afternoon for more details. Bush is slated to deliver remarks on the federal budget at an event in New Albany, Ind., later today.
Judge Orders White House To Lay Off The Delete Key
Remember all those White House e-mails that mysteriously (some might say conveniently) went missing when it came time to investigate the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame and the firings of several U.S. attorneys?
A federal judge ruled yesterday that the Bush administration's assurances that it was preserving backup tapes of missing messages from a two-and-a-half year period were not enough, and he ordered the White House to begin saving copies of all e-mail correspondences. He also ruled that White House officials "shall not transfer said media out of their custody or control" without the court's permission.
The decision by U.S. District Judge Henry Kennedy came in response to two lawsuits, which have been combined into one, from private groups that allege the White House has violated the Federal Records Act by failing to save e-mail records from March 2003 to October 2005.
Overnight raids in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip netted hundreds of Fatah activists in the area after days of clashes between the two Palestinian factions. A Fatah spokesman said 400 activists were rounded up; a Hamas official disputed that figure and said it had been fewer than 50.
The clashes began yesterday, after about 200,000 people marched at a Gaza rally to commemorate the third anniversary of the death of former Palestinian President Yasser Arafat. Palestinian factions have splintered since the longtime leader's death disrupted the uneasy status quo between the Fatah leader's more moderate party and the radical Hamas.
The rally was the largest since Hamas took over Gaza in June. Seven people have been killed and more than 50 injured in the clashes, according to Fatah representative Hazem Abu Shanab.
Campaign photo of Fred Thompson flanked by his Virginia team, former Sen. George Allen on the left and state Attorney General Bob McDonnell on the right.
In her boldest challenge yet to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto told reporters today that she wants Musharraf to step down as both head of state and army chief.
"It is over with Musharraf," she told Agence France-Presse from her residence in Lahore, where she has once again been placed on house arrest. "General Musharraf must quit.... I call on the international community to stop backing him -- to stop backing the man whose dictatorship threatens to engulf this nuclear-armed state in chaos."
She also vowed never to serve with him or under him, sounding what appears to be the final death knell for a power-sharing deal that the U.S. and other Western allies had hoped would help head off a political crisis. "I would not serve as prime minister under a man who has repeatedly broken his promises, who is a dictator," Bhutto told AFP.
Bhutto also told reporters today that she expects her Pakistan People's Party to boycott the January parliamentary elections that Musharraf promised earlier this week.
Earlybird Roundup: Spending Impasse, 'Hidden Costs' Of Wars
Washington.President Bush rejected a written request from Democratic congressional leaders to discuss the spending impasse and show "some willingness to find common ground."
Military. A new study from congressional Democrats that tallies the "hidden costs" of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, such as higher gas prices and interest payments on borrowed funding, shows they total about $1.5 trillion.
Iraq. Turkish troops launched an airstrike across the border with Iraq today, using helicopter gunships to fire on villages near a Kurdish town.
Administration. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will travel to Africa today to discuss economic policy, and he may face criticism over U.S. currency policy.
Nation. Wal-Mart, the nation's largest private employer, is planning to overhaul its health care benefits for employees.
See Earlybird(subscription) for more of this morning's headlines.
Is this a good or bad cycle for the religious right, already?
Despite a season of complaints, it turns out all sorts of Christian conservatives are finding something they like in each of the leading Republican candidates. The latest recipient of endorsement manna: Fred Thompson, who has picked up the National Right To Life Committee.
The timing couldn't be better for the "Law & Order" star, whose two-month-long campaign is getting ho-humreviews(subscription). Joe Klein all but wrote Thompson off today, before news of the NRLC nod broke.
Clearly some will have to rethink the ETA of Thompson's political demise. The NRLC is expected to formally announce its endorsement tomorrow, and it will be worth keeping an ear open for the language they use. Thompson is a federalist on the abortion issue. That's pretty in line with a lot of conservatives, but not with advocacy groups like NRLC that won't settle for less than a federal ban on the procedure.
You people are really nuts. There’s kids dying in the war, the price of oil right now -- there’s better things in this world to be thinking about than who served Hillary Clinton at Maid-Rite and who got a tip and who didn’t get a tip.
USA Today has had an ad up for an Iraq correspondent for three weeks. Why so few takers? Hmm, let'ssee...
Still, it's a little surprising that a major daily like USAT is having so much trouble filling this job -- if that's indeed the case. (A call to the newspaper's spokeswoman was not immediately returned.) (UPDATE: The job has been filled, said a spokeswoman who admitted that applications were not exactly pouring in.) Journalists generally don't go into this field to cover town hall meetings, even if that's where many of them start off. The way the war has been run has proved incredibly frustrating to the reporters covering it, yet those same correspondents continue to return to the line of fire again and again.
Though every moment in Iraq is a pivotal one, now seems an especially keen time to spend on the ground. The rate of rocket attacks has dropped significantly, and the government says Iraqis who fled previous violence are starting to return home.
Plumes of smoke rising into the London sky set the city on high alert today. The fire turned out to be located in an empty warehouse being demolished to make way for the site of the 2012 Summer Games.
Firefighters are still battling the blaze; no injuries have been reported. An Olympic official said an investigation will be launched, but "initial indications would suggest that this was an accident rather than arson." London police added that there was no indication the fire was an act of terrorism.
The Olympic Delivery Authority released a statement confirming that the east London fire was at the Olympic Park site. The main stadium was set for construction near the site of the fire.
London will become the first city to host the modern Olympics three times, and its potentially seizure-inducing logo has already stirred up some controversy.
Protestant Militia Renounces War In Northern Ireland
The Ulster Defense Association officially laid down its arms yesterday, telling a crowd of hundreds in Belfast that it would dismantle its armed units.
But the UDA stopped short of decommissioning its weapons, despite expectations from the British government. BBC News reports that the announcement comes weeks after Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie threatened to cut more than a million pounds of loyalist funding if the UDA didn't decommission its weapons within 60 days.
And AP reports the Protestant group's move follows "months of pressure on the group to catch up to Northern Ireland's other two big paramilitary groups, the Catholics of the Irish Republican Army and the Protestants of the Ulster Volunteer Force, which had already renounced violence."
The British and Irish governments applauded the move and encouraged the UDA to go as far as the Irish Republican Army did in 2005, when the Catholic group officially disarmed and vowed never to resume its campaign against British rule. The UDA said its move is conditional upon the actions of the IRA, and although it would "put arms beyond use," it would not relinquish its weapons.
The group is the largest Protestant paramilitary group in Northern Ireland, which has been torn by the sociopolitical conflict for centuries.
The BBC has more on the Ulster Freedom Fighters, the UDA's killing unit, and the Belfast Telegraph has a history of the group.
Washington.President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney marked the Veterans Day holiday in Texas and at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington, Va., respectively, and Bush criticized Congress for not passing a funding bill for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Administration. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said during her weekend visit to Bush's Texas ranch that her country would be willing to support a third wave of U.N. sanctions against Iran.
Iraq. A private security guard working for DynCorp International shot and killed an unarmed Iraqi taxi driver on a Baghdad highway.
Pakistan. President Pervez Musharraf announced yesterday that Pakistan's elections would be held in January as scheduled, but the state is still under martial law and opposition leader Benazir Bhutto is planning to go ahead with a multi-day motorcade protest across the country.
Nation. Federal officials are launching a criminal investigation to examine the massive oil spill created after a cargo ship crashed into San Francisco's Bay Bridge.
See Earlybird(subscription) for more of this morning's headlines.
The House today passed 216-193 an $81 billion tax extenders package, including a one-year patch to protect 21 million taxpayers from the alternative minimum tax.
Eight Democrats voted against the bill, including several who had voiced opposition to offsets used to pay for the package. Democrats voting no were Reps. Tim Mahoney (Fla.), Jim Cooper (Tenn.), John Barrow (Ga.), Melissa Bean (Ill.), Nick Lampson (Texas), Jim Matheson (Utah), Harry Mitchell (Ariz.), and Gene Taylor (Miss.). No Republicans voted for the bill.
The largely united Democratic vote belied more widespread concern in the Caucus about the offsets, though leaders managed to persuade them to support the bill despite misgivings. To offset the AMT patch, House tax writers included a $26 billion provision to tax the profits of private equity, hedge fund and other investment partnerships at 35 percent instead of the 15 percent capital gains rate as under current law. The bill would also delay implementation of tax cuts for multinationals and yank tax benefits that hedge fund managers enjoy by deferring compensation on offshore income.
Completing this week's U.S.-Old Europe bonding experience, German Chancellor Angela Merkel heads to Texas today to discuss a host of global issues in the rustic setting of the Bush family ranch.
Like President Bush's meeting with new French President Nicolas Sarkozy earlier this week, the Bush-Merkel talks will hinge primarily on Iran, as the president seeks to shore up U.S. allies against Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, told Reuters that "strategically," Merkel and the Bush administration "see eye-to-eye" in opposing Iran's plans to develop nuclear technology. "Tactically, there are some slight differences," he said, adding that the discussions this weekend are part of an ongoing effort and aren't likely to yield any major developments.
Merkel is no softie on Iran, but Bush is seeking stronger commitments from allies to take a hard line against Tehran if it continues to defy orders to stop its nuclear program. In its preview of her visit this weekend, Germany's Der Spiegel notes that Germans are concerned about the Bush administration's perceived "saber-rattling" on Iran. Calling Merkel "the queen of the backroom deal," the magazine writes that "German politicians at both ends of the political spectrum will expect her to voice clear opposition to further military escapades" when she meets with Bush.
Rep. Jim Saxton is expected to announce today that he won't run for re-election, putting yet another dent in the Republican Party's hopes of being competitive in 2008.
Saxton was already being targeted on-air by groups critical of his vote against a proposed $35 billion expansion of SCHIP, a health care program for poor children. That bill has yet to survive a presidential veto, to the consternation of advocacy groups who've gone up with TV and radio ads targeting Republican lawmakers in an effort to sway their vote.
Politicker NJ is reporting that state Sen. Diane Allen is in line to be the Republican candidate for this seat. Democratic state Sen. John Adler of Camden County announced in September that he would challenge Saxton.
Saxton, 64, is serving his 12th full term in New Jersey's 3rd District. The House Democrats' campaign arm has been eyeing that district for flip potential; in 2004, President Bush and John Kerry made out about even. According to AP, Saxton is now the 14th GOP member of the House to retire since last year's midterms.
WH '08: Don't Quit Your Day Jobs! No, Seriously. Don't.
Many of the candidates for president say that the campaign finance system is in urgent need of repair, yet they are shelving the issue precisely because of said system. As a result, we've got the longest, most expensive and most annoying presidential election maybe ever.
Meanwhile, here inside the Beltway, Congress is still mostly deadlocked on such pressing concerns as the war and health care for disadvantaged children. Hence, disapproval ratings that have managed to exceed those of the pariah in chief, President Bush.
Might all this playing hooky in order to chase a dream that for some is very (very, very) distant explain why Congress doesn't seem to be accomplishing very much?
The Senate approved former federal Judge Michael Mukasey's nomination to be the 81st attorney general last night by a tight, mainly party-line vote of 53 to 40. Seven Democrats, including independent Democrat Joe Lieberman, crossed over to vote for President Bush's nominee, who over the course of several weeks of debate went from being assumed likely to sail through the confirmation process to catching fire from many top Democrats for his refusal to solidly denounce waterboarding as torture.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid came out firmly against Mukasey, saying his answer to the waterboarding questions raised "serious doubts about whether he is prepared to be the truly independent voice that the Justice Department so desperately needs." His sentiments were echoed by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy. But another powerful member of the Democratic leadership, New York Sen. Charles Schumer, backed Mukasey throughout the process.
Bloomberg News reports that the Mukasey outcome has "aggravated a rift" between Schumer and Leahy, "raising the question of who's running the Judiciary Committee."
Earlybird Roundup: Merkel Visit, Military Spending, Iranian Detainees
Administration.President Bush will host German Chancellor Angela Merkel at his Texas ranch today for a discussion on Iran.
Congress. The House overwhelmingly passed the conference report yesterday of a $471.2 billion military spending bill -- without provisions for Iraq or Afghanistan -- last night. It contains more than 2,000 earmarks.
Iraq. Nine Iranian suspects were released from U.S. custody in Iraq.
Nation. California is suing the federal government over the Environmental Protection Agency's delaying approval of a plan to curb emissions by imposing tighter restrictions on automakers.
See Earlybird(subscription) for more of this morning's headlines.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf opened another chapter in the saga of growing unrest in his country today, ordering military police to cordon off the Islamabad home of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto to prevent her from traveling to a protest set for this afternoon.
The New York Times reports that police turned her house "into a fortress, placing concrete barriers and barbed wire at the entrance road." Another leader from Bhutto's party, the Pakistan People's Party, said she had been served a formal detention order but refused to accept it.
Up to 5,000 of Bhutto's supporters have been arrested in recent days, according to her own estimate, and more were being taken into police custody at the site of the canceled rally in Rawalpindi.
NPR and the Times have more on today's story, and The Gate has morebackground on the situation.
The House could vote as early as tomorrow on a measure providing a $50 billion bridge fund to continue military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan for about four months, on the condition that troops be withdrawn from combat zones in Iraq by Christmas 2008.
"This is not a blank check for the president," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The funding is a little more than one-quarter of President Bush's $189.3 billion FY08 request, and Democratic leaders hesitated to approve that much given heavy opposition to the Iraq war. But Democrats changed course under pressure from the Pentagon, which fears a significant funding shortfall in January, and from Republicans ready to pounce at any sign of "shortchanging" the troops.
The measure's target date of Dec. 15, 2008, is nonbinding, meaning it could lose support from die-hard Iraq war opponents in the House. It also faces a steep hurdle in clearing the Senate, where the measure would be open to amendment and would need 60 votes to overcome a filibuster.
"I think we should take it a step at a time," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who said the Senate probably would take up the bill next week. He declined to comment on whether he expected more support from Republicans.
"I have in the past thought that we would have more Republicans than... we did. I hope so," Reid said.
As protesting TV and film writers take to the picket lines in Los Angeles and New York, the atmosphere in Washington this week is unusually quiet. Perhaps a little too quiet.
On the surface, the Writers Guild of America strike hitting the entertainment industry would seem of little consequence in the nation's capital. But consider this: The first casualties in the WGA strike have been the late-night talk shows and comedies that constitute an unofficial system of checks and balances on Washington. Without those programs, this town is in serious danger of taking itself even more seriously than it already does.
By a 79-14 vote, the Senate today completed the first override of a veto by President Bush, enacting the $23 billion Water Resources Development Act into law over his objections. The override had long been expected, since the Senate approved the conference report on the bill by an 81-12 vote in late September. The House Tuesday voted 361-54 to override the veto, setting the stage for today's Senate vote.
Bernanke Predicts Growth Slowdown Heading Into '08
In testimony before Congress' Joint Economic Committee today, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke had some good news and some bad news for American investors amid growing concerns on both Wall Street and Main Street.
The bad news: The current turmoil that began in the housing sector and trickled down into securities and other financial markets will likely slow economic growth in the coming year, while higher oil prices and the weak dollar could boost inflation and "impose further restraint on economic activity."
The good news: Overall, the economy "remained resilient in recent months," and "the recent developments may well lead to a healthier financial system in the medium to long term."
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf announced today that parliamentary elections would be held by mid-February -- a month later than originally scheduled. The move goes against a request President Bush made in a phone call to Musharraf yesterday, asking him to keep the elections in January and resign from his post as the head of the army.
"My message was that we believe strongly in elections and that you ought to have elections soon and you need to take off your uniform," Bush told reporters yesterday. "You can't be the president and the head of the military at the same time, so I had a very frank discussion with him."
Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto expressed similar sentiments and called on Musharraf to abandon his military post within the week.
None of the new developments are likely to be looked upon favorably in the U.S., where officials have been struggling to figure out how to deal with the crisis. Hundreds of Bhutto supporters were arrested last night in a fresh crackdown on opposition forces just hours after Bush and Musharraf spoke. At least 3,000 people -- some of whom face death sentences after being charged with treason -- have been imprisoned since Musharraf declared emergency rule this weekend.
In defiance of the rules against large gatherings of people, which went into effect when Musharraf suspended the constitution, Bhutto's party is planning a huge rally in the city of Rawalpindi tomorrow and threatening to hold a "long march" next Tuesday.
Husain Haqqani, who has served as an adviser to Bhutto, wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal this morning, and The Gate has a longer analysis of the crisis in Pakistan.
Earlybird Roundup: Spending Bill, Al-Qaida In Iraq, Clashes In Georgia
Washington. French President Nicolas Sarkozy made the rounds yesterday, backing up President Bush's strategy on Iran, touring Mount Vernon and talking on the phone with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Congress. The Senate yesterday passed a $606 billion budget bill, but not by a majority that would survive a promised veto from Bush.
Iraq. A top U.S. general said yesterday that al-Qaida has been flushed out of every neighborhood in Baghdad thanks to the troop surge.
Nation. Millions of toys made in China are being pulled from U.S. shelves after revelations that they contain a toxic chemical.
World. Georgian authorities imposed a state of emergency after nearly a week of protests from the opposition, and hundreds of people were injured in clashes.
See Earlybird(subscription) for more of this morning's headlines.
House Narrowly Passes Workplace Nondiscrimination Bill
The House Wednesday passed legislation, on a vote of 235-184, that would prohibit employers from discriminating against employees based on their sexual orientation. Twenty-five Democrats voted against the measure, and 35 Republicans supported it.
The bill passed over the protests of a coalition of gay and lesbian advocates, who wanted a broader bill that would have prohibited discrimination based on "gender identity," covering transgendered workers.
Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs could be the next big securities firms to take huge writedowns as a result of the subprime lending crisis. As feared by investors following Merrill Lynch's and Citibank's tumbles last month, the entire sector may sustain as much as $50 billion in losses this quarter, a Deutsche Bank analyst predicted.
While much of the election reform discourse lately has focused on the front-loaded primary calendar, think ahead to next November. Many election watchers know that national elections are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, but why that day in particular?
A nonprofit election reform group called Why Tuesday has been asking just that question of presidential candidates through a series of Web videos released every Tuesday on their Web site. By simply asking the question of why Election Day is when it is, the group is getting people to talk about different possibilities, such as Election Day being a national holiday or general elections being held on a weekend.
As tensions mount between the Pakistani government and the lawyers, students and activists demonstrating against President Pervez Musharraf's declaration of emergency rule late last week, U.S. officials are assessing their options for handling the crisis.
The Hill reported yesterday that Musharraf's actions could boost Sen. Carl Levin's (D) proposal to cut military funding for Pakistan in the 2008 defense bill "unless the president certifies quarterly to the defense committees that Pakistan is making substantial efforts to eliminate safe havens for the Taliban, al Qaeda and other extremists in areas under its sovereign control."
Lawmakers aren't the only ones considering using the power of the purse to coax Musharraf to end the state of emergency. State Department spokesman Sean McCormackindicated yesterday that administration officials were reviewing the matter to determine whether Pakistan had taken any actions that would justify the suspension of aid. "People started work on it," he told reporters at a State Department briefing.
In an anticipated but nonetheless stunning development, televangelist Pat Robertson has endorsed former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani for president.
"For months I have contemplated our future and the outstanding group of men who are offering themselves to the Republican Party to be its standard-bearer in the 2008 presidential election. Today, it is my pleasure to announce my support for a mayor, America's mayor, Rudy Giuliani, and a proven leader, who is not afraid of what lies ahead and who will cast a hopeful vision for all Americans," Robertson announced at a campaign press conference.
The controversial Christian right leader had been courted heavily by the Republican candidates. Mitt Romney delivered the May commencement address at Robertson's Regent University, and John McCain apologized to Robertson for grouping him with the "agents of intolerance" in the evangelical community after his failed 2000 presidential bid.
"Sometimes you say things in anger that you don't mean," the Arizona senator explained in a March interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network.
Robertson had made it clear that all was not forgiven, declaring on several occasions that McCain would never win his vote. Romney, however, was thought to have an actual shot. Robertson hadn't gone on the record criticizing the former Massachusetts governor's Mormon faith, even though it's considered by some evangelicals to be a cult.
Observers may describe this coup for Giuliani as a game-changing moment in Republican electoral politics. They might be overstating things a bit.
Election Day 2007: Fletcher Falls; Barbour Sticks; Va. Senate Goes Blue
Kentucky. Incumbent Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R) fell hard to his Democratic challenger, former Lt. Gov. Steve Beshear. Allegations of favoritism in hiring dogged Fletcher, the state's first GOP governor in more than 30 years, and voters reverted back to form and picked Democrat Beshear to replace him.
Mississippi. GOP incumbent Gov. Haley Barbour had better luck, besting Democrat John Arthur Eaves to win a second term. Hotline On Call's Tim Sahd noted that "Eaves tried to appeal to Christian conservatives -- normally GOP voters -- but didn't find any luck. Barbour didn't need to break a sweat in this race."
Virginia. Democrats gained control of the state Senate last night, grabbing four seats to make a 21-19 split. Democrats also had a few pickups in the state House, but not enough to wrest it from the GOP.
See Hotline On Call for details on the gubernatorial races and a still-undecided special election primary in Ohio.
The 361-54 House vote was well more than the two-thirds necessary and exemplified the popularity of the Army Corps of Engineers projects in the WRDA measure, as many Republicans voted to override Bush for the first time in his presidency.
The bill authorizes more than 900 projects and 100 studies and reports for navigation, flood control and other issues overseen by the Army Corps. As much as $7 billion would go to Louisiana for coastal restoration, hurricane protection and other projects, while $2 billion would go to help restore the Florida Everglades.
Earlybird Roundup: Afghanistan Bombing, Iraq Death Toll
Afghanistan. A suicide bomber killed 41 people, including six lawmakers, in a crowd welcoming visiting MPs in a rural town near Kabul.
Iraq. 2007 has become the deadliest year for U.S. forces in Iraq since the invasion.
Washington. Starting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy's visit to the White House, President Bush is beginning to try to repair relations with Europe.
Congress. One more round for SCHIP: Congressional negotiators said yesterday that they're getting close to a revised bill that they believe would withstand Bush's veto.
Administration. House Republicans almost forced Democrats to vote on a resolution, introduced by Rep. Dennis Kucinich, R-Ohio, to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney.
See Earlybird(subscription) for more of this morning's headlines.
President Bush hosts French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy at the White House later today, in an evening that is being characterized as a lovefest by the media on both continents. Hyperbolic, probably, but a sure sign of the dramatic turn in U.S.-Franco relations since Sarkozy won election in May.
The Los Angeles Times may have scored the lede of the week with its preview of the visit:
Laurent Mellier remembers the dark days of 2003, when drivers would spot the French-flag sticker on his Honda and yell at him. Alain de Chalvron's low point came when a movie audience erupted after a character mentioned France and people around him began shouting insults. For one French diplomat in Los Angeles, it was watching children dump bottles of French wine into the street outside the consulate.
How far we've come. These days, some Americans might suspect that those "cheese-eating surrender monkeys" were right about invading Iraq. Rep. Walter "Freedom Fries" Jones, R-N.C., certainly does. Likewise, some of Sarkozy's countrymen may wonder what all those years of vitriolic U.S.A.-bashing has gotten them, besides a backwards labor structure and economy.
With two months to go before the first-in-the-nation nomination ballots, voters in states not named Iowa, New Hampshire or South Carolina may be forgiven for feeling neglected by the candidates vying for the presidency. But try to look at it another way: At least you can ignore this very early election season if you want.
Those of us from early primary states don't have that luxury. Last weekend, I found that a trip back home was no vacation from my job. In fact, driving around Greenville, S.C., provided ample evidence that while I may report from Washington on campaign activities, the crux of the action is quite far away.
Take, for instance, the time-honored tradition of yard signs. They're not as high-budget as TV or Web ads (although I did spy a Mitt Romney spot or two when I turned on the tube). During election season, the durable outdoor signs line roadways as well as lawns.
Based on a very unscientific count, the two most active candidates in the very conservative upstate seemed to be former Massachusetts Gov. Romney and Texas Rep. Ron Paul. The candidates were about even on road signs alone, although Paul -- known for his resourceful supporters -- also had signs along the freeway that declared a "Ron Paul Revolution." However, many of the Romney signs were seen near Bob Jones University, where the university's president recently created a furor when he announced his support for the Mormon candidate. Then there was the lone sign for Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo, that predictably read: "No Amnesty For Illegals. Tancredo For President."
FDA Could Get Recall Power; Nord Defends Her Job At CPSC
UPDATED.
After a spate of product recalls raised questions about how best to protect consumers from dangerous products, a panel tasked with studying the problem has recommended that the Food and Drug Administration step in with broader powers to mandate recalls.
The FDA currently doesn't have the authority to entirely withdraw products from the market and can only threaten a company with negative publicity if it doesn't pull problematic items from the shelves. AP reports that the ability to force recalls would give the FDA "far more clout."
President Bush will receive the advisory commission's recommendations today. The panel, led by Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, was convened in July; Congress would have to pass the changes for them to go into effect.
Former federal Judge Michael Mukasey cleared a key hurdle today when the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11-8 to confirm him as the next attorney general. Mukasey is expected to easily survive a floor vote by next week, upon which he will be forced to dive into the formidable task of stabilizing the Justice Department.
Democrats Dianne Feinstein and Charles Schumer expressed doubts about Mukasey's stand on detainee treatment but decided to cast their votes for him anyway. Mukasey had refused to say definitively whether waterboarding qualified as illegal treatment of terrorism suspects.
A CNN/ORC survey(subscription) released today finds that a majority of a half-sample of Americans, 69 percent, believe waterboarding is a form of torture. But when a different half-sample was asked if the use of waterboarding, or simulated drowning, should be allowed in an "attempt to get information from suspected terrorists," 40 percent said yes, compared with the 29 percent who asserted that waterboarding was not torture.
Acknowledging Congress will be in session for at least two weeks next month, House and Senate leaders are preparing a continuing resolution to last through Dec. 14, although extending that by another week is not out of the question given the heavy remaining workload.
That date will likely be included in the new CR Congress will take up next week to replace the current stopgap budget bill that runs through Nov. 16.
None of the 12 FY08 appropriations bills have been signed into law, and the $460 billion Pentagon funding bill might be among the only ones to become law before Congress adjourns for the Thanksgiving recess.
Pakistan. The country's judicial system is paralyzed due to President Pervez Musharraf's crackdown, with one in four lawyers jailed and many judges detained in their homes.
Nation. Most of the funds allocated for post-Katrina rebuilding in Louisiana and Mississippi remain unspent.
See Earlybird(subscription) for more of this morning's headlines.
House Judiciary Cmte. Files Miers/Bolten Contempt Report
The House Judiciary Committee has filed an 862-page report [PDF] recommending that lawmakers find former White House counsel Harriet Miers and current Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten in contempt for refusing to testify or provide documents in an investigation into the U.S. attorney firings of last year.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to bring a vote on the criminal contempt citation to the floor, though the timing of that has not been announced. If a simple majority of the House does find Miers and/or Bolten in contempt, the matter will be referred to D.C.'s U.S. attorney, Jeffrey Taylor. And herein lies yet another speed bump in congressional Democrats' quest to get to the bottom of those firings.
Pakistan: When The Devil You Know Loses His Marbles
UPDATED.
For reasons we've outlined before, what's happening now in Pakistan is both extraordinary and utterly unsurprising. In the unlikely event you missed it, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has suspended the constitution, declared emergency rule, canned most of the Supreme Court's judges, blacked out independent media and ordered troops to round up dissenters right and left.
Quite the busy weekend for the autocrat Washington warily calls friend and ally.
As many as 3,500 people have been arrested since Saturday, AP reports. Among them is Asma Jahangir of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, who has been placed under house arrest after years of railing against Musharraf's regime and escaping a couple of apparent government-sponsored assassination attempts. Writing in an e-mail to the Economist, Jahangir lamented that Musharraf had finally "lost his marbles."
In a sign that tensions may be lessening between Turkey and Kurdish militants in northern Iraq, members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, today freed eight Turkish soldiers who were captured last month.
Diplomatic talks have been going on for weeks to try to avert a conflict, but a massive Turkish force was still amassing on the border and PKK rebels continued to partake in skirmishes with Turkish troops in the region. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice traveled to Turkey last week to reassure the government that the PKK rebels were a "common threat."
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was in Washington today to meet with President Bush. Erdogan was seeking American support for action against the PKK, while Bush sought to convince the prime minister to hold off on a full-scale incursion.
Following the meeting, Bush and Erdogan exuded a united front before the press.
Philip Martin, a longtime friend of and major fundraiser for GOP White House hopeful Fred Thompson, resigned from the campaign today after a weekend's worth of revelations and speculations about his past. He was convicted on multiple drug charges in the late 1970s and early 1980s -- at least a decade before he became friends with Thompson, who contends he knew nothing of Martin's troubles with the law.
ABC News piled on today with new revelations about tax problems relating to companies run by Martin, noting that several of his former businesses owe massive tax debts, and that the IRS "and the state of Tennessee filed liens against Martin himself in 1995 and 2002."
Rhode Island won't be joining the long list of states moving up presidential primary elections next year.
Lawmakers approved a move from March 4 to Feb. 5 -- joining about two dozen other states in a super-sized Super Tuesday that could determine the nominations for both parties. But Republican Gov. Donald Carcieri vetoed the measure, saying changing the date so late in the process would cause massive problems for local election officials. Democrats control the House and Senate and have the votes to override the veto, but lawmakers are not scheduled to meet again until January.
For more details, see this afternoon's CongressDailyPM(subscription).
Pakistan. Bush administration officials said they probably would not stop the flow of military aid into Pakistan despite a weekend crackdown by President Pervez Musharraf.
Administration. Bush is looking to save the reauthorization of his crowning legislative achievement, No Child Left Behind, from political deadlock.
Congress. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said Sunday that he would back attorney general nomineeMichael Mukasey despite his refusal to clarify his stance on waterboarding.
Nation. Detentions and deportations of illegal immigrants are reaching record highs in 2007.
See Earlybird(subscription) for more of this morning's headlines.
Following Chairman Patrick Leahy's announcement earlier today that he would vote against confirmation of Michael Mukasey, fellow Democrats Charles Schumer and Dianne Feinstein announced their intention to support the nominee for attorney general. With GOP members of the Senate Judiciary Committee expected to line up behind President Bush's pick to replace Alberto Gonzales, Mukasey is all but guaranteed clearance to the floor, where he is expected to win confirmation by a comfortable margin.
In making his announcement this afternoon, Leahy joined Edward Kennedy, Sheldon Whitehouse, Joseph Biden and Richard Durbin in vowing to oppose Mukasey unless he states clearly that waterboarding is torture.
"There may be interrogation techniques that require close examination and extensive briefings. Waterboarding is not among them. No American should need a classified briefing to determine whether waterboarding is torture," Leahy said from his home state of Vermont.
Feinstein's vote had been thrown into doubt by Leahy's decision. In a statement earlier this week, she said, "The Justice Department is in desperate need of effective leadership.... I believe that Judge Mukasey is the best we will get and voting him down would only perpetuate acting and recess appointments, allowing the administration to avoid the transparency that confirmation hearings provide and diminish effective oversight by Congress."
With Feinstein and Schumer now solidly on board, there is little doubt that Mukasey will be the next attorney general of the United States.
Looking back on the past year, the most surprising development of Campaign '08 so far has to be the crash and burn of Sen. John McCain. Less than a full presidential election cycle ago, the Arizona Republican's popularity so transcended party lines that John Kerry sought him out as a running mate.
Today, the one-time front-runner is nearly broke, has a skeletal campaign staff and is trailing badly in the polls. When the campaigns started to get under way earlier this year, every other headline about McCain had to do with his dogged support for President Bush's Iraq war policy despite overwhelmingly pessimistic coverage of the "surge" strategy. The formerly adoring political press, which McCain used to refer to as "my base," seemed to be punishing the lawmaker they once hailed as a maverick.
Bush Vetoes WRDA Bill; Dems Optimistic For Override
President Bush this morning vetoed the $23 billion Water Resources Development Act package, saying it is too costly. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have both said their chambers will hold override votes next week, and Reid predicted it would succeed.
The bill, which includes Army Corps of Engineers water infrastructure projects from around the country, passed the House and Senate by overwhelming margins.
More details will be available in this afternoon's CongressDailyPM(subscription).
Rep. Charles Rangel's $1.3 trillion tax reform proposal -- dubbed "the mother of all tax reforms" -- is already causing a stir in Congress, and it promises to keep the tax issue in focus during next year's presidential and congressional elections. The ambitious plan could make or break the efforts of the 77-year-old Ways and Means Committee chairman to forge a positive legacy.
National Journal's Richard E. Cohen parses Rangel's plan and its larger implications in this week's cover story. Meanwhile, the magazine asked lawmakers to weigh in on the prospects of revising the alternative minimum tax in the insiders poll [PDF].
Paul Tibbets, the pilot of the plane that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, died yesterday at age 92. He lived in Columbus, Ohio, where he ran an international air-taxi service after leaving the military as a brigadier general in 1966.
The Columbus Dispatch reports that Tibbets was under hospice care after being ill with heart disease. He told the Dispatch in 2005 that he wanted to be cremated and have his ashes scattered over the English Channel, although his family said final arrangements are not set.
He was 30 years old on Aug. 6, 1945, and an experienced World War II pilot who had gotten his start dropping leaflets for a candy company out of the backseat of a biplane. The Enola Gay, a B-29 Superfortress bomber, was named after his mother.
Tibbets, who gathered some media attention over the years, said repeatedly that he didn't regret the decision to drop the bomb.
Military. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Pentagon would act on recommendations from an independent panel saying 2,000 extra workers would be required to fix the Army's contracting problems.
Iraq. Gates also said Thursday that Iran promised to help cut off the flow of high-powered explosives into Iraq.
Congress. A subcommittee narrowly approved a global warming bill yesterday that would mandate cuts in the emission of greenhouse gases.
Nation. The governors of Georgia, Alabama and Florida agreed to end their 17-year argument over water allocation in response to the drought in the South.
World. A key Tamil Tiger leader was killed during an airstrike today in Sri Lanka.
See Earlybird(subscription) for more of this morning's headlines.
The Senate today approved a children's health insurance bill that in a slightly different incarnation was vetoed by President Bush earlier this fall. Bush has also threatened to veto the current bill because it includes a tax hike on cigarettes that is meant to help pay for the $35 billion program.
The bill passed 64-30. Last week, House Democrats also passed the bill but without a veto-proof majority.
Republicans forced a vote on the bill sooner than Democrats would have liked. GOP lawmakers appear to have come around on the $35 billion expansion of SCHIP, but remain reluctant to sign on to the cigarette tax increase. Bush has promised not to budge on SCHIP so long as it contains a tax increase of any kind.
President Bush delivered yet another harsh reprimand of the 110th Congress today, this time with a warning against holding up the nomination of former federal Judge Michael Mukasey for attorney general.
"Judge Mukasey has been praised by Republicans and Democrats alike as a man of honesty, intellect, fairness and independence," Bush said in remarks before the Heritage Foundation. "Judge Mukasey provided nearly six hours of testimony, patiently answered more than 200 questions at his hearing and responded to nearly 500 questions less than a week after his hearing. Yet the Senate Judiciary Committee is holding up his nomination."
Earlier today, the president called reporters to the Oval Office to air his frustration over criticisms of Mukasey. The New York Timesdescribed the unusual meeting as "a strong signal that Mr. Bush thinks the nomination of Mr. Mukasey, once seen as a sure thing, is in trouble over his responses to questions about what constitutes illegal torture." That may be, but there's still no indication that the nomination is in any real trouble. What's more likely the case is the president wants the torture debate to end as quickly as possible.
Foreign Service Revolt Is Latest Headache For State
The bad news keeps mounting for the State Department this week. In addition to the furor over immunity deals granted to Blackwater USA guards in an internal agency investigation, diplomats are now staging a revolt over the department's threats of dismissal for officers who refuse to work at the massive U.S. Embassy in Iraq.
Foreign Service Director General Harry Thomas sent e-mails to diplomats around the world last week informing them that State would need to fill nearly 50 slots at the embassy next summer and that if the agency did not receive enough volunteers for the "directed assignments," it would have to begin forcing officers to serve there or face dismissal.
Tensions ran high at a department town hall meeting addressing the issue yesterday. With several hundred Foreign Service officers attending, senior officials heard many concerns about the forced Iraq postings and the agency's overall handling of its personnel in the volatile region. Diplomats complained of inadequate training and a lack of care for those who returned from service scarred by the experience of working in a war zone. They also said the embassy in Baghdad is too large and that dangerous conditions in the Green Zone mean employees must travel in heavily guarded convoys, which hinders their diplomatic efforts.
According to the Washington Post, the meeting came to an abrupt end when a man who claimed to be a 46-year veteran of the Foreign Service called Iraq "a potential death sentence" for State employees.
He's been gone from the Defense Department for almost a full year now, but the ghost of Donald Rumsfeld continues to haunt Washington. The Washington Post today devoted a sizable, above-the-fold portion of its front page to a report on "a series of internal musings and memos" the former defense secretary sent to his staff over the course of his six-year tenure.
The so-called "snowflakes," recently obtained by the Post, offer a treasure trove of Rumsfeldian bluster and chutzpah, focused mostly on Iraq and the war on terror. Some of the more interesting flakes center on Rumsfeld's attempts to counteract negative press about the war and the Pentagon.
Read the WaPo story here. And earlier today, Post reporter Dana Priest addressed some questions about the Rumsfeld memos during a live Web discussion.
When the Service Employees International Union announced that it wouldn't endorse a candidate on the national level this year, it seemed like bad news for John Edwards, who's widely considered organized labor's best friend among the Democratic contenders. But it turned out to be just the opposite: Instead of a single big endorsement that faded from the news in a day or two, the state-level nods Edwards is collecting one by one are keeping the story alive and, his campaign hopes, at the front of voters' minds.
NBC News/National Journal embedded reporter Tricia Millerreports on the SEIU endorsements' impact on the Edwards campaign. Hotline On Call and Atlantic's Marc Ambinder have more on Barack Obama and the New Hampshire union's endorsement process.
The number of civilian deaths in the war in Iraq fell again last month, hitting a new low for the year. Exact counts vary, but according to figures from the Iraqi Health Ministry, 758 civilians were killed in October compared with a high of 2,076 in January.
Military fatalities also dropped down to 36, about half of September's figure and the lowest since March 2006.
Officials are giving credit to multiple sources for the decrease in casualties. One is the U.S. military surge, implemented last summer, which flooded Iraq with about 30,000 more American troops. Another is more success from Iraqi security forces in quelling insurgents and militia groups.
The Los Angeles Times posits some darker reasons, too. Sectarian segregation is growing, with once-mixed neighborhoods now fully Sunni or Shiite, so opportunities for violence are decreasing. Baghdad is also emptying out, with scared civilians fleeing the sectarian violence. About 2.25 million are internally displaced within Iraq and 2 million more have left the country, the Times reports, and the refugee crisis doesn't show signs of abating.
Congress. The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on attorney general nominee Michael Mukasey next week, and his continued refusal to comment on the legality of waterboarding as an interrogation technique is costing him Democratic support and could result in an unexpectedly close vote.
Pakistan. After the second suicide bombing this week killed eight people today, rumors circulated that Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf could invoke emergency rule to quell the violence.
"The combination of higher gas prices, the weak housing market, tighter credit conditions and declines in stock prices seem likely to create some headwinds for the consumer in the months ahead," Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said yesterday. Stocks are up today because investors are relieved that 
Administration. The White House cut its 
"The Most Trusted Name In News" protests that it checked out retired Brig. Gen. Keith Kerr, the gay serviceman who asked the Republican candidates about "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," to make sure he had not contributed to any of the candidates. But if CNN's producers had just, say, Googled the guy, they would have found that he is a member of Hillary Rodham Clinton's LGBT steering committee. Bloggers did, and they were alerting the media about it before the debate was over.
Former Illinois Rep. Henry Hyde (R), best known for leading the impeachment proceedings against former President Bill Clinton and authoring an amendment banning federal funding for abortions, died at the age of 83. The House Republican leadership confirmed his death today, 
End note. I rode CNN pretty hard earlier, but overall this was a very good forum for these candidates. The producers did a better job than last time at picking interesting and varied questions (with the requisite gotchas, of course), and the holdouts for facing the YouTube Generation -- Romney, Giuliani -- probably did themselves a favor by deciding to show up.
"Yesterday was an important day, and it was a hopeful beginning," Bush said of Tuesday's Annapolis Conference on Israeli-Palestinian relations. "No matter how important yesterday was, it's not nearly as important as tomorrow and the days beyond."
Will the format of tonight's debate prove more hostile to the Republican candidates than to the Democrats, 
In the weeks and months following the much-anticipated congressional testimony from Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker on the progress of the Iraq war, the anti-war movement has been eerily silent.
"The army has been my life. The army has been my passion. The army has been my pride. The system has to carry on; there is a time when everyone has to go," he 
Everson, who is married, had been on the job since May 29 of this year. In an unusually candid statement, the Red Cross 
When the Writers Guild of America launched its nationwide strike four weeks ago, The Gate 
Rep. Julia Carson, D-Ind., might return to Washington in January despite being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer last week, but the six-term member has ruled out a re-election bid next year, a spokesman said yesterday. 
No doubt that helping forge an independent Palestinian state at peace with Israel would be the jewel in President Bush's pretty beat-up crown come 2009, hence his commitment to the Herculean task of getting the two parties to strike an accord before he leaves office. Analysts of the region are largely of two minds on whether Bush and his go-to on the issue, Condoleezza Rice, can get it done.
Vice President Dick Cheney will be undergoing an evaluation for an irregular heartbeat later today in what his office describes as a routine test, 
Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott, longtime Senate majority leader and current minority whip, said he had no health problems when announcing his early retirement today.
Negotiators are still scrambling to construct a larger framework for the talks. President Bush will meet separately with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at the White House today; tomorrow will be the only time the three meet together for the now-obligatory handshake photo-op.
The Supreme Court has agreed to interpret for the first time whether the Second Amendment grants individuals the right to possess handguns.
Several of the 2008 presidential candidates are not breaking from their busy schedules to celebrate Thanksgiving this week. Arizona Sen. John McCain will use the holiday recess to take his seventh trip to Iraq, while Democratic Sens. Christopher Dodd and Joseph Biden will head to Iowa to serve meals with their families and celebrate the holiday with supporters, according to 
One of the few benefits of living in New Jersey (and this native Garden Stater should know) is the plethora of shopping malls. From just about anywhere in the state, the nearest Nordstrom, Macy's or Wal-Mart is just a stone's throw (or 
Two big birds weren't on the menu at the annual presidential Thanksgiving turkey pardon today.
Thanks to the 
After more than four and a half years as one of the Bush administration's most visible post-9/11 counterterrorism advisers, Fran Townsend is leaving her post on the White House Homeland Security Council to pursue work in the private sector. Townsend joins a steady stream of top advisers who have departed the White House as President Bush's tenure there enters its final year.
"America has a lot of work to do, and doesn't have the right leaders to do it," the conservative Republican said in his 
The Senate this morning defeated both Republican and Democratic attempts to consider supplemental funding for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, CongressDaily reports 
"I'm just trying to play the winning card," Clinton said to tremendous applause. "People are not attacking me because I'm a woman, they're attacking me because I'm ahead."
President Bush's "Boy Genius" has crossed over to the dark side -- the mainstream media, that is.
Former Speaker Dennis Hastert addressed his colleagues as a fellow member for the last time this afternoon, ending two decades of service in the House.
As Americans gear up for yet another 
Rudy Giuliani upped the ante in the White House 2008 ad war today when he debuted the first TV spot of his presidential campaign in New Hampshire. The 60-second ad, entirely focused on the GOP front-runner's record as mayor of New York City, describes how he transformed the Big Apple from the crime and welfare "capital of America" to a city so clean and shiny, Disney filmmakers recently found it to be a fitting location for a 
According to 
As U.S. envoy John Negroponte prepares to visit South Asia later this week to try and smooth over the political rift between Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, the two leaders continue to spar, blaming each other for the chaos that has been brewing ever since Musharraf threw out the constitution and instituted emergency rule there.
It's no secret that Tom Tancredo has a one-track mind when it comes to his bid for the GOP presidential nomination. The Colorado congressman has 
"Our new attorney general, Michael Mukasey, follows in the footsteps of a fine man and fine American, Al Gonzales," Bush said, as Mukasey and Chief Justice John Roberts stood by for the ceremony. "As White House counsel and attorney general in my administration, Al Gonzales worked tirelessly to make this country safer and to ensure all Americans receive equal justice in the eyes of the law," the president continued, thanking Gonzales and his family for their "service to our nation."
New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer formally dropped his plan to issue driver's licenses to illegal workers, saying the problem is a federal responsibility that can't be covered by state or local governments.
The reason this endorsement is significant is because of what it says about Mitt Romney's candidacy. It's nothing new, by the way. But it's worth chewing over.
If you said they're statistically tied, you're right -- and you're in the minority of Americans who actually knows how margin of error works. Harris pollsters conducted an experiment in a new 
The clashes began yesterday, after about 200,000 people marched at a Gaza rally to commemorate the third anniversary of the death of former Palestinian President Yasser Arafat. Palestinian factions have splintered since the longtime leader's death disrupted the uneasy status quo between the Fatah leader's more moderate party and the radical Hamas. 
"It is over with Musharraf," she told 
Despite a season of complaints, it turns out all sorts of Christian conservatives are finding something they like in each of the leading Republican candidates. The latest recipient of endorsement manna: Fred Thompson, who 
...now include 
USA Today has had 
Firefighters are still battling the blaze; no injuries have been reported. An Olympic official said an investigation will be launched, but "initial indications would suggest that this was an accident rather than arson." London police added that there was no indication the fire was an act of terrorism.
Like President Bush's meeting with new French President Nicolas Sarkozy earlier this week, the Bush-Merkel talks will hinge primarily on Iran, as the president seeks to shore up U.S. allies against Tehran's nuclear ambitions. 
Rep. Jim Saxton is expected to announce today that he won't run for re-election, putting yet another dent in the Republican Party's hopes of being competitive in 2008. 
Many of the candidates for president say that the campaign finance system is in urgent need of repair, yet they are shelving the issue precisely because of said system. As a result, we've got the longest, most expensive and 
The Senate approved former federal Judge Michael Mukasey's nomination to be the 81st attorney general last night by a tight, mainly party-line vote of 
The 
"This is not a blank check for the president," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The funding is a little more than one-quarter of President Bush's $189.3 billion FY08 request, and Democratic leaders hesitated to approve that much given heavy opposition to the Iraq war. But Democrats changed course under pressure from the Pentagon, which fears a significant funding shortfall in January, and from Republicans ready to pounce at any sign of "shortchanging" the troops.
As protesting TV and film writers 
The bad news: The current turmoil that began in the housing sector and trickled down into securities and other financial markets will likely slow economic growth in the coming year, while higher oil prices and the weak dollar could boost inflation and "impose further restraint on economic activity."
Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs could be the next big securities firms to 
In an anticipated but nonetheless stunning development, televangelist Pat Robertson has endorsed former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani for president.
Former federal Judge Michael Mukasey cleared a key hurdle today when the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11-8 to confirm him as the next attorney general. Mukasey is expected to easily survive a floor vote by next week, upon which he will be forced to dive into the formidable task of stabilizing the Justice Department. 
For 
Diplomatic talks have been going on for 
Philip Martin, a longtime friend of and major fundraiser for GOP White House hopeful Fred Thompson, resigned from the campaign today after a weekend's worth of revelations and speculations about his past. He was convicted on multiple drug charges in the late 1970s and early 1980s -- at least a decade before he became friends with Thompson, who 
Following Chairman Patrick Leahy's announcement earlier today that he would vote against confirmation of Michael Mukasey, fellow Democrats Charles Schumer and Dianne Feinstein announced their intention to support the nominee for attorney general. With GOP members of the Senate Judiciary Committee expected to line up behind President Bush's pick to replace Alberto Gonzales, Mukasey is all but guaranteed clearance to the floor, where he is expected to win confirmation by a comfortable margin. 
Rep. Charles Rangel's $1.3 trillion tax reform proposal -- dubbed "the mother of all tax reforms" -- is already causing a stir in Congress, and it promises to keep the tax issue in focus during next year's presidential and congressional elections. The ambitious plan could make or break the efforts of the 77-year-old Ways and Means Committee chairman to forge a positive legacy.
The 
"Judge Mukasey has been praised by Republicans and Democrats alike as a man of honesty, intellect, fairness and independence," Bush said in remarks before the Heritage Foundation. "Judge Mukasey provided nearly six hours of testimony, patiently answered more than 200 questions at his hearing and responded to nearly 500 questions less than a week after his hearing. Yet the Senate Judiciary Committee is holding up his nomination."
He's been gone from the Defense Department for almost a full year now, but the ghost of Donald Rumsfeld continues to haunt Washington. The Washington Post today devoted a sizable, above-the-fold portion of its front page to a report on "a series of internal musings and memos" the former defense secretary sent to his staff over the course of his six-year tenure.
When the Service Employees International Union announced that it wouldn't endorse a candidate on the national level this year, it seemed like bad news for John Edwards, who's widely considered organized labor's best friend among the Democratic contenders. But it turned out to be just the opposite: Instead of a single big endorsement that faded from the news in a day or two, the state-level nods Edwards is collecting one by one are keeping the story alive and, his campaign hopes, at the front of voters' minds.
