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Home > Window on Washington > Archives > 2007 > January
January 2007
Bush Praises Ivins
President Bush today had kind words for the late Molly Ivins, a columnist who was tough as any on the Texan she dubbed “Shrub.”
Here’s the statement issued by the White House after Ivins’ death was announced:
“Molly Ivins was a Texas original. She was loved by her readers and by her many friends, particularly in Central Texas. I respected her convictions, her passionate belief in the power of words, and her ability to turn a phrase. She fought her illlness with that same passion. Her quick wit and commitment to her beliefs will be missed. Laura and I send our condolences to Molly Ivins’ family and friends.”
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More Bad Hive News
Only a few months after a committee of the National Academy of Sciences warned that populations of honeybees and other pollinators such as bats and birds are declining, researchers are scrambling to find out the cause of a massive new honeybee die-off.
Beekeeping operations across the country have been decimated by the mysterious plague, and in some areas, pollination of spring and summer crops may be jeopardized, Pennsylvania State University scientists said Wednesday.
Bee scientists and beekeepers from Florida to Montana are trying to determine if the die-off, which is being called Colony Collapse Disorder, is caused by a disease, parasites, pesticides or some combination of the above.
Permalink | | Categories: Colorado, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Washington
Smith’s Multi-Metaphoric Attack on Judiciary Probe
As the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee called for a formal investigation into the use of presidential signing statements, Texas Republican Lamar Smith decried the controversy as “much ado about nothing.”
Smith wore the hat of the ranking member of the notoriously partisan committee for the first time. And the job appeared to suit him as he asked tough questions about the president’s use of statements.
The president should have the right to express an opinion about laws passed by Congress, Smith said.
As for an investigation, Smith said he did not know what Conyers meant. Sure, the White House will provide information, he told a Cox reporter.
“Critics have launched a massive fishing expedition,” Smith said. “But they have caught only the reddest of red herrings.”
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Lamar’s Big Day
All eyes were on Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, today as he became the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee.
Smith asked all Republican members to be present at the panel’s first oversight hearing into the Bush White House. Nearly all obliged.
Asked about his new role, Smith told Cox Newspapers that he welcomed this hearing and all the promised hearings to come.
“It’s good for the administration of laws ans justice,” Smith said. “It’s good for us to present our side.”
If anyone wonders where Smith stands on his fellow Texan in the White House, don’t.
“”Just like we don’t want runaway juries, we don’t want runaway oversight committees,” Smith said.
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Waxman’s Inquest Week
With the promised Democratic probes into government waste about to begin, Chairman Henry Waxman announced Wednesday what targets will be in his sights for a series of hearings Feb. 6 in his House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Past and present Bush administration officials and private contractors are scheduled to be on the hot seat for fumbling reconstruction efforts in Iraq. Witnesses scheduled for the four-day round of hearings also include relatives of four American contractors killed in Iraq while working for Blackwater USA, a private security company.
But that’s not all. Waxman will also be investigating massive Homeland Security contracts such as the billions spent on high tech border security and pharmaceutical prices that affect Medicaid and Medicare.
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Won’t Take No For An Answer
House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., announced Wednesday that his committee would open a formal inquiry into President Bush’s use of “presidential signing statements.”
“We are not going to take no for an answer,” said Conyers, lambasting Bush’s use of the statements to sidestep the law.
He vowed to demand answers from the White House about its intention to ignore the ban on torture when needed and its right to open domestic mail when needed.
The White House has long defended the practice of using the statements as a way to express an opinion about legislation.
McCain’s Maven
Texan Fred Zeidman has been tapped to serve as National Vice Chair for Jewish Outreach in the John McCain presidential campaign.
A release from McCain’s exploratory committee notes that Zeidman is involved in several Houston-based businesses and serves as vice chairman of the Republican Jewish Coalition. He worked on Jewish outreach for Bush-Cheney in 2000 and 2004, and was a Harris County vice chairman for Dole-Kemp in 1996.
Unmentioned is Zeidman’s current role as senior director of government affairs in Washington for the lobbying firm of Greenberg Traurig. Until he became the centerpiece in a Washington lobbying scandal, now-convicted Jack Abramoff was with Greenberg Traurig. Zeidman joined the firm in July 2004, five months after the firm forced Abramoff out.
In the McCain release, Zeidman praised the Arizona senator as “a consistent and strong supporter of both Jewish Americans and Israel.” Zeidman, said McCain, will help him “communicate my conservative principles to Jewish Americans and Texas voters.”
Also today, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, another probable GOP presidential contender, dipped into McCain’s home state for some support. Romney announced an Arizona finance steering committee, including prominent Scottsdale lawyer Paul Gilbert and shopping center developer Lee Hanley.
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The Ex-Governor and Iraq
When a former governor turns his attention to foreign policy (and establishes a new website to promote it) it can mean only one thing.
Ex-New York Gov. George Pataki, a Republican, seems intent on moving to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
His 21st Century Freedom PAC today proudly announced The Pataki Plan website, which details the ex-governor’s handy plan for wrapping up that nettlesome war in Iraq.
The short version: Pataki opposes President Bush’s decision to send more troops to Iraq unless the government there “accomplishes four concrete measures,” which are fair allocation of oil resources, allowing non-criminal Baathists back into government jobs, military upgrades and “clearly showing its willingness to disarm extremist sectarian armies and militias.”
The long version: See thepatakiplan.com.
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New Party Boss
In addition to the new pastry chef (see item below), the White House has a new chief party planner.
Word comes today that President Bush has selected Amy Swartz Zantzinger as the administration’s new Special Assistant to the President and White House Social Secretary. The latter title is more important, placing her in charge of the building’s social events.
Mrs. Zantzinger replaces Lea Berman, who recently announced her resignation. The new social secretary most recently ran an interior design business. Prior to that, from 1994-1998, she was with Barbara Scavullo Design in San Francisco. And prior to that she was the protocal officer in the San Francisco mayor’s office.
Like lots of folks who sign on with the current Bush White House, she is a veteran of the previous Bush White House. From 1988-1992 she worked in the White House Visitors Office, where her chores includes planning holiday activities and visits from foreign heads of state. She worked in the 1992 Bush-Quayle re-election campaign and was an executive assistant to the elder Bush during the 1988-89 transition.
In conjunction with the announcement, First Lady Laura Bush praised Ms. Berman’s tenure, citing her “flair for entertaining and attention to detail.”
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White House announces new pastry chef
If your poll numbers were at an all-time low, what better escape than to sink your teeth into a rich, sugar-glazed creme brulee?
The White House announced yesterday that William “Bill” Yosses, a chef for over 30 years with training in French cuisine, will be the new executive pastry chef.
“He has a light touch with desserts,” Laura Bush said in a statement.
But as the First Lady reshuffles her own cabinet, it raises the question of how “light” a touch her husband will have on the dessert tray.
Although President Bush was declared “fit for duty” last August, he had gained about four-and-a-half pounds from the year before, tipping the scales at 196 pounds, according to his annual physical exam. The White House attributed the gain to an over-indulgence in cake on his 60th birthday.
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FAA: Let Pilots Retire at 65
Federal Aviation Administration chief Marion Blakey announced Tuesday that she will formally propose raising the mandatory retirement age for commercial pilots to 65 years, up from the current 60 years.
Such a change could change the retirement plans of thousands of Baby Boomer pilots approaching their 60s. And it may help the industry cope with a growing shortage of experienced pilots, as well as relieve the financially troubled industry of some of its pension costs.
For decades, the government has insisted upon retirement at 60 years old.
“This has been a long time in the making,” Blakey told reporters at a National Press Club luncheon. “It’s time for a change.”
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I Like President Bush Because….
The Hill newspaper, which covers Congress, asked lawmakers in its Thursday edition to name their favorite thing about President Bush. Here are some responses:
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.: “Laura.”
Rep. Jose Serrano, D-N.Y.: “That we both share English as a second language.”
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.: “He has a direct and manly style that is positive and inspiring. He’s courageous. He doesn’t waffle around.”
Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J.: “My favorite thing is also the thing I like the least — that he really believes in what he says. The worst part is I believe he’s wrong.”
Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas: “I’ve known him for so long it’s hard to pick one. His positive attitude about the country.”
Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y.: “Hmm…I gotta say nice things: that he helped elect a Democratic majority in both the House and the Senate.”
Other lawmakers cited Bush’s self-depricating personality, sense of humor, and ability to connect with people one on one.
But Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., declined to name a favorite attribute.
“Are you kidding? I don’t have one. I met him one time in six years and at that time he was not familiar with the Voting Rights Act — and this was a meeting with the Black Caucus,” Thompson said.
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Tampa a Harship Post? Not by Martinez
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| Photo by Rick McKay |
Webb’s concern drew a dissenting view from Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla.
“I thought I might differ with my colleague from Virginia on something or another,” Martinez told Fallon, “but I never thought I would differ more deeply than to suggest that you now had a hardship assignment, being stationed in Tampa, Fla.”
“I want to welcome you and your family to our state,” said Martinez. “We consider Tampa to be a welcoming and friendly place.”
Less so, though, will be the central object of Fallon’s new mission: trying to quell bloodshed and bring stability to war-torn Iraq.
“You’ve been out on those blue waters,” Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Al., reminded Fallon. “Now you’ve got some brown sands to spend your time on. It’d be quite a change.”
Said Fallon, a former Navy fighter pilot with nearly 5,000 hours in the cockpit, “I truly believe that we can be successful, or I wouldn’t take this job.”
Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., predicted speedy Senate confirmation of Fallon’s nomination.
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War Protesters Find Mixed Feelings On “W”
A signup sheet outside the office of Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, asks visitors to circle an issue they’d like to discuss. On a short line marked “Other,” Michael Hanlon wrote: “Defund the Iraq occupation.”
Hanlon, of Austin, was one of several activists knocking on lawmakers’ doors Monday after taking part in a massive weekend rally protesting a troop surge in Iraq.
After a 40-minute closed-door meeting with an aide for McCaul, who was out of town, Hanlon’s wife, Fran, said it was important for lawmakers to hear directly from their constituents about the war.
“It’s our obligation to let him know that there are a lot of people in his district who do want our troops to come home,” she said.
But Hanlon’s activism on Monday went far beyond office meetings. She is also a member of Code Pink, a women’s social justice group that held protests earlier in the day inside a Senate office building.
The protesters read the names of Iraqis who’ve died in the war and held several banners, such as “Women Say Pullout.”
Hanlon was supposed to hold the letter “W” on a banner that said “No To War.”
“But security took it away from me,” she said, grinning mischievously. “Usually they like W. around here.”
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Hamid’s a Dad
President Bush was up and on the phone early today to offer congratulations to Afghan President Hamid Karzai on the occasion of the birth of his first child. Mirwais Karzai, a son, was born Thursday to the president and wife Zeenat, who rarely appears in public. They’ve been married since 1999.
Mirwais Khan was an 18th century ruler of Kandahar, the area of Afghanistan that Karzai, 49, is from.
No word on a gift, though Bush this week did ask Congress to pony up an additonal $10 billion to prop up the Karzai government.
Photo above is from Bush’s March 2006 visit to Kabul.
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Bush Walk
Here’s something you don’t see every day. That’s President Bush and wife Laura enjoying an outside-the-fence walk on a brisk Friday afternoon in Washington.
It was a short walk, just across the street to Blair House for a farewell party for White House Counsel Harriet Miers, who has resigned.
Though the Bushes walked, the usual hefty motorcade of vehicles followed behind.
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Looking back on Iraq, Hoyer points finger at “the civilized world”
Hey, Rest of the World, where were you guys on Iraq? That’s what House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer was wondering in a speech Friday at the Brookings Institution. As both the House and Senate get ready to vote on resolutions condemning President Bush’s troop increase in Baghdad, Hoyer slightly loosened the ever-tightening vice Democrats have placed around the administration’s Iraq war policy. To be sure, Hoyer minced no words on Bush’s war management, calling it “incompetent, arrogant, unplanned and unsuccessful.” But he did scatter some of the blame for the undesireable situation that existed in Iraq four years ago, before the invasion. The United Nations made merely idle threats to the late Saddam Hussein, Hoyer said, and “our action was, in part, a consequence of the international community’s failure to act.” Before the U.S. invasion in Iraq, “the onus for enforcement rested on the nations of the civilized world.”
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And Don’t Even THINK about Using Smoke or Mirrors
Congress’ Democrats are eager to start shaping the fiscal 2008 budget, even though they have not yet completed the 2007 budget. Most of the government is still operating on continuing resolutions.
Democrats plan to finish the stalled 2007 budget process in early February and then quickly move on to the 2008 budget, which President Bush will release Feb. 5. On Friday, four Democrats — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and budget committee chairmen Sen. Kent Conrad and Rep. John Spratt — sent Bush a letter telling him that his budget must: 1) “account realistically” for war costs and tax changes; 2) “realistically project short- and long-term deficits;” 3) “provide details” about spending; 4) be based on long-term “fiscal discipline.”
It contained no direct references to “rose-colored glasses.”
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NSA Eavesdropping Case On Appeal
All ears will be listening next week when a federal appeals court in Cincinnati hears arguments in the landmark lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the National Security Agency’s domestic eavesdropping program.
The Justice Department filed legal papers this week seeking to dismiss the lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, saying that issue is now moot because the administration has decided to bring the program under the review of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
But the ACLU filed a brief today opposing that motion.
The president still claims to retain the “inherent authority” to engage in wiretapping without the oversight of the secret FISA court, the ACLU said in a statement. The ACLU said that without more information about what the FISA court has authorized there is no outside check to ensure that the terrorist surveillance program is lawful.
The case is on appeal at the government’s request. Last year, U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor ruled ruled that the NSA eavesdropping program is unconstitutional and violaes the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a 1978 law that established the secret court to oversee domestic surveillance warrants of suspected terrorists and spies.
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear the case at 3 p.m. in the Potter Stewart federal courthouse in Cincinnati. The judges are: Alice Batchelder, Ronald Gilman and Julia Gibbons.
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Cornyn Top Republican on Immigration Panel
Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican and key liaison to the White House on immigration, was officially named ranking member of the Immigration, Refugees and Border Security subcommittee on Thursday.
Cornyn could play an important role as President Bush works with the Democratically-led Congress on legislation to change the nation’s immigration laws.
“Securing the border and fixing our broken immigration system is one of the most pressing domestic issues facing Texas and our nation and we must work together to address it,” Cornyn said in a press release.
Cornyn introduced a bill in the previous Congerss that included tough border enforcement measures such as hiring 10,000 more border patrol guards and required illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin within five years before applying as temporary workers.
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Schumer Doesn’t Buy DOJ’s Story
Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., doesn’t buy the Justice Department’s answers concerning the sudden departure of nearly a dozen U.S. attorneys around the country.
Schumer, never known to mince words, plans to hold a hearing on Feb. 7 entitled, “Independence: Is the Department of Justice Politicizing the Hiring and Firing of U.S. Attorneys?”
“The highly unusual recent flurry of firings of many well-respected U.S. attorneys not on raises some red flags, but also requires some explanations from the administration,” Schumer said.
The hearing will give senators an opportunity to ask tough questions and “get to the bottom of what seems to be a troubling pattern of politicalizing the role of our top federal prosecutors,” Schumer said.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has strongly denied political motivations in the departure of 11 top federal prosecutors around the country.
Gonzales has declined to get into specifics, citing restriction on publicly discussing personnel issues. But the attorney general did recently note that the attorneys who “have been in the news” have all served a 4-year term, making them ripe for replacement.
Permalink | | Categories: Colorado, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Washington
It’s Not Amtrak’s Fault This Time
The new Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, Joseph Biden, D-De., famously commutes most days to the Capitol from his Delaware home. He travels aboard the nation’s passenger railroad, Amtrak, often showing up as committee hearings are already in progress with the excuse that the train was late.
Now that power has shifted in the Congress to Biden and his fellow Democrats, aides joke that committee hearings will begin whenever the chairman’s train arrives.
On Thursday, though, a 9:30 hearing on Iraq was delayed three minutes, while Brig. Gen. Michael Jones and other witnesses cooled their heels awaiting Biden’s arrival.
“Well, the truth of the matter was I stayed down here (in Washington) last night, and I was late,” conceded Biden, a Democratic presidential hopeful. “But I do apologize. It’s not Amtrak’s fault this time.”
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Ford To Skip Super Bowl; Endorses Gore (Sort Of)
Former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford Jr. won’t be attending this year’s Super Bowl, but he wants you to know that he still loves Jesus, women and football.
Ford was the target of an ad in his Senate campaign which featured a bare-shouldered blonde talking about meeting Ford at a Playboy Magazine party at an earlier Super Bowl. “Harold, call me,” she purrs to the camera at the end of the ad.
Ford, a bachelor, shrugged off the ad with the quip: “I love Jesus, I love women and I love football.” And Thursday morning, in his first official appearance as chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), Ford repeated the line in response to good-natured kidding from from reporters about whether he would attend this year’s Super Bowl.
Even though he won’t be attending the Super Bowl - or any of the parties associated with it - Ford has a favorite in the game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Chicago Bears. He’ll be rooting for the Colts because of Peyton Manning, the Colts quarterback who was a star at the University of Tennessee before turning pro.
“He’s a Tennessee man,” Ford said of Manning. He’ll be pulling for Manning, Ford said, “even though he didn’t make a donation to my campaign.”
Ford lost his Senate campaign, but declined Thursday to be drawn into an in-depth discussion about the extent to which race played a part in the contest. And when asked whether it had changed his perspective on race in America, he quipped, “I knew I was a black man before I ran.”
The DLC is prohibited by law from making endorsements, but Ford made one exception. He expressed hope that his old friend, former Vice President Al Gore, would win an Oscar for his documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth,” about global warming. “That’s an endorsement,” he said.
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Serial Offender
President Bush’s attempt to use this week’s State of the Union address to say nice things about the new Democratic majority was marred by his ongoing inability to say “Democratic” anything.
“Some in this chamber are new to the House and Senate and I congratulate the Democrat majority,” he said in the speech, though the prepared text referred to the “Democratic majority.”
For the record: It’s the Democratic Party. Its members are Democrats. Democrats are not members of the Democrat Party. There is no Democrat Party, except for when some Republicans - including Bush - are talking.
Democrats long have been insulted by Republicans (not Republics) who refer to them as members of the Democrat Party. Some Democrats view it as an intentional slur.
Bush is a serial offender, sometimes unable to say Democratic Party even when he is trying to say something nice about Democrats.
Click on CONTINUE READING for the recent record.
The morning after last November’s elections:
“And while the ballots are still being counted in the Senate, it is clear the Democrat Party had a good night last night and I congratulate them on their victory. This morning I spoke with the Republican and Democrat leadership in the House and Senate.”
Same event, moments later:
“We’ll begin consultations with the Democrat leadership starting Thursday and Friday.”
Same event, yet again:
“All I know to do is to make decisions based upon principles that I believe are important and now work with Democrat leaders in the Congress because they control the committees and they control the flow of bills.”
One more time:
“We got some tax cuts passed, with Democrat votes.”
Then, in early December, after receiving the report of the Iraq Study Group:
“…this report will give us all an opportunity to find common ground for the good of the country, not for the good of the Republican Party or the Democrat Party, but for the good of the country.”
Bush’s inability to say Democratic Party when he is trying to be nice to Democrats has its roots in his unwillingness to say Democratic Party when he is not trying to be nice to them, like at campaign rallies last year.
Nov. 5, Grand Island, Nebraska:
“They asked the Democrat leader in the House recently about tax cuts and she said, speaking about the Democrats: ‘We love tax cuts.’ Well, given her record, she must be a secret admirer.”
Nov. 2, Elko, Nevada::
“A vote for a Democrat senator in this state or in any state in which there’s a senatorial election is a vote against highly qualified judges like these.”
Oct. 31, Perry, Georgia:
“When it came time to renew the Patriot Act, more than 75 percent of the members, Democrat members in the House of Representatives, voted no.”
Oct. 30, Statesboro, Georgia:
“Here’s what this person and the leaders of the Democrat Party in Washington seem to not understand. Iraq is not the reason the terrorists are at war against us.”
Oct. 28, Sellersburg, Indiana:
Bush: In all these vital measures for fighting the war on terror, the Democrats in Washington follow a simple philosophy: Just say no. When it comes to listening in on the terrorists, what’s the Democratic answer? Just say no. When it comes to detaining terrorists, what’s the Democrat answer?
Audience: Just say no!
Bush: When it comes to questioning terrorists, what’s the Democrat answer?
Audience: Just say no!
Oct. 26, Warren, Michigan:
“And there’s a fundamental difference of opinion. You listen to the rhetoric of the leaders of the Democrat Party. They have a different view than I do about whether or not this is a global war on terror.”
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Civil Liberties Groups Demand Info on Bush Opening Mail
Leading civil liberties groups are demanding more information about a President Bush’s controversial assertion that the federal government can search domestic mail without a warrant signed by a judge.
The president’s assertion is controversial because the White House has strongly denied that there is any change in the law that requires federal investigators to obtain a warrant before they open a piece of mail.
But when Bush signed the postal reform act last month, he attached a “presidential signing statement” that said his administration would follow that law, “in a manner consistent, to the maximum extent permissible, with the need to conduct searches in exigent circumstances.”
That provoked the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for National Security Studies to file requests under the Freedom of Information Act this week seeking the release of all records related to “President Bush’s asserted authority to search Americans’ mail without a warrant.”
“No president has the authority to decide on his own what the law is,” said Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the ACLU. The public needs to know the details, Romero said.
Point blank: Is American mail subject to being opened without a warrant? Has it already happened? How many people have been subjected to having their mail opened without a warrant?
From the government surveillance of peace activists to unchecked eavesdropping by the National Security Agency, Romero said the executive branch is “trampling on the privacy and free speech rights of Americans.”
The groups filed their requests with the U.S. Postal Service, the Justice Department and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The requests seek any rules, regulations, policies, procedures, practices or guidance from 2001 to present concerning warrantless searches of mail originating in the United States.
Bush’s statement was attached to the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006. The measure renews a 30-year ban on opening First Class domestic mail without a court approved warrant unless there is a suspicion that the package contains dangerous material like explosives.
White House Press Secretary Tony Snow has repeatedly denied that there is anything new in Bush’s signing statement.
“This is not a change in the law,” Snow told reporters after the story broke in the New York Daily News earlier this month. “This is not new.”
But that is not how Brittany Benowitz, a lawyer with the Center for National Security Studies sees it.
“The president appears to be relying on the same legal argument used to justify warrantless eavesdropping to claim a new and alarming power to read Americans’ mail without a court order,” Benowitz said.
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With shift in power, a softer Tancredo
There were more than a few bleary-eyed faces on Capitol Hill this morning after a long night of reacting to the president’s State of the Union address. Rep. Tom Tancredo wasn’t one of them.
Flanked by members of his Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus, Tancredo, R-Colo., came out swinging with his customary response to Bush’s call for an immigration overhaul.
“When the president says he wants comprehensive immigration reform, he means one thing: amnesty,” he said.
But it was a noticeably softer Tancredo, who recognizes that the political landscape in Washington has shifted and his hard-line approach to immigration reform may be deported from the legislative agenda.
“We’ve lost a lot of momentum,” he acknowledged, his voice growing softer. “I do not know to what extent our efforts have been jeopardized, except they have been. The dynamics around here have changed. There’s no two ways about it.”
The shift in Congressional power was a driving force behind his decision to form a presidential exploratory committee, he said.
Tancredo has repeatedly opposed a guest-worker program because he said it would reward immigrants who entered the country illegally. But now, “if I see we’re truly enforcing the law…I’d be willing to talk about a potential guest worker program.”
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Gingrich Looks to September
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, in town for a press conference to support English as the nation’s official language, was non-committal when asked whether he would run for the Republican presidential nomination.
“I don’t know. We’ll look at it in September,” he said.
In addition, Gingrich said that American civilization will “decay” unless the government declares English the nation’s official language and works aggressively to help immigrants learn English.
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SOTU: The Morning After
Some leftovers from last night’s State of the Union address.
Most striking image (other than Vice President Cheney and Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s ongoing stagecraft about when to stand and applaud, and when to sit and be quiet) was the above tableau in the First Lady’s box in the House chamber. A wonderful display of altitude diversity. The tall fellow is Dikembe Mutombo of the NBA’s Houston Rockets. He is 7-foot-2. Use that as a yardstick to gauge the height of Laura Bush, to the right of Mutombo, and Nancy Ho, on Mutombo’s other side in this AP photo. (FYI, Mrs. Bush is 5-foot-5, 5-foot-7 1/2 in heels)
Mutombo was being honored for his work on African causes. Dr. Ho carries the lofty title of senior research scientist and group leader of the molecular genetics group at Purdue University’s Laboratory of Renewable Resources Engineering. She has studied cellulosic biomass for more than 25 years. Point guard, probably.
Also of note this morning is this thumbs-up review of the speech:
“The president went into this speech with low poll numbers, in charge of a controversial war. But it is not an option for a president to take the fetal position, and not a temptation for this president. He showed graciousness toward the new speaker and the new Congress. He set out strong domestic proposals on a few urgent issues like energy, health care, and immigration. And he made the case for patience in Iraq, placing that struggle in a broad historical context. I’m also particularly encouraged the president mentioned global AIDS, malaria, and Darfur, showing that his foreign policy is more than Iraq alone. You can’t ask much more of a State of the Union.”
The kind words came from Michael Gerson, Bush’s former chief speechwriter and now a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Lest you think that Gerson’s presence means the fix is in for Bush at CFR, click on Continue Reading to see critical words from other fellows there:
“That goal almost certainly cannot and will not be met,” energy expert David Victor on Bush’s plan to cut gasoline use by 20 percent by 2017.
“In the end, President Bush returned to the politics of fear to try and garner support for his failed adventure in Iraq,” homeland security expert Stephen Flynn on Bush’s prediction of the dire consequences of failure in Iraq.
“A disapproving public continues to judge this administration thought the lens of Iraq, and the speech offered little that is likely to change the public’s mind,” public opinion expert Lee Feinstein.
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On The Outside Looking In
It used to be that whenever John Edwards wanted to make a point, all he had to do was go to the Senate floor and make a speech.
It wasn’t that far a walk - from his Senate office to the Senate chamber.
But now, the former senator from North Carolina has to do things differently, even if he is running for the Democratic presidential nomination.
So the day after President Bush’s State of the Union speech, Edwards is running a full-page ad in Roll Call, a newspaper which covers Capitol Hill and which is widely read by members of Congress.
In the ad, Edwards asks members of Congress to use its power of the purse to cut off funding for the president’s plan to increase the number of U.S. troops in Iraq.
The ad includes the names of thousands of Americans who have signed Edwards’ anti-escalation petition.
And while the ad is addressed to the entire Congress, it most likely is aimed mostly at one particular member - Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, a rival for the Democratic presidential nomination.
On the morning of the president’s State of the Union, Clinton was asked on the “Today” show program about the prospect of Edwards eventually challenging her to repudiate her 2002 vote in support of the Iraq war, the way Edwards has repudiated his.
Her response to the question highlighted the fact that Edwards is no longer a member of the Senate and no longer a presence on Capitol Hill. “I’m not on the sidelines. I’m in the arena,” she said.
And in a position, Edwards argues, to do something she is so far unlikely to do - propose an end to funding for the troop increase the president has undertaken.
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McCain, The Bishop and Same-Sex Marriage
Arizona Sen. John McCain’s campaign today proudly announced that Bishop Keith Butler, founder and senior pastor of Michigan’s 21,000-member Word of Faith International Christian Center, will serve as McCain’s national co-chairman for conservatives and co-chairman of the Michigan steering committee.
The announcement notes that Butler was a Michigan co-chair for Bush-Cheney ‘04 and in 1989 became the first “known Republican” elected to the Detroit City Council since before World War II. There is no mention of Butler’s unsuccessful bid last year for the GOP nomination for a U.S. Senate seat from Michigan.
Duly noted is Butler’s belief that McCain’s “commitment to pro-family, pro-life causes makes him the only true conservative candidate that can represent the party and win the general election.”
Unmentioned is a little disagreement McCain and Butler have on what to do about same-sex marriage, something they both think is a bad thing. Butler favors a constitutional amendment banning it. McCain believes it’s an issue best left to the states.
Click on Continue Reading to see what the two men have said about the issue.
Butler in June 2004, at a Washington event involving several African-American religious leaders in support of the proposed amendment:
“It is our belief that the Federal Marriage Protection Amendment is an urgently needed response to the judicial destruction of traditional marriage in America. … We also find that the opposition’s attempt to yoke their homosexual agenda to that of the civil rights movement extremely disturbing. Homosexuality is not a civil rights issue. It is a lifestyle choice, a decision, that is not natural or normal and should not be depicted as such to our children. … Being born black was and is not a choice for us. It is who we are. You can look at the color of our skin and know that we are African-Americans. You cannot look at the skin color of homosexuals and tell what they are doing in their bedrooms.”
McCain, on the Senate floor, that same month:
“Mr. President, most Americans believe, as I do, that the institution of marriage should be reserved for the union of a man and a woman. … Many, if not most, Americans have reasoned that there is no overriding urgent need to act at this time. And they are right to do so. The legal definition of marriage has always been left to the states to decide, in accordance with the prevailing standards of their neighborhoods and communities. … The constitutional amendment we are debating today strikes me as antithetical in every way to the core philosophy of Republicans. It usurps from the states a fundamental authority they hae always possessed and implies a federal remedy for a problem that most states do not believe confronts them, and which they feel capable of resolving should it confront them, again according to local standards and customs. … The actions by jurists in one court in one state do not represent the death knell to marriage. We will have to wait a little longer to see if Armageddon has arrived.”
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State of the Union Advice
A day before President Bush delivers his State of the Union address, groups on both sides of the immigration debate offered him advice.
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund said the speech “should feature Latinos prominently” because the future state of the nation “depends heavily on Latino advancement.”
MALDEF said in a news release that the president must signal his commitment to work with Congress “to make the broad immigration reforms that the nation needs,” including more visas “so people can work and remain legally in the United States.”
Such a plan would mark a new course “away from last year’s extremist approach that would have made felons of some who help immigrants,” the group said.
On the other side of the immigration spectrum, the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps, a citizen border watch group, said that Bush must urge Congress to improve our national security by funding a fence on the U.S.-Mexico border and boosting money for more border agents.
The group said in a news release that the “illegal immigration crisis plaguing our nation will only begin to be solved by first securing our nation’s borders, rather than providing amnesty for illegal aliens already residing in this country.”
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Yet Another Commission
What this city needs is another commission.
That’s the proposal of Sens. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.
Warning that Medicare and Social Security will both go belly-up soon — Medicare by 2018 and Social Security by 2040 — the senators say they’re introducing a bill to create a permanent bipartisan commission whose recommendations would have to be seriously considered by Congress.
The problems of Medicare and Social Security “are the highest and most significant facing our country down the line,” Domenici said at a news conference.
Feinstein acknowledged that Medicare and Social Security have long been the “third rail of politics” (touch it and you die), but she said “the longer we wait, the more difficult it becomes.”
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You Fix It
Remember the Social Security crisis?
President Bush expended plenty of political capital two years ago in a failed effort to revamp the federal retirement and disability system.
Well, the problems still exist. Unless something is done, Social Security’s trustees predict the program won’t be able to pay full benefits by 2040.
Want to try your hand at fixing Social Security? The American Academy of Actuaries has an interactive Web-based “game” that allows you to try to make Social Security solvent for the next 75 years.
It’s harder than you think. The game can be found here.>
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She’s In (The Update)
All in all, a successful opening day of the campaign, the Hillary Clinton folks cheerfully report.
The numbers for the first six hours of the campaign website that hit cyberworld today:
100 new members per minute
10,000 messages of support
7,700 sign-ups for her upcoming webcasts
2,200 blog contest submissions
More good news and numbers coming for Sen. Clinton in Sunday’s Washington Post. A Post/ABC News Poll shows her with a wide lead over other Democratic contenders. She’s first with 41 percent. Illinois Sen. Barack Obama was second with 17 percent. Others: ex-Sen John Edwards, 11 percent; ex-Veep Al Gore, 10 percent; 2004 nominee John Kerry, 8 percent.
On the GOP side, ex-New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani leads with 34 percent, seven points better than Arizona Sen. John McCain.
Clinton vs. Giuliani. An all-New York contest, the first major one since the Yankees beat the Mets in the 2000 World Series.
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She’s In
A Clinton wants to follow a Bush who followed a Clinton who followed a Bush.
The brief notification, e-mailed early today, said “Let the conversation begin!”
What it really meant was “Let the campaign begin.”
The electronic missive directed recipients to hillaryclinton.com, where viewers are greeted with a photo of a smiling Sen. Clinton, D-N.Y., and these prominently featured words: “I’m In.”
Another photo, shown above, invites folks to send messages of support to the new candidate. The site also announces a series of live video webcasts, beginning Monday.
The web announcement says she has formed a presidential exploratory committee. It’s a committee likely to lead to a full-fledged campaign.
“The stakes will be high when America chooses a new president in 2008,” Clinton says in a statement on the site. “No matter where you live, no matter what your political views, I want you to be a part of this important conversation right at the start.”
The “conversation” began with a Clinton video on the website.
“Let’s talk. Let’s chat. Let’s start a dialog about your ideas and mine,” she says on the video, offering a list of things to talk about.
“Let’s talk about how to bring the right end to the war in Iraq,” she says.
“After six years of George Bush it is time to renew the promise of America,” she says.
“Let the conversation begin,” she says. “I have a feeling it’s going to be very interesting.”
Here’s something that’s very interesting. If Clinton wins and serves two terms, America would have a 28-year stretch (George H.W. Bush through Hillary Clinton) during which two families would have provided all the presidents.
How ‘bout Chelsea Clinton vs. George P. Bush in 2016?
And here’s another great streak the Bushes have been involved in: You have to go back to 1972 (Nixon-Agnew) to find a GOP ticket that did not include somebody named Bush or Dole.
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Team McCain
Arizona Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign ad team is beginning to look more like President Bush’s former campaign ad team.
McCain’s exploratory committee announced today that Stuart Stevens, a key player in the Bush campaign has signed on with him.
Stevens, according to the McCain campaign, has helped elect more governors and senators than any other GOP media consultant.
Also now on board with McCain are Fred Davis and Russ Schriefer, veteran ad men who worked for Bush-Cheney.
The newly announced team members will work with Mark McKinnon, Bush’s longtime ad guru who also is now backing McCain.
“These guys are the best in the business,” said McCain.
He should know. He saw what some of them were able to do for Bush when McCain ran against him in the 2000 GOP primaries.
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Beyond “The Inconvenient Truth”
Is he or isn’t he?
Only Al Gore knows for sure whether he’s going to run for president again.
He says he has no intentions and no plans to run in 2008, but that isn’t like saying he isn’t going to run under any circumstances.
And all of a sudden, Gore’s upcoming appearances around the country are being logged on the Futures Calendar of “The Note,” a must-read for political junkies on ABC News’s Web site.
On Monday, for example, when all of Washington will be busy trying to figure out what President Bush will be saying in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, Gore will be giving a speech of his own in Boise, Idaho.
The speech has the sci-fi sounding title, “Global Warming: Beyond The Inconvenient Truth.”
So maybe Gore is running for president again.
Or maybe he isn’t, because Idaho would be a strange place for the former vice president, a Democrat, to be campaigning for president.
In the razor-thin 2000 presidential campaign, Gore lost Idaho to Republican George W. Bush by a landslide. Gore got only 28 percent of the vote, while Bush got 67 percent.
Even the Green vote for consumer advocate Ralph Nader would not have helped Gore. Nader, the spoiler of the 2000 campaign, got just 2 percent in Idaho.
And while some Western states have been trending Democratic of late, Idaho remains one of the most Republican states in national politics.
Democrat John Kerry lost the state to Bush in 2004, 68 to 30 percent.
In addition, Idaho’s governor is Republican, its two U.S. senators are Republicans, and its two congressmen are Republican.
So are its lieutentant governor, secretary of state, state controller, state attorney general, state treasurer and state school superintendent.
The inconvenient truth (to Democrats, anyway) that, politically, Idaho is a red state.
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Democrats Go Bilingual
Sen. Ken Salazar of Colorado delivered on Friday what was billed as the first ever “Spanish-language Democratic preview address on the state of our union.”
In addition to attacking the Bush administration’s policy on Iraq and “negligence towards Latin America,” Salazar spoke of changing the nation’s immigration laws.
“We are committed to moving forward on a bill that will shore up our porous borders, enforce our immigration laws and deal with the economic and human reality of millions of undocumented workers,” Salazar said, in Spanish.
Earlier this week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. , announced that Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., would be delivering a Spanish-language response to the president’s State of the Union speech on Tuesday.
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Como Se Dice Bigotry?
In his first appearance before reporters as the new general chairman of the Republican National Committee, Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida proved to be an effective communicator by not communicating.
In response to questions from reporters, Martinez said the Republican Party is not anti-immigrant despite opposition to the kind of guest worker program he supports as part of a comprehensive plan to address illegal immigration in the United States.
“The Republican Party is not the party of bigotry,” Martinez said, prompting a handful of reporters from Spanish TV stations to ask him to repeat the remark in Spanish.
Martinez began to comply, then stopped and asked the Spanish-speaking reporters in English: “How do you say ‘bigotry’?”
His subtle message: “Bigotry” is not even in his vocabulary.
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Feeney Likes Mitt
U.S. Rep. Tom Feeney, R-Florida, has signed on with the Mitt Romney presidential campaign, which, like a bunch of other presidential candidacies, technically remains in exploratory mode.
Feeney, says the Romney committee, will be a “key liaison to fiscal conservatives and organizations promoting fiscal responsibility in Washington.”
Feeney’s been a “powerful watchdog” on that front, says Romney, former GOP governor of Massachusetts.
And Feeney says Romney “is the right kind of leader to bring fiscal sanity back to Washington.”
Feeney’s a former Floriday House speaker and unsuccessful 1994 candidate for lieutenant governor.
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Paygo vs. Pay Not
Next week, the Senate is expected to approve a bipartisan bill to raise the minimum wage, as Democrats want. The bill also contains a package of $8 billion in tax cuts intended to help small businesses, as Republicans want.
And finally, the legislation closes tax loopholes in order to raise $8 billion to offset the cost of tax cuts, as the House Democrats want. The House, under Democratic leadership, has established pay-as-you-go rules requiring them to offset new tax reductions with either spending cuts or tax hikes. The so-called “paygo” rules are supposed to keep the budget deficit from deepening.
On Friday, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget said it likes the wage hike and tax cuts just fine — but the paygo part, not so much. “The administration does not think it is necessary to tie this small business tax relief to other revenue increases,” OMB said.
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Martinez Elected GOP Chairman
Over a smattering of opposition, U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida was elected today to be general chairman of the Republican Party.
Martinez, 60, a native of Cuba, is the first Hispanic to hold the largely honorary position that has not existed in recent years. The position did exist in the 1980s when then-Sen. Paul Laxalt of Nevada held it during Ronald Reagan’s presidency.
Mike Duncan of Kentucky was chosen to be the Republican National Committee’s chairman and will be in charge of the party’s day-to-day operations.
In accepting the position, Martinez said: “I am truly humbled by the opportunity that you give me and the responsibility that you place upon me.”
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Weekend Plans
It’s off to Camp David tomorrow morning for President Bush, where he will continue working on Tuesday’s State of the Union address.
Prior to wheels up on Marine One, Bush will meet at the White House with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. Both are just back from the Middle East and will report in to the commander-in-chief.
“We feel that we are starting to see some facts on the ground change a litle bit, some promising nuggets,” said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.
But Perino and other Bush aides know that it will take results, not words, to change public opinion about the president’s leadership in Iraq.
“We know that the speech the president gave is not going to change things overnight,” Perino said, “not minds, not facts on the ground.”
Prep work for the State of the Union continued today with the first rehearsal in the White House family theater.
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Latino Museum in D.C.?
Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., introduced legislation this week that would create a commission to explore the possibility of creating a national museum in the nation’s capitol focused on the artistic, cultural, and historical contributions of Hispanic Americans.
“Although American Latinos have made and continue to make significant contributions to the culture and history of the United States, many of those contributions go unrecognized in the official narrative,” he said in a news release.
The measure would set up a 23-member commission charged with bringing together experts, policy makers and other interested parties to discuss the museum’s viability and establish a fundraising plan.
In the Senate, the bill is sponsored by Sens. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., and Mel Martinez, R-Fla.
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From Colombia to Kabul
With no fanfare or explanation, the White House announced today that William Wood (above), now the U.S. ambassador to Colombia, will become the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan.
The move is the latest in a series of key diplomatic shuffles as President Bush re-aligns his team. Zalmay Khalilzad, the ambassador to Iraq (and former ambassador to Afghanistan), is Bush’s pick to replace John Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the U.N., who had to leave the post because Democrats (and a Republican or two) blocked confirmation.
Bush has picked Ryan Crocker, now ambassador to Pakistan, to take over in Iraq.
In Afghanistan, Wood would replace Ronald Neumann, who’s been on the job since July 2005. No word on why Neumann is out or where he is going.
Instead, the usual atta-boy from the White House.
Neumann, said White House spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore, “has done an exceptional job” and the president appreciates his “dedicated leadership on complex political, military, diplomatic and economic issues” in Afghanistan.
Wood, a career foreign service officer, previously has served in Uruguay, Argentia, El Salvador and Italy.
All of the diplomatic moves require Senate confirmation.
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Justice Vows to Seek Senate Confirmation for US Attorneys
The Justice Department went on the offensive Thursday, saying the administration is committed to sending nominees for U.S. attorneys to the Senate for approval.
In a letter to Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the Justice Department declared that, “at no time has the administration sought to avoid the Senate confirmation process.”
The letter was written following a swirl of media reports suggesting that the Justice Department was forcing out 11 U.S. attorneys around the country for political purposes.
The reports suggested that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales intended to bypass the Senate using a provision in the Patriot Act that allows him to select a replacement.
In the letter to Leahy and Feinstein, the department noted that the amendment to the Patriot Act was intended to prevent him from having to obtain approval from a district court judge to extend an interim appointment for longer than 120 days. It was not intended to circumvent approval from the legislative branch.
Since the amendment was approved last March, 12 of the 15 U.S. attorney nominated by the administration have been confirmed by the Senate.
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Groups Join Forces on Immigration
Groups lobbying for changes in the nation’s immigration laws, including a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, have dubbed themselves the “Alliance for Immigration Reform 2007.”
The organizations, which announced their new name Thursday in a conference call with reporters, include the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic civil rights group; the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; the Service Employees International Union; the National Immigration Forum; and the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank based in New York.
“This is the year to get this done,” said Tamar Jacoby, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. “Everybody, no matter who they are, is sick of the illegality and the porous borders. Businesses are tired of lying to the government and having to break the law just to get the work done. Latinos want to see their friends and family able to work with dignity. And soccer moms and dads want to see Congress solve something.”
Bruce Josten, executive vice president at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said he expected President Bush to address immigration in his State of the Union speech Tuesday.
“I have absolutley no doubt that he will raise this issue and he will press and stay on the message he has been on since a candidate for this office for a comprehensive solution to immigration,” Josten said.
White House spokesman Tony Snow confirmed the topic.
The speech “will address major issues, including the war on terror, energy, health care, immigration, and education,” he told reporters Thursday.
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Road Trip
The White House says President Bush, now deep into preparing for next Tuesday’s State of the Union address, will hit the road for a couple of day trips after the speech.
No formal word on where, but Bush will take day trips on Wednesday and Thursday to try to drum up support for the proposals he offers up in the annual address.
Bush still is doing follow-up work on the recent Iraq speech. The series of post-speech interviews about his new policy continued today with a roundtable session with regional television reporters in Washington.
And it’s off to Camp David on Saturday, returning to the White House on Monday, as final work on the State of the Union continues.
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African-Americans By The Numbers
In anticipation of Black History Month in February, the Census Bureau released some interesting numbers related to African-Americans. They include:
2.4 million — Number of black military veterans in the United States in 2005. That is more military veterans than any other minority group.
80 percent — The proportion of blacks 25 and older that had at least a high school diploma in 2005.
2.3 million — The number of black college students in the Fall of 2004. This was an increase of roughly 1 million from 15 years earlier.
$88.6 billion — Revenues for black-owned businesses in 2002, up 24 percent from 1997. The number of black-owned businesses totaled 1.2 million in 2002, up 45 percent since 1997.
10, 716 — The number of black-owned firms operating in 2002 with receipts of at least $1 million. These firms accounted for 1 percent of the total number of black-owned firms in 2002.
$30, 858 — The annual median income of black households in 2005.
$33,077 — The 2005 median earnings of black men 15 years and older who worked full time, year round. Black women of he same age group had median earnings of $29, 672.
18 — The number of states with an estimated black population of at least 1 million in 2005.
19.6 percent — The percentage of blacks lacking health insurance in 2005. The rate was unchanged from 2004.
44 percent — The percentage of black families containing a married couple.
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Cancer and The Cycling Buddies
Seems to be some distance between riding buddies George W. Bush and Lance Armstrong on the issue of cancer funding. (That’s them riding above, shot by a White House photographer, in August 2005 on the Bush ranch)
Bush today at the National Institutes of Health:
“First, I’m pleased that we’re funding cancer research. We’re up about 25 percent or 26 percent since 2001; it’s a commitment that I made when I first came to Washington, it’s a commitment we’re keeping. And the reason why it makes sense to spend taxpayers’ money on cancer research is that we can make some good progress, and have.”
Armstrong in a recent commentary:
“The political ads (last November) didn’t tell voters that earlier in the year funding for cancer research was cut for the first time in 30 years. Nor did they explain that a lack of funding slows the pace of scientific discovery and the development of treatments. Our candidates did not mention the decrease in funding for programs that provide information and screening to people who need these services I think this is unwise, but it is what our government has done this past year. I waited patiently for an explanation, some clarification or justification. Ten million cancer survivors deserve an answer. We didn’t get one.”
Here’s Armstrong in Iowa yesterday, as reported in the Des Moines Register, comparing U.S. reaction to terrorism and cancer:
“We lost 3,000 lives that day. What has our country done since then? A lot. We’ve spent a lot of money, done a lot of talking, made a lot of changes. But you know what guys? Fifteen hundred people are going to die today from cancer. So yesterday and today - 9/11. Tomorrow and the next day - 9/11. And on and on and on.”

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Gonzales Denies Politics Played Role in Exit of Prosecutors
U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales