White House Week
In Congress, Spring Break Is Tagged as 'Spring Broke'
Republicans plan to use Congress's spring break to hammer Democrats for jeopardizing war funding and pushing a fiscal 2008 budget that, they claim, would end the Bush tax cuts. The dual approach opened last week when the Republican National Committee started a time clock on its Web page counting the days until funding cuts hit the troops in Iraq. It says spending could start to dry up as early as April 15 if emergency funding isn't approved fast. Hill Republicans and the RNC are also planning to slam the Democratic budget, claiming that by not extending the Bush tax cuts, it will give the average family a tax increase of $1,100. Those talking points are titled: "Spring Broke: Dems Go on Vacation After Voting for $400 Billion Tax Hike." Democrats, meanwhile, dispute the April 15 drop-dead date, noting that the formerly Republican Congress passed war supplementals later than that last year.
Sorry, You're Not Reading My E-mail
More fallout from the U.S. attorneys case: Several White House aides say they have stopped using the White House E-mail system except for purely professional correspondence. "We knew E-mails could be subpoenaed," said one aide, "... but I don't think anybody saw that we were doing anything wrong." But the release to the Democrats of White House E-mails and the request for more have iced the practice. At least two aides said they have bought their own private E-mail system through a cellular phone or BlackBerry server; one said he is now cellphone "texting." However, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington says the work-around practice could be illegal. It has asked the White House to explain how it is complying with the Presidential Records Act.
What Happened to the Immigration Prez?
After heavily promoting immigration reform that is friendly to families, a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, and a guest-worker program to fill jobs "no American will do," President Bush appeared to shift dramatically to the right last week. A working proposal for an immigration bill that White House officials drafted behind closed doors with Senate Republicans leaked: It included a proposal to charge the nation's 12 million illegal aliens $10,000 each to obtain a green card, as well as another that would have guest workers come to the United States for two years without families, then go home for six months without gaining any visa advantage. "It's just a clear departure," said Kevin Appleby of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, "from what the president said in his Oval Office speech last year."
Sounds as if Everyone Distrusts Iran
A senior State Department official says that Iran figured prominently in discussions last weekend in Aswan, Egypt, between Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and four Arab foreign ministers and their Arab intelligence chiefs. Iranian influence, including suspected training and funding of militia forces from the radical Islamist movement Hamas, was covered in the confidential talks with officials from Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. "There's a very high level of concern with Iranian intelligence activities in Iraq, Lebanon, and the Palestinian territories," said the State official. As for the intelligence chiefs, "They call Iran at or near the top of their list," the official said.
PHOTO OP: 9:22 p.m., March 28, the Washington Hilton Hotel
"Speaking of subpoenas, it's good to see Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi tonight," quipped President Bush at the Radio and Television Correspondents' Association dinner. "Well, some have wondered how the two of us would get along. Some say she's bossy; she's opinionated; she's not to be crossed." He paused, then: "Hey, I get along with my mother."
This story appears in the April 9, 2007 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.
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