Political Bulletin

WASHINGTON NEWS

Administration May Close Gitmo

President Bush's national security team was expected to today consider a proposal to close the terrorist detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. However, some media reports say the meeting was canceled after word leaked out about it. The AP reports Bush's national security and legal advisers were set to "consider a proposal to shut the center and transfer detainees to one or more Defense Department facilities, including the maximum security military prison at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, where they could face trial, said the officials."

Under the headline "Guantanamo Splits Administration," the Washington Post also reports "senior Bush administration officials are engaged in active discussions about closing" the Gitmo prison, but "deep divisions remain regarding the fate of the approximately 375 foreign detainees currently held there should the prison close, according to numerous officials familiar with the ongoing dialogue." McClatchy reports "a senior American diplomat acknowledged Thursday that the Guantanamo Bay detention center is a 'lightning rod" for international criticism and a "source of frustration" for the Bush administration."

House Votes To Revive Iraq Study Group

The AP reports the Iraq Study Group "may be coming back. The House adopted legislation Thursday to revive the bipartisan panel of prominent former U.S. officials who last year said President Bush should change course on the war. A new assessment by the panel would offer lawmakers an independent alternative to an administration progress report due in September." The Washington Post notes Rep. Christopher Shays "said the Baker-Hamilton group could play a pivotal role again."

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A New Front For Cheney

The AP reports House Democrats "on Thursday denounced Vice President Dick Cheney's idea of abolishing a government office charged with safeguarding national security information -- and criticized him for refusing to cooperate with the agency." Cheney's office -- "over the objections of the National Archives -- has exempted itself from a presidential executive order that seeks to protect national security information generated by the government, according to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform." McClatchy reports the current "skirmish is the latest in a long battle between Congress and the Bush White House -- particularly Cheney's office -- over the administration's campaign to expand the powers of the executive branch and increase the amount of information labeled as classified."

The New York Times reports Cheney "suggested abolishing the oversight unit" when it "objected" top his practices. The Washington Post, under the headline "Cheney Defiant On Classified Material," says Cheney's office "has refused to comply with an executive order governing the handling of classified information for the past four years." The Los Angeles Times, meanwhile, reports "some legal scholars and government secrecy experts noted the irony in Cheney's stance that his office is not fully part of the executive branch, given his claims of executive privilege when refusing to provide information requested by Congress."

Senate Passes Major Energy Bill

USA Today reports the Senate "passed an energy bill late Thursday that includes an increase in automobile fuel economy, new laws against energy price-gouging and a requirement for huge increases in the production of ethanol." An agreement "was reached to increase average fuel economy by 40% to 35 miles per gallon for cars, SUVs and pickup trucks by 2020." But "the fuel economy issue threatened to topple the legislation up to the last minute." The Los Angeles Times says "the breakthrough on fuel efficiency standards could make this year's energy bill the most significant in years," and the New York Times calls the bill's passage "a major defeat for car manufacturers, which had fought for a much smaller increase in fuel economy standards and is expected to keep fighting as the House takes up the issue." But Republican lawmakers "successfully blocked a crucial component of the Democratic plan that would have raised taxes on oil companies by about $32 billion and used the money on tax breaks for wind power, solar power, ethanol and other renewable fuels."

The Washington Times, reporting on the proposed tax increase, notes "a study by the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank" which claimed the tax hike "would boost the average price of regular unleaded gasoline from $3.14 per gallon to $6.40 in 2016." The Wall Street Journal notes the measure "now faces a number of hurdles in the House, and the White House has raised the possibility of a veto over provisions that would outlaw gasoline price gouging and would subject OPEC to US antitrust laws." The Washington Post says "Democratic leaders said they hoped the legislation will be a rallying point for voters concerned about national security, climate change and near-record gasoline prices."

Bush Touts Nuclear Energy In Alabama

President Bush yesterday visited Alabama to promote the expansion of nuclear power as a means of reducing the US' dependence on imported oil. Alabama's Athens News Courier says Bush's "visit to Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant Thursday gave him an opportunity to stump for timely passage of his 2008 energy package. Joining the celebration for the Browns Ferry's Unit 1 successful restart after 22 years gave Bush a chance to talk about what he sees as the importance of expanding nuclear power to decrease the nation's dependence on foreign oil." The Chattanooga Times Free Press notes the Tennessee Valley Authority "completed a 5-year, $1.8 billion upgrade of the reactor 'on time and on budget,' TVA Chairman Bill Sansom said." And the Huntsville Times says the Energy Department "expects two or three companies to file nuclear plant construction and operation license requests with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission this fall."

Bloomberg notes the President "cited nuclear power as part of the solution to dealing with global warming." The Decatur Daily reports, "Among the 250 crowded into a hot employee gymnasium to hear President Bush speak were 150 Tennessee Valley Authority employees, 100 of them chosen by lottery from Browns Ferry rank and file." A second Decatur Daily story says Bush "was in North Alabama for less than three hours, and at Browns Ferry for less than an hour, but it was a huge ordeal." UPI reports, "Bush was greeted enthusiastically in rural Alabama. People lined the route, many of them waving US flags or carrying homemade signs that read 'Welcome President Bush.'"

Bush Raises Funds For Sessions The AP reports Sen. Jeff Sessions "is a leading spoiler of the president's chances for getting his top domestic priority through Congress, but that apparently wasn't enough to get Sessions booted off Bush's schedule." Sessions "even rated a ride on Air Force One to and from Alabama for Thursday's $1,000-a-ticket reception in a downtown convention center, which shoveled $900,000 into his campaign account." In a similar story, the Los Angeles Times says "the president and the senator, regardless of their disagreement on the emotional issue of immigration, can find political reasons to stand together."

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CAMPAIGN NEWS

Bill To Limit Appearances With Hil

The New York Daily News reports that Bill Clinton "is stepping aside to give Hil the limelight for her presidential campaign. Bill Clinton yesterday said he won't play a high-profile role in his wife's presidential run, saying Hillary will do the 'bulk of her campaigning' this year and next 'by herself.'" The AP reports that while the former president has scheduled appearances with Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire and Iowa in the near future, "he doesn't expect to do much more in the way of public campaigning for her this year." Saying the appearances will focus on the Clinton's common interests, Clinton said, "I don't expect to do a lot of this this year and I don't think it's helpful. I want people to get to know Hillary."

Edwards Downplays Q2 Cash

The end of the second quarter is still more than a week away, but already the focus is turning to the cash race for the period. The Hill reports that senior John Edwards campaign adviser Joe Trippi has released an email predicting that the Edwards campaign is only 2/3 of the way to its $9 million second-quarter fundraising goal with only nine days left. "And even then, the campaign would realize $5 million less than it did in the first quarter." The "dollar decrescendo is nothing new to Edwards. In 2003, Edwards was the talk of Washington after raising $7.4 million in the first quarter, which was a lot of money back then. But in the second quarter, he reported raising $4.5 million."

Obama Lays Down Pork Challenge

Sen. Barack Obama Thursday called on other presidential candidates to join him in releasing data on earmark requests, noting that his list contained some 113 items, amounting to some $300 million. Obama "is the first presidential candidate to release his earmark requests," the AP reports. The Hill adds that Obama's move "marks his second transparency initiative of the campaign, after early release of his tax returns." The Hill notes that Sen. Hillary Clinton "has yet to release an earmark list or tax returns. Yet the lack of public release is unlikely to prevent scrutiny of other candidates' funding requests - Clinton's $148 million in defense authorization earmark requests, first reported by The Hill, earned her a stinging rebuke from White House rival Sen. John McCain." Roll Call suggests that Obama's call for earmark transparency "has been met largely with the sound of crickets from his fellow Congressional candidates for the White House, almost none of whom as of press time had taken up the challenge and released their own."

Obama Needs To Broaden Base

The AP runs an analysis piece that suggests that Sen. Barack Obama risks the same type of "flameout" that sank the presidential prospects of Gary Hart, Paul Tsongas and Bill Bradley. The AP paints Obama as being supported by the same "well-educated," "upper-echelon" democrats as supported the three past candidates, suggesting that a candidate with a "wider following," to wit, Sen. Hillary Clinton, "spells potential trouble for Obama."

National Dems Nearly Even With GOP In Fundraising

Being in the majority does have its privileges. The AP reports, "The Republican and Democratic national party committees have nearly matched each other in total fundraising during the first five months of this year, a boost for Democrats who historically have trailed the GOP." The DNC "and its House and Senate campaign organizations raised $73.2 million and their Republican counterparts raised $75.8 million through the end of May. ... Democrats have spent less than Republicans and hold a 3-to-2 cash-on-hand advantage, but they also have more debt." The Democratic committees "reported a total of $31.3 million in the bank compared with $21.1 million for Republicans. Democrats have debts of $12.1 million to the Republicans' $6.8 million." The AP adds, "At the same point in the election cycle four years ago, the Republicans had raised $98.3 million and the Democrats had raised $31.6 million."

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POLITICAL HUMOR

The Latest From Late Night Comedians

Jay Leno: "It was announced this week that Hillary Clinton has finally picked a theme song for her campaign. Now if she could just pick a position on Iraq, that would be great."

Jay Leno: "Hillary Clinton has picked 'You and I,' by Celine Dion, as her campaign theme song. In a related story, John McCain's campaign song also by Celine Dion. It's the theme from 'Titanic.'"

Jay Leno: "President Bush vetoed another stem cell research bill. Bush said stem cell research goes against his religious beliefs, and Mitt Romney agrees with him. At least he did yesterday. I haven't checked Romney's position today."

Jay Leno: "Video has been released from the Middle East of a suicide bomber graduation ceremony -- 300 suicide bombers graduated. And they're all doing the same thing this summer: backpacking across Europe. That's not a good sign."

Conan O'Brien: "A new report that just came out suggest that television journalists are biased, because 90% of the money they donate to politicians goes to Democrats. Apparently it's true, because earlier today, Larry King sent a huge check to President Woodrow Wilson."

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