Political Bulletin

WASHINGTON NEWS

Immigration Reform Faces Crucial Vote

The revived comprehensive immigration reform bill will come before the Senate this week, and the Sunday political talk shows were abuzz about its fate. With the White House pressing reluctant Republicans hard, and conservative foes holding their ground, most reports agree the final outcome is anything but clear. Several reports note that a series of "crucial" votes begins Tuesday, when the Senate will vote on whether to bring the bill up for consideration.

ABC World News said the Senate "is getting ready to revisit the deeply divisive issue of immigration this week," and President Bush "has been lobbying very hard" for the bill. NBC Nightly News said immigration reform, which "only a few weeks ago seemed doomed, may get a second chance this week as the Senate decides whether to bring it to a vote. The plan includes stronger border security as well as a guest worker program."

U.S. News and World Report reports even if Bush "is successfully corralling GOP senators, experts say the debate is alienating Hispanic voters." The GOP "could pay dearly if it cannot stop bleeding Latino voters."

Sen. Jeff Sessions, an opponent of the bill, appeared on ABC's This Week where he said the President is "selling, and a lot of people believe in, a vision of comprehensive reform, which I share. My difficulty is, this bill will not achieve that vision. It will not work. We will be on the verge of giving an amnesty for 12 million people, but not getting a legal system in the future that will work, and that's the difficulty there." The Hill notes Sessions said "support for the legislation 'continues to erode.'"

Asked about the bill on CNN's Late Edition, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, a key undecided Republican, said, "I don't like what's in it now. I think the amnesty, the cutoff after five years of the guest worker program is, I think, completely unworkable."

On NBC's Meet The Press, Rep. Luis Gutierrez and commentator Pat Buchanan had a heated debate on illegal immigration. Buchanan said the Senate's comprehensive immigration reform bill was "amnesty, pure and simple" that would lead to the "beginning of the end of the United States as we know it." In response, Gutierrez said, "It isn't amnesty. What it is is a pathway to legalization. We have an immigration system that is broken, that's a nightmare." The Politico recounts the debate.

The Wall Street Journal reports a first test will come Tuesday "when the Senate votes on a procedural motion to expedite consideration of the bill. The White House is confident of getting the 60 votes needed. But that could require 22 Republicans." The AP runs a similar preview of the "crucial test vote." Roll Call reports that "while it appears the bill has a better chance of survival the second time around," the outcome is still unclear.

The Washington Post says "backers of the bill are confident they can get the 60 votes necessary to end debate and move toward a final vote. But passage is far from guaranteed." The Arizona Republic says Democratic and Republican leaders "said they expect to see a vote on final passage by the time Congress leaves for the Fourth of July recess at the end of the week."

The Los Angeles Times says supporters "urged fellow lawmakers Sunday to move forward this week with a plan that would strengthen enforcement along U.S. borders and then launch provisions for undocumented workers to stay legally in this country." The Christian Science Monitor notes that on Friday, "top GOP advocates of the bill proposed a 10-point enforcement amendment, which they say will be the first offered on the floor, if the Senate agrees" to take up the bill.

Cheney Role In Detainee Policy Detailed

Vice President Dick Cheney's role in the formulation of the US' controversial treatment and interrogation of detainees in the war on terror was the subject of an extensive front page Washington Post story today, the second in a four-part series. The Post reports that "well before previous accounts have suggested," Vice President Cheney "turned his attention to the practical business of crushing a captive's will to resist. The vice president's office played a central role in shattering limits on coercion in U.S. custody, commissioning and defending legal opinions that the Bush administration has since portrayed as the initiatives, months later, of lower-ranking officials." Many of "the harsh measures he championed, and some of the broadest principles undergirding them, have survived intact but out of public view." In a separate story, the Washington Post reports Cheney's "views on executive supremacy have held remarkably steady over the years. What changed is his power to promote them."

In the first part of the Washington Post series, the Post reported Cheney "has served as gatekeeper for Supreme Court nominees, referee of Cabinet turf disputes, arbiter of budget appeals, editor of tax proposals and regulator in chief of water flows in his native West," but he is "not, by nearly every inside account, the shadow president of popular lore."

Cheney Gets More Negative Press Over Stance On Classified Documents. Meanwhile, House Democratic leader Rahm Emanuel weighed in on the controversy over the compliance of Vice President Cheney's office with an executive order on the handling of classified documents. USA Today reports that if Vice President Cheney "believes his office is not an 'entity within the executive branch,'" then Emanuel "says taxpayers shouldn't have to finance his executive expenses." Cheney's office "has claimed his constitutional role as president of the Senate also makes him part of the legislative branch and therefore is not covered by a presidential order requiring executive branch workers to report their numbers of classified and declassified government documents."

The Politico reports Emanuel "plans to offer an amendment to a spending bill next week to defund Cheney's office."

The Los Angeles Times reports the White House "said Friday that, like Vice President Dick Cheney's office, President Bush's office is exempt from a presidential order requiring government agencies that handle classified national security information to submit to oversight by an independent federal watchdog."

Cheney's position on the classified document issue was the topic of numerous editorials and commentary on the weekend talk shows. USA Today says in an editorial that "latest example of Cheney's arrogance is his decision to exempt himself from an executive order that sets rules and oversight for executive-branch officials who handle classified documents." The New York Times on Sunday said that Cheney places himself "not just above Congress and the courts but above Mr. Bush himself. For the last four years, he has been defying a presidential order requiring executive branch agencies to account for the classified information they handle."

On Fox News Sunday, Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott said Vice President Cheney "does feel that, you know, there are certain prerogatives the executive branch should have and should protect, and that Congress has over the years gotten out of control, Republican and Democrat, in probing and trying to get information or testimony." Also on Fox News Sunday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein said, "In my view, this is the height of arrogance."

On Fox News Sunday, Fox's Brit Hume said, "It appears, therefore, to be a violation by Cheney of this executive order. It's easily remedied, saying it's because he has the constitutional duty to be the president of the Senate is, I think, not a good explanation." NPR's Mara Liasson said, "Yeah, and it gave Rahm Emmanuel the perfect opportunity to say, 'OK, if that's the case, then we'll just remove him from the appropriations bill which we're just about to consider to fund the executive branch.'"

Complaint About Cheney Got No Response Newsweek reports the position of Cheney's office on the classified document issue "so frustrated J. William Leonard, the chief of the Archives' Information Security Oversight Office, which enforces the order, that he complained in January to" Attorney General Gonzales. But Gonzales "never responded, thereby permitting Cheney to continue blocking Leonard from conducting even a routine inspection of how the veep's office was handling classified documents."

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Bush Aides Mull Iraq Truce With Congress

The Los Angeles Times reports the Bush Administration has "begun exploring ways of offering Congress a compromise deal on Iraq policy to avert bruising battles in coming months." With "public support of the war dropping, President Bush has authorized an internal policy review to find a plan that could satisfy opponents without sacrificing his top goals, the officials said."

"Chemical Ali" To Be Executed

An Iraqi court sentenced Saddam Hussein's cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majeed, to death over the weekend. NBC Nightly News said "the man known as 'Chemical Ali,' was sentenced to death for his role in the death of 180,000 Iraqi Kurds two decades ago." ABC World News reported, "'Chemical Ali,' Saddam Hussein's cousin and henchman, was sentenced today to follow his boss to the gallows."

The Washington Post reports al-Majeed was among the "three senior aides to Saddam Hussein" who "were found guilty on Sunday of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity by the Iraqi High Tribunal and sentenced to death by hanging." The New York Times reports, "The defendant seemed on Sunday to be a shadow of the merciless enforcer who oversaw poison gas attacks that killed thousands of Kurdish villagers in Iraq's northern uplands nearly 20 years ago."

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CAMPAIGN NEWS

Barrasso Becomes Newest US Senator

The Washington Post reports John Barrasso, a Republican state senator, has been named to fill the Senate seat of late Wyoming Sen. Craig Thomas by Gov. Dave Freudenthal. The Post says Barrasso, "an orthopedic surgeon who was elected to the Wyoming Senate in 2002," will "bring the same conservative approach to the job that Thomas practiced." The appointment is effective immediately and the new senator "plans to come to Washington as early as Monday."

The Washington Times says Barrasso said he "plans to run for the seat in the special election" in 2008, when Freudenthal could be his Democratic opponent. Freudenthal "gave no explanation for his choice to fill the Senate seat, and Mr. Barrasso was not present for the governor's announcement." Roll Call reports Freudenthal said in a statement, "I look forward to working with John Barrasso as he assumes his duties as the interim Senator for Wyoming. I pledge my cooperation to do all that I can to make sure he is a successful senator."

Clinton, Thompson Tops In Nevada

With a few exceptions, the presidential field has not rewarded Nevada with the kind of attention lavished on either Iowa or New Hampshire. On the Democratic side, it may be because of the strength of Hillary Clinton's lead there a Mason-Dixon poll of 400 likely Nevada Democratic caucus-goers conducted June 20-22 finds leading with 39%, followed by Barack Obama, 17%; John Edwards, 12%; Bill Richardson (who is targeting the state), 7%; Joseph Biden, 2%; and all others at one percent or less.

The situation is far more fluid on the GOP side. The poll of 400 likely Nevada Republican caucus-goers finds Fred Thompson leading with 25%, followed by Mitt Romney, 20%; Rudy Giuliani, 17%; John McCain, 8%; Mike Huckabee, 3%; and all others at one percent or less.

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Clinton Capitalizes On Indian Americans

As the candidates sprint to the finish in the 2nd quarter fundraising dash, Sen. Hillary Clinton held a massive fundraiser with a key group yesterday. The New York Sun reports that Clinton "raked in about $2 million at an 'Indian Americans for Hillary' event in Midtown Manhattan" Sunday night. The Sun notes that Clinton has "aggressively courted" Indian Americans.

The New York Daily News reports, "After being dissed by Barack Obama, Indian-Americans gathered in what organizers called the biggest event their community ever held to hand Hillary Clinton about $2 million yesterday. 'I will work very hard to be a good steward of those contributions,' Clinton told 1,200 of the nation's most prominent Indian-Americans, who flew in from all over the country and paid $1,000 to $4,600 to dine with her at the New York Sheraton."

Giuliani To Woo Christian Conservatives

Rudy Giuliani is set to test his appeal to social conservatives tomorrow. The New York Sun reports, "In what may be one of the most important speeches of his campaign thus far," Giuliani "will make his pitch tomorrow to Christian conservatives, aiming to convince them that his bona fides on leadership and fiscal discipline should trump his views on social issues like abortion." Giuliani will be speaking at Regent University, a Christian college founded by evangelist Pat Robertson. Giuliani won't focus on "his support for abortion rights and gay rights," but a campaign official "said he is likely to discuss his proposals to cut taxes and reduce wasteful government spending, which he detailed in a policy speech in Iowa last week."

The New York Daily News adds that the former mayor's speech will mark "one of the most explicit appeals to date by Giuliani to fundamentalist Christian voters. It's a tall order for the thrice-married Giuliani, who will likely try to skirt his liberal views on abortion and other social issues and dwell instead on his tax-cutting, tough-on-terror prescriptions for America, aides said. 'He'll probably say that we agree on more things than we disagree on, and that we have to respect each other's opinions and values,' said one Giuliani insider."

Elizabeth Edwards Backs Gay Marriage

The San Francisco Chronicle reports Elizabeth Edwards, "starring at the kickoff event of San Francisco's signature Gay Pride Parade, came out in support of legalized gay marriage today -- taking a position which she acknowledged is at odds with her husband, presidential candidate John Edwards." She said, "I don't know why somebody else's marriage has anything to do with me. I'm completely comfortable with gay marriage." The Chronicle says "that position differs markedly from her husband, the former North Carolina Senator. Edwards said her husband, though having a 'deeply held belief against any form of discrimination,' supports gay civil unions, but does not support gay marriage." Elizabeth Edwards said, "John has been pretty clear about it, that he is very conflicted. That's up against his being raised in the 1950's in a rural southern town. I think honestly he's on a road with a lot of people in this country are on. ... It's frustrating, I know, but it's a long distance from where we are now to the pews of a Southern Baptist church. So, John's been as honest as he can about that."

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POLITICAL HUMOR

The Latest From Late Night Comedians

Jay Leno: "Hillary Clinton has chosen the Celine Dion song 'You and I' as her campaign theme. For his campaign, John Edwards has chosen the theme song from 'Hair.'"

Jay Leno: "Ralph Nader talking about running again. The only thing that might stop him, of course, is age. Not his age -- the age of that suit."

Jay Leno: "Congress now has a 14% approval rating, the lowest in the history of poll-taking. George Bush is now the popular guy."

Conan O'Brien: "The committee in charge of President Bush's presidential library said that they want the building to reflect the spirit of the Bush presidency. In other words, 'We're just going to build some stuff and see what happens.'"

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