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Tuesday, July 14, 2009
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On its website, the Washington Post reports House Majority Whip James Clyburn said "a strongly positive report on progress on Iraq" by Gen. David Petraeus "likely would split Democrats in the House and impede his party's efforts to press for a timetable to end the war." Clyburn, in an interview with the washingtonpost.com video program PostTalk, "said Democrats might be wise to wait for the Petraeus report, scheduled to be delivered in September, before charting [their] next steps." Clyburn noted that Petraeus "carries significant weight among the 47 members of the Blue Dog caucus in the House, a group of moderate to conservative Democrats," and "without their support...Democratic leaders would find it virtually impossible to pass legislation setting a timetable for withdrawal."
Meanwhile, The Hill reports Rep. John Murtha "is mulling changes to his latest Iraq withdrawal proposal amid furious complaints from anti-war legislators that he is backsliding on the war." Today Murtha will meet with Reps. Barbara Lee, Maxine Waters and Lynn Woolsey, "the three California Democrats who lead the Out-of-Iraq caucus and call themselves the 'triad.'" Last week, "all three panned Murtha's bill, which would order withdrawal from Iraq to begin in 60 days, because it would not set an exact deadline for combat troops to be out."
The Hill also notes Rep. James McGovern "is proposing an 'Iraq tax' that would drive home the cost of the unpopular war to all Americans as it helps to pay for it." McGovern "would exempt service members and their families. Beyond that, he says many of the details, such as whether it would be an income or other kind of tax, have not yet been worked out. But he expects to introduce it before Congress leaves for its August break."
Lone Muslim House Rep Visits Iraq The AP reports Rep. Keith Ellison "made a weekend trip to Iraq, where a pair of sheiks urged Congress' only Muslim lawmaker to help in countering al-Qaeda's vision of Islam." Ellison was one of six freshmen members on the trip organized by Rep. Jerry McNerney (D). The group "met with Gen. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq." Ellison "said that local leaders in Ramadi told him of how they partnered with U.S. and Iraqi military officials to virtually rid al-Qaeda from the city. ... There have been fewer anti-US sermons as the violence has been reduced, Ellison said, and religious leaders meet regularly with US military officials."
White House Touts NYTimes Op-Ed Two network newscasts last night noted yesterday's New York Times op-ed, penned by war opponents, that cited US military progress since the "surge" went into effect. ABC World News called the piece "a bit of a surprise," as "two long and persistent critics of the Bush Administration's handling of the war today wrote a column...saying that after a recent eight-day visit to Iraq they find significant changes taking place." Michael O'Hanlon and Kenneth Pollack wrote "we are finally getting somewhere in Iraq, at least in military terms, they added we're surprised by the gains saw and potential to produce not necessarily victory but a sustainable stability that both we and the Iraqis could live with. The column was the talk of Washington today." ABC added that the White House is "thrilled with this op-ed piece precisely because it concentrated on military progress and didn't say very much about the lack of political progress, this is what the President has been trying to push." On the CBS Evening News, Pollack, a former CIA analyst, said, "The moment that we got to Baghdad, everything felt very different from previous trips to Iraq."
With Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts' seizure dominating headlines and network news broadcasts, President Bush's meeting Monday with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown received only limited national coverage. Most reports suggested that while both leaders emphasized that they remain united on Iraq, their personal rapport does not appear as strong as that between the President and Brown's predecessor. In a widely distributed story, the AP reports Bush and Brown "forged a unified stand on Iraq Monday" during a visit that "was closely watched for any sign of daylight between the president and prime minister after four years of unwavering support by Tony Blair." USA Today notes that "in a short, joint news conference, Bush and Brown stressed similar goals," and the Washington Times runs a similar story under the headline "New British Leader Backs Bush On Iraq." In a brief report, ABC World News said the two "presented a united front on Iraq today," while the CBS Evening News noted briefly that Bush and Brown "made a point of showing a united front today, especially on Iraq."
A number of newspaper accounts, however, highlight what the New York Times, in a story headlined "Bush And Brown Are Allies If Not Buddies," describes as "nuanced differences" between the leaders. The Financial Times says "tensions" over Iraq were "evident at the two leaders' first joint press conference, although both tried to stress unity." Brown "emphasised the 'progress' being made in the British-controlled provinces," but "described Afghanistan, not Iraq, as the 'frontline against terrorism.'" The Washington Post says the two "presented a united front Monday on Iraq and Afghanistan," but later notes that Brown "did not hide his differences with the President, describing Afghanistan as 'the front line against terrorism.' Bush, by contrast, has frequently described Iraq as the central front in what he calls the 'war on terror.'" Likewise, the Los Angeles Times reports the British Prime Minister "telegraphed his differences with the US president over the issue" of terrorism, "choosing to define the struggle as a fight against crime, instead of a war on terror, and calling Afghanistan, not Iraq, the front line."
McClatchy says Bush and Brown "sought to display unity Monday but some cracks appeared to divide the two in ways that never surfaced when Tony Blair led Great Britain." In a Washington Post column titled "More Bulldog Than Poodle", Dana Milbank writes, "For domestic political reasons, Brown had to prove that he was not, as one of his ministers put it, 'joined together at the hip' with Bush the way predecessor Tony Blair was." Brown "did as advertised."
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In what most media reports characterize as an escalation in the Alaska public corruption investigation, the AP reports FBI and IRS agents "searched the home of U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens on Monday, focusing on records related to his relationship with an oil field services contractor jailed in a public corruption investigation, a law enforcement official said." McClatchy reports, "In Washington, FBI spokesman Richard Kolko confirmed to the Associated Press that FBI and IRS agents 'are conducting a court authorized search warrant in Girdwood, Alaska,'" and the Anchorage Daily News notes that the agents removed "undisclosed items from inside and" took "extensive pictures and video. Officials wouldn't say what they were looking for or what they found."
The Washington Post reports, "Stevens, the longest-serving Republican senator in history, is under scrutiny from the Justice Department for his ties to an Alaska energy services company, Veco, whose chief executive pleaded guilty in early May to a bribery scheme involving state lawmakers. Contractors have told a federal grand jury that in 2000, Veco executives oversaw a lavish remodeling of Stevens's house." And the New York Times says the decision "to raid the home suggests that the corruption investigation...has taken on new urgency." Stevens "is the only senator known to be under criminal investigation, and he continues to wield power on the Appropriations Committee."
The Wall Street Journal also notes that the search came "in a widening investigation of alleged public corruption in Congress and the Alaska state legislature," and The Hill adds that Republican Reps. Rick Renzi and John Doolittle "have experienced home raids by federal authorities this year, but a raid on Stevens' residence marks a significant intrusion of congressional corruption scandals into the more clubby Senate." The Politico similarly calls the "raid" a "huge escalation in this probe, and a major blow to the Alaska Republican's public image."
Roll Call reports that in addition to the VECO allegations, "the FBI and the Department of the Interior are investigating a series of earmarks pushed through Congress over the past several years by Stevens for an Alaska nonprofit tied to Trevor McCabe, a former Stevens aide and a business partner of his son, Ben."
Group Wants Stevens Off Committees Roll Call reported on its Web site, "The nonpartisan Taxpayers for Common Sense will call on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) to follow the lead of House Republican leaders and ask Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) to step down temporarily from his positions on the Commerce, Science and Transportation and Appropriations committees until a federal investigation of his activities is completed."
On Fox News' Special Report, Brit Hume reported last night that Attorney General Gonzales "did not comment this morning on reports that appear to support his testimony before the Senate which some lawmakers insist amounts to perjury." A New York Times article that appeared on Sunday, and "confirmed by others," maintained that Gonzales's testimony "was accurate in saying there was no dissent on the terrorism surveillance program, which intercepted phone calls from known terrorists. Instead, the now famous dissent among Justice Department officials in 2004 was over a different activity known as 'data mining.'" However, Democratic Senators "are still insisting that appointing a special prosecutor is the only way to figure out if Gonzales committed perjury." The Washington Post's Ruth Marcus, in a column titled "Short of Perjury," writes, "In his Senate testimony last week, Gonzales once again dissembled and misled. ... But I don't think he actually lied about his March 2004 hospital encounter with then-Attorney General John Ashcroft. I certainly don't think he could be charged with -- much less convicted of -- perjury."
Rove Scheduled To Testify Thursday On its website, US News & World Report notes the controversy over Gonzales's testimony "is not the only dispute brewing between Congress and the Bush administration over the Justice Department. There's also a showdown looming over two subpoenas issued to White House aides Karl Rove and Scott Jennings as part of the congressional probe into the administration's controversial firing of U.S. attorneys. Congress has subpoenaed Rove and Jennings for testimony August 2, and while they have yet to respond."
The AP reports that in an interview with Mark Knoller of CBS Radio, Vice President Dick Cheney said he thinks his former chief of staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby "shouldn't have been convicted in the CIA leak case and that President Bush did right by commuting the jail sentence instead of issuing a pardon." Cheney is quoted as saying, "I thought the president handled it right.' Cheney also said he has seen Libby "socially a number of times since the verdict, but he did not reveal anything about their conversations." The Vice President also said Attorney General Alberto Gonzales "should keep fighting for his job. 'I'm a big fan of Al's,' he said." According to the Washington Post, "Cheney's remarks about his former aide...appear to conflict with the views of President Bush, who said after the verdict that he 'respected' the jury verdict but felt that the 30-month sentence handed to Libby was excessive."
The Washington Times reports that 47 members of the 168-member Republican National Committee "have signed a resolution that unequivocally opposes the Bush-backed policy that would grant legal residency to millions of illegal aliens. ... The proposed RNC resolution...calls for using all means necessary to secure the borders, including the regular Army as well as the National Guard. The RNC's Resolutions Committee "is expected to approve the resolution" Thursday at the RNC annual summer meeting in Minneapolis-St. Paul. The Times notes that "if passed, the resolution...would put the party officially at odds with its national leadership, including a sitting Republican president, as well as the party's Senate leaders and the national party's general chairman, Florida Sen. Mel Martinez, handpicked for the office by Mr. Bush."
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The CBS Evening News noted defense contractor Pratt & Whitney "has the government contract to make" the "high-performance engine" for the military's F-35 Lightning 2, but "your tax dollars are also paying for GE to develop a spare engine, and it's cost you $1.6 billion so far." The military "doesn't want the alternate engine. The Air Force and two independent panels have concluded it's not necessary and not affordable, and that the supposed savings from competition will never be achieved. So why did Senator Ted Kennedy personally earmark $100 million tax dollars for the project this year alone? He wouldn't agree to an interview, but part of the answer has to do with where it could be built at GE's Massachusetts plant in Kennedy's home state, where it would bring jobs."
The Hill reports Sen. Joe Lieberman "insists he is not actively considering joining the Republican Party. But he is keeping that possibility wide open as his disenchantment grows with Democratic leaders." Lieberman "says he is annoyed by...Democrats' unwillingness to work with President Bush." He also commented that the party has "slipped away from its 'most important and successful times' of the middle of last century, where it was tough on Communism and progressive on domestic policy."
Chief Justice John Roberts' apparent seizure yesterday garnered an enormous amount of attention on network and cable news programs, as well as in this morning's papers. Indications are that he will likely recover fully. All three networks opened their newscasts with the latest developments. USA Today reports that doctors say the seizure "is little reason to worry, even though he had a similar unexplained episode 14 years ago." Roberts stayed overnight at the Penobscot Bay Medical Center "as a precaution." The AP, Los Angeles Times,New York Times and Wall Street Journal run similar reports. The Washington Post says "there is no record of any discussion of the 1993 seizure or of Roberts's health in general during his confirmation hearings." Sen. Arlen Specter said senators "were told about the previous episode but did not find it serious enough to ask Roberts about. Roberts has no known history of major illness."
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Fred Thompson, who has vaulted to 2nd place in most national polls in the GOP race, is expected to report today having raised only $3 million for his campaign during June for his as-of-yet unofficial presidential campaign. The AP reports the "amount Thompson raised for his committee to 'test the waters' of a presidential bid lags the original $5 million goal backers set for June, the first month in which he set out to raise money." But Thompson "did, however, collect more than several other Republicans did in their initial fundraising months as prospective candidates. Still, Thompson's take doesn't even compare to the stunning $6.5 million haul that Mitt Romney collected on a single day in January as he was exploring a bid."
The Politico reports the $3 million figure is "substantially less than some backers had hoped, according to Republican sources." Thompson "attracted support from such top-shelf party figures as Mary Matalin, Liz Cheney, George P. Bush and other GOP stalwarts who saw him as a potential Hillary Clinton slayer." But The Politico adds that "some" Republicans "are already saying a prospective Thompson run is a flop." A "key Republican who had been extremely enthusiastic about a Thompson candidacy" said, "I just don't see it anymore."
The New York Times reports the story under the headline, "Fred Thompson Came Up Short in June Money." Jack M. Burkman, "a Republican strategist and lobbyist, said that for the kind of 'hit and miss' early campaigning that Mr. Thompson had done, his fund-raising numbers looked good." Burkman said, "I think that's very good for the nature of the quote-unquote campaign he's running. My concern about him is whether he really wants to do the work."
The Washington Post adds, "What the report will not reveal, however, is what happened after the initial burst of activity, when it started to become clear that Thompson would not announce his candidacy for the GOP nomination before the end of August. Three sources familiar with the finances said donations have slowed significantly, a situation made worse by staff shake-ups in recent weeks."
In an article on the website of CNN, political analyst Bill Schneider wrote, "Could Thompson be losing momentum before he even gets into the race? Maybe it's not him. Maybe it's us. 'We're paying so much more attention to these campaigns, so much earlier; to some degree, we may just never [have] really have followed [it like] this in prior years,' said Republican strategist David Winston."
In what is becoming a regular campaign tactic for Rudy Giuliani, he is leaving his GOP rivals alone and targeting the Democratic field. As he did in recent weeks on terrorism, Giuliani yesterday turned his fire on the health care plans of the leading Democrats while touting his own plan. Long Island Newsday reports that Giuliani "is rolling out his plan to overhaul American health care Tuesday and he's enlisting two of the Republicans' favorite boogeymen to help -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and filmmaker Michael Moore. Giuliani says his plan for up $15,000 in tax breaks to help families pay for coverage outside employer-based plans is the antidote to the kind of European-style 'socialized medicine' that he claims Clinton and Moore seek. 'The way to save it is by relying on American principles, not Cuban and European principles like the Democrats want to do,' Giuliani told reporters" in West Ossipee, NH, adding, "We don't need a Michael Moore-Hillary Clinton health care program."
The Conway (NH) Daily Sun quotes Giuliani as saying in Ossipee, "If you listen to Hillary Clinton, Barrack Obama or John Edwards, it's quite clear -- single payer -- give the government more control of health care. If we do we'll have health care like Cuba has, like Canada has, and like Europe has. We want health care like America has. So what we do is we build up the private sector. We build up the number of people who can afford private insurance. We give a big tax incentive. If necessary, we give them credits, if necessary we give them vouchers to try to include more people. ... If you put in the hands of the government you'll have socialized medicine in which you'll have waiting lists of three, four and five months. People in places that have socialized medicine are trying to bribe their way out of it, it's a terrible situation." The New York Daily News reports that during "a town hall meeting" Monday evening in Laconia, Giuliani charged that Clinton, Obama and Edwards "all want to expand health care with a 'Socialist' model. 'They are on an airplane, all three of them, headed to France,' Giuliani said to laughs. 'Between you and me, I prefer America.'"
The New York Sun reports that Democratic National Committee, previewing a potential general election attack, "responded yesterday by assailing Mr. Giuliani's commitment to expanded health coverage as 'laughable,' citing his ties to drug companies through consultant work he did for the Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America."
Bill Clinton, playing the role of elder statesman yesterday, weighed in on the week-long clash between his wife and Sen. Barack Obama over whether it is advisable to meet with foreign tyrants. The Politico reports Bill Clinton "said Monday that he had no interest in wading into 'that little spat' that broke out last week between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama over whether the next president should commit to meeting with the leader of several U.S. adversaries." But in the "next sentence, the former president waded right in -- in a way that sounded like the Clintons might be seeking a truce with Obama in the debate over the proper role of presidential diplomacy when dealing with assorted bad guys on the world stage." Clinton "took pains in a speech to centrist Democrats to emphasize that all the candidates basically agree on the big picture." Clinton said, "We have to get back to more diplomacy. I've heard no fewer than four of our candidates say in the last month, remind us that in the middle of the Cold War, in the darkest hours, we never stopped talking to the Soviets at some level. So no one disputes that." The AP adds that Bill Clinton "said all the major Democratic candidates had 'a vigorous agreement on the big question, which is 'Should we have more diplomacy?' The answer is yes. Then you can parse their answers to the specific questions and decide who you think is right.""
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Jay Leno: "Hey, congratulations to the Iraqi soccer team. They won the Asian Cup over the weekend. See, that's a huge deal over there. ... They said there was so much celebratory gunfire, you couldn't hear the regular gunfire."
David Letterman: "Iraq now has a championship team so we can go home, right?"
Conan O'Brien: "Today the White House announced they want to sell Saudi Arabia $20 billion worth of weapons. Yeah. Yeah. Saudi Arabia is going to pay for the weapons by giving us five or six gallons of gas."
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