WASHINGTON NEWS

Attorney General Nominee Could Upset Right Wing

President Bush is said to have decided on retired Federal judge Michael Mukasey as his nominee for attorney general. Media reports this morning suggest that with his selection, Bush may be able to sidestep a messy confirmation battle in the Senate. However, according to the Wall Street Journal, Mukasey's selection could "spark friction with disaffected conservatives." Mukasey "partially ruled against the administration in the case of Jose Padilla, who was recently convicted on terrorism charges. The ruling overturned the administration's attempt to block Mr. Padilla's right to meet with his lawyers. The case suggests the judge has an independent streak that might make him more acceptable to Democrats." In "some conservative circles," meanwhile, "there is wariness of Mr. Mukasey," and "some compared" his "potential ascendancy with the nomination of Bush confidante Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court."

On Sunday the New York Times reported that Mukasey's "handling of a case that involved abortion could come up in a confirmation hearing. In the 1994 case, Mr. Mukasey denied political asylum to a Chinese man who said he had fled to the United States after being persecuted for violating China's forced abortion policies. The man said his wife had been forced to have an abortion but he said he expected to be severely punished for helping her try to defy the single-child policy." The AP says Brian Burch of the Catholic-based advocacy group Fidelis "said he started getting calls early Saturday from members of his group and other conservative groups who were worried that Bush was getting ready to nominate Mukasey."

The AP notes that Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer has touted Mukasey, and in 2005, the liberal Alliance for Justice "put Mukasey on a list of four judges who, if chosen for the Supreme Court, would show the president's commitment to nominating people who could be supported by both Democrats and Republicans." USA Today quotes Schumer saying that Mukasey "seems to be the kind of nominee who would put rule of law first and show independence from the White House, our most important criteria." Nevertheless, USA Today adds that some "prominent conservatives with ties to the White House" praised Mukasey over the weekend. The Washington Post refers to Mukasey as a "law-and-order conservative," and adds, "in picking Mukasey, Bush would sidestep the uproar that would have erupted in the Senate had he chosen one of the early front-runners, former solicitor general Theodore B. Olson." The Politico also reports that Senate Democrats "are expected to view the choice as conciliatory."

The Los Angeles Times notes Mukasey has been "serving as a legal advisor to Rudolph W. Giuliani's presidential campaign and is believed to have been on Giuliani's own short list of attorney general candidates." The Chicago Tribune reports Mukasey "was chief judge of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York before rejoining the New York law firm of Patterson Belknap Webb and Tyler as a partner in September 2006." ABC and NBC, the two network newscasts that aired last night, briefly noted talk of Bush's decision. Columnist Ruth Marcus writes in the Washington Post that Mukasey "understands that the courts and Congress are not enemies whose involvement is to be avoided at all costs."

Reid May Have Doomed Olson's Chances The Washington Post reports that speculation about Olson "provoked a preemptive strike" from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, "who threatened that Senate Democrats would block the nomination." According to the Post, that "may have doomed Olson's prospects." Under the headline "Nomination Preemption," the Washington Post editorializes that if Bush "had settled on Mr. Olson, Mr. Bush would have been nominating one of the premier lawyers of his day. ... Without a doubt, Mr. Reid and the Democrats have an obligation to pry deeply into the qualifications and character of the person nominated to the top law enforcement job in the country. What they don't have is the right to usurp the president's role in choosing a nominee."

Is Bush Planning War With Iran?

U.S. News and World Report reports this week that "amid deepening frustration with Iran, calls for shifting Bush administration policy toward military strikes or other stronger actions are intensifying, including among some U.S. officials." US News notes that "to those opposed to military moves, the buzz sounds all too familiar. They hear an echo of the administration-inspired media churning preceding the March 2003 Iraq invasion, replete with many of the same personalities and groups active in that drama. This month, the man leading United Nations efforts to monitor Iran's nuclear programs, Mohamed ElBaradei, warned about the pounding of 'war drums from those who are basically saying, 'The solution is to bomb Iran.'"

The New York Times reported on Sunday that the language in President Bush's Thursday night speech "reflected an intense and continuing struggle between factions within his administration over how aggressively to confront Iran." Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice "has been arguing for a continuation of a diplomatic approach, while officials in Vice President Dick Cheney's office have advocated a much tougher view. They seek to isolate and contain Iran, and to include greater consideration of a military strike." Bush's "language indicated that the debate, at least for now, might have tilted toward Mr. Cheney." U.S. News and World Report notes that in their testimony before Congress last week, Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker "added to American complaints by citing the actions of 'Iranian-sponsored militia extremists' in Iraq." Sen. Joe Lieberman "presented what could be regarded as a casus belli when he proclaimed Iran 'responsible for the murder of hundreds of American soldiers and thousands of Iraqi civilians and soldiers.' Lieberman "asked Petraeus whether it is 'time to give you authority...to pursue those Iranian Quds Force operations in Iranian territory, in order to protect America's troops in Iraq?'" Petraeus "demurred, saying he thought he should keep his sights on Iraq and that any such plans are best left to others."

Over the weekend the AP reported that Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told "thousands of worshippers" yesterday that President Bush "and other American officials will one day face trial just like deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein for 'the catastrophes they caused in Iraq.'" Khamenei added that "despite U.N. sanctions and efforts to isolate Iran internationally, the country is flourishing."

Gates Endorses Negotiating With Iran Defense Secretary Gates, appearing on Fox News Sunday, was asked if he would authorize sending US troops into Iran in order to "take out these camps that are endangering U.S. soldiers." Gates replied, "I think that the general view is we can manage this problem through better operations inside Iraq and on the border with Iran, that we can take care of the Iranian threat or deal with the Iranian threat inside the borders of Iraq -- don't need to go across the border into Iran." Gates went on to say that the administration "believes at this point that continuing to try and deal with the Iranian threat, the Iranian challenge, through diplomatic and economic means is by far the preferable approach."

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Greenspan Criticizes Bush Policies

Newsweek, in its cover story titled, "The World According To Alan Greenspan," reports that in his new memoir, The Age of Turbulence," former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan "bashes his erstwhile allies -- the Bush administration and congressional Republicans -- for abandoning fiscal discipline by simultaneously slashing taxes and increasing spending." Newsweek also reports that of President Bush, Greenspan said, "I looked forward to at least four years of working collegially with many of government's best and brightest, men with whom I had shared many memorable experiences [Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, among others]. ... But on policy matters, I was soon to see my old friends veer off in unexpected directions."

According to the New York Times, Greenspan "sought to distance himself from" Bush's "economic policies" and "refute critics who say his policies at the Fed contributed to the housing bubble and bust that is now roiling the economy." Greenspan "unleashed bottled-up frustration about President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Republican leaders in Congress who, he contends, put politics ahead of Republican goals like fiscal discipline and lower government spending." Sitting "glumly" in his living room, the former Fed chairman said, "I'm just very disappointed. ... Smaller government, lower spending, lower taxes, less regulation -- they had the resources to do it, they had the knowledge to do it, they had the political majorities to do it. And they didn't," because "political control trumped policy, and they achieved neither political control nor policy." USA Today says Greenspan's portrayed Republicans "feeding at the trough" and "passing expensive pet projects for their home districts." Greenspan also said Republicans "deserved to lose" control of Congress in 2006.

In his interview with Newsweek, Greenspan is quoted as saying that Sen. Hillary Clinton is "very smart" and "wouldn't be a bad president."

Greenspan: Iraq War Was About Oil The New York Times reports Greenspan also addressed the Iraq war in the interview. Greenspan "supported the invasion...not because Saddam Hussein might have had weapons of mass destruction, but because Saddam had shown a clear desire to capture the Middle East's oil fields." ABC World News presented Greenspan's analysis of the Iraq issue as a criticism of Bush, reporting, "The White House is pushing back tonight against an eyebrow-raising allegation on Iraq. ... Greenspan, says the Bush Administration went to war in Iraq largely because of oil."

However, as the Washington Post notes, Greenspan "clarified that...while securing global oil supplies was 'not the administration's motive,' he had presented the White House with the case for why removing Hussein was important for the global economy."

Double-Digit Rates Predicted USA Today reports Greenspan "predicts...the Fed will have to raise rates to double-digit levels in coming years to thwart inflation." Greenspan's "prediction comes a day before Fed officials are widely expected to cut interest rates for the first time in more than four years following turmoil in mortgage markets that has rippled through the entire financial sector, leading to concerns about a credit crunch and a slowdown in the overall economy." Greenspan also granted an interview to the Financial Times in which he said that housing prices in the US "are likely to fall significantly from their present levels."

CEO Admits He Paid For Stevens' House

The AP reported that Bill Allen, former CEO of oil field services company VECO, admitted he "had company employees work several months on a remodeling project at the home of U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens." Allen "made the admission Friday while testifying in the federal corruption trial of a former state lawmaker." According to the Washington Post, "federal investigators are probing contracts awarded to Veco, "particularly those from the National Science Foundation in 1999 and 2004. The 1999 contract was worth $45.4 million, while the second is worth as much as $93 million through 2011, NSF officials told The Washington Post last month."

Chafee Leaves GOP

The Providence Journal reported yesterday, "Lincoln D. Chafee, who lost his Senate seat in the wave of anti-Republican sentiment in last November's election, said yesterday that he has left the party." Chafee "said he disaffiliated with the party he had helped lead, and his father had led before him, because the national Republican Party has gone too far away from his stance on too many critical issues, from war to economics to the environment. 'It's not my party any more,' he said."

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CAMPAIGN NEWS

Democrats Gather In Iowa, Blast Bush

Six of the top Democratic candidates headlined Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin's 30th annual "steak fry" yesterday, where they served up red meat to the crowd, each in turn blasting George W. Bush. The AP reports that Barack Obama, for example, told the crowd, "Everybody is sick and tired of being sick and tired of George Bush." The Des Moines Register reports Edwards "was the most pointed in his criticism of Bush and challenge to his rivals, saying the president had 'destroyed America's reputation in the world' and challenging his Democratic opponents in Congress to tie paying for the war with a schedule for withdrawal."

The New York Times reports, "With less than four months before the Iowa caucuses are set to open the presidential nominating season, Mr. Harkin said a record-setting crowd of 12,000 party loyalists underscored the enthusiasm among Democrats. More than half of them, he estimated, were either wholly undecided or not fully committed to their candidate." Said Harkin, "There is going to be a lot of indecision through the fall and right into December. ... I think there will be a lot of people holding back until the end, I really do." The Times adds, "In conversations with voters here on Sunday, Mr. Harkin's assessment seemed to hold true."

The event is traditionally an early test of strength for campaigns' field operations in the key early state. Calling the event "political theater, a kind of live entertainment and a war of decibels, where the candidates buy blocks of $30 tickets and bus supporters from all over the state who will chant, hold signs and scream for their candidates," the Hollywood Reporter says the Clinton campaign "has taken Indianola by storm, with an almost unbroken line of 'Hillary' signs that lined the last four or so miles of road. Sen. John Edwards' supporters stationed themselves at intersections. Sen. Barack Obama's rising sun symbols and the words 'Hope' dawned over the field." However, Edwards "won the air war, hiring a plane to tow a banner. But battles are never won by air alone, and Clinton's groundlings massed on either side of the path in the two hours before the gates opened, chanting so loudly and so completely for the New York senator that the other candidates gave up."

Clinton To Roll Out Health Care Plan Today

Wading into territory that has caused her grave political injury in the past, Sen. Hillary Clinton is set to unveil her "sweeping" health care plan today which the AP says "would require every American to carry health insurance and offer federal subsidies to help reduce the cost of coverage." Clinton's plan, projected to cost $110 billion each year, "represents her first major effort to achieve universal health coverage since 1994, when the plan she authored during her husband's first term collapsed." Clinton "says she has learned from that experience," and her "aides say she has jettisoned the complexity and uncertainty of the last effort in favor of a plan that stresses simplicity, cost control and consumer choice."

Under the headline, "Mandated Coverage May Draw Support of Wide Spectrum," the Wall Street Journal notes Clinton's proposal "is expected to require all Americans to get health insurance. It is a concept that has evolved quietly in recent years and, unlike most ideas for health reform, enjoys support across the political spectrum." Individual mandate proposals have been made by Govs. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mitt Romney, and "is also an important feature of a health-care-overhaul bill sponsored by" Sen. Ron Wyden. Notably, "the Service Employees International Union, which has yet to endorse a Democratic candidate, is open to the idea."

Calling health care "the No. 1 domestic issue," the Christian Science Monitor reports that, for Clinton, "the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, the issue is fraught with risks," but she "is seeking to turn that [1994] failure into a positive and, so far, is succeeding." The Monitor adds, "Achieving such reform would require bringing on board an array of stakeholders, including government, insurance companies, the pharmaceutical industry, physicians and hospitals, employers, labor, and citizens."

However, Clinton's rivals are not ceding the field to her on the issue. CNN reported on its website that John Edwards, who "has already put out a detailed a health care plan, will up the ante Monday during a speech to the Laborers' International Union of North America in Chicago, Illinois, campaign sources said. The Edwards proposal would cut off health care for the president, Congress and all political appointees in mid 2009, if a universal health care plan for all Americans has not been passed by then. Edwards is expected to outline 'basic principles' the health care plan would have to meet, the sources said."

Clinton Aides Got Vegas Trip From Hsu

The New York Post reports Clinton "campaign staff got a nice payoff last year for their work to get her re-elected - a trip to Las Vegas funded by her fugitive former fund-raiser," Norman Hsu. The Post notes prominently that Patti Solis Doyle, "one of Clinton's most trusted advisers who now runs the senator's presidential campaign," is one of those who was "treated ... to several days at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, complete with free show tickets and dinners at posh restaurants." Doyle "was accompanied by two junior staffers and a New York-based fund-raiser, the report said," and Doyle "also received a coveted and pricey designer handbag from the disgraced moneyman, the newspaper said. But she returned it."

With Focus On Iraq, McCain Seeks To Reenergize Campaign

The Wall Street Journal reports Sen. John McCain "hopes to re-create the sizzle of the 2000 New Hampshire primary, when he came from behind to trounce George W. Bush by 16 points." But "this year, he is taking a different tack: defending his onetime rival's controversial strategy for the war in Iraq. It could prove a tough sell." McCain "is wagering his White House hopes on success in Iraq. He timed this swing through Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina to capitalize on what he sees as Gen. David Petraeus's successful defense of the war before Congress last week, but also to try to head off efforts by Senate Democrats starting tomorrow to legislate a swifter withdrawal from Iraq." McCain's campaign "is starting to show signs of a turnaround. His numbers have inched up in some national polls, though he still is running fifth in Iowa and third in New Hampshire. He is hiring staff in both states. Further signs of a comeback could come next month, when candidates report third-quarter fund-raising numbers."

The Politico, meanwhile, says McCain "is fighting a tide of low expectations. As he treks from Iowa to New Hampshire, speaking at town hall meetings and V.F.W. posts, he is dogged by concerns that he stands for a lost war in Iraq and a lost campaign for president." Yet "he is undeterred. 'I wouldn't be in it if I couldn't win,' Sen. McCain said in an hour-long interview with Politico. 'There is plenty of time.'"

However, McCain may have some difficulty pulling off an upset in the Granite State this time around. U.S. News and World Report reports that McCain is "fresh off good reviews from the recent GOP presidential debate and on his first major campaign swing since his mid-summer meltdown. ... Knee to knee and on the record with a gaggle of reporters, holding forth on issues ranging from Iraq to his age," McCain "evoked the man who captivated the Granite State in its 2000 primary." However, "despite the friendly and sometimes modest crowds that greeted him, McCain is in big trouble here. The independent voters he successfully courted in 2000 have turned away, objecting to his support for keeping U.S. troops in Iraq. Thirty-eight percent say that under no circumstances would they support him." US News notes that McCain "says he has had a fundraising boost since the debate and after the testimony of Gen. David Petraeus to Congress saying the surge is working."

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POLITICAL HUMOR

The Latest From Late Night Comedians

Jay Leno: "Bush addressed the nation last night on this troop situation in Iraq. ... Actually, did you know last night's presidential speech was the first one broadcast in high definition and again, I don't think President Bush quite understands what that means. In fact, when they told him it was high def, he said, 'Oh, great, does that mean we don't need that lady with the sign language up in the corner anymore?'"

Conan O'Brien: "The big story last night, President Bush addressed the nation with a speech about Iraq. Yeah. The speech aired on all three networks, and was secretly videotaped by the New England Patriots."

Jimmy Kimmel: "Actor/Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill banning teens here in California from using their cell phones while driving yesterday. He loves it when he has something to say hasta la vista to. Now, it's teens on cell phones."

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