President Bush urged Gen. Pervez Musharraf to hold elections as the crisis caused by the Pakistani leader's declaration of a state of emergency continued into its fourth day. Although some congressional lawmakers explored ways of cutting aid to the Musharraf regime to protest the suspension of the country's constitution, observers agreed such a move would be unlikely to succeed. In addition, the media are taking President Bush, who has relied on Musharraf in the war on terrorism, to task for the contradiction between the Pakistani general's actions and Bush's effort to promote democracy in the Muslim world.
USA Today notes that on Monday, Bush "praised Musharraf as 'a strong fighter against extremists and radicals,' and refused to say what steps the United States would take if the emergency decree remains in place." The Christian Science Monitor says "America's safety and the demands of the war on terror trump immediate concerns about democracy in Pakistan," and as a result the US "is expected to refrain from steps that could weaken Pakistan's leader."
In his "Washington Sketch" column for the Washington Post, Dana Milbank writes, "Just last Thursday, President Bush spoke of his Freedom Agenda spreading democracy across the globe: 'We are standing with those who yearn for liberty. Yesterday, the Bush administration unveiled a pragmatic new foreign policy: The Stand by Your Man Agenda."
All three networks led their broadcasts with the story. NBC Nightly News, for example, reported, Bush "said he strongly opposes Musharraf's emergency rule." ABC World News, meanwhile, noted that "it was just last year that...Bush stood side-by-side with Musharraf, praising his democratic intentions." The CBS Evening News noted that Bush "walked a tight rope, saying he supports Musharraf but made it clear what he did over the weekend was wrong."
The Washington Post says Bush's remarks "underscored how the administration is struggling to balance a drive for democracy in the Muslim world with what it considers Musharraf's support in the fight against al-Qaeda." The New York Times notes that Bush "gave no indication that the general's imposition of emergency rule would bring about any significant change in American policy."
NBC Nightly News reported, "The hard fact is the administration really is stuck. They could threaten to withhold billions of dollars in military aid, but they say that would hurt the war on terror, even though privately administration officials tell me Musharraf is so focused on his own political survival he's not devoting any resources for the hunt for Osama bin Laden."
ABC World News noted there "have been no indications in Washington that the aid will be reduced or cut off." But the Financial Times reports Admiral William Fallon, the head of US Central Command, told the FT "he warned Gen Musharraf last week that extra-constitutional activities could affect US aid."
The Hill notes that Musharraf's "weekend declaration of emergency rule could bolster support for a provision curtailing military funding to that country as the House and Senate meet to negotiate the 2008 defense policy bill." The Politico says Rep. Nita Lowey, "who chairs a powerful subcommittee that allocates foreign aid, urged State Department officials Monday to revisit the money the administration had requested for Pakistan."
The AP says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, meanwhile, "warned" Bush "against being too soft" on Musharraf, even as Rep. Duncan Hunter, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, "warned against being too hasty with rebukes."
The New York Times, in an editorial, says, "This is what you get when policy is centered slavishly on a single, autocratic ruler rather than more broadly on his country." The Los Angeles Times editorializes, "Washington's inability to deter...Musharraf from declaring emergency rule -- a coup d'etat that has been in the works for months -- reveals yet another Bush administration foreign policy failure." The Washington Post editorializes, "The choice the United States and other Western governments now face is not between Mr. Musharraf and the terrorist forces he has sporadically combated since 2001."
Naham Sethi, editor of the Friday Times and Daily Times in Lahore, Pakistan, writes in the Wall Street Journal that Musharraf's "appeal is fast fading. If he doesn't hold free elections quickly and agree to share power," former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto "may be constrained to pull out of their earlier deal under public pressure."
The Hill reports that in remarks at the National Press Club, House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey said if "violence is decreasing in Iraq, it may be because insurgents 'are running out of people to kill.'" Obey said, "There are fewer targets of opportunity." The Hill adds Obey "stressed that military success has not led to political reconciliation."
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USA Today reports House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers said Monday "that he will ask the House to vote to enforce his committee's subpoena for White House documents and testimony from White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers about the firings of federal prosecutors."
The Hill reports Conyers "filed the contempt resolution with the clerk of the House Monday," but "he gave the administration one last chance to comply with subpoenas for documents and testimony." The Washington Post reports, "Bush administration officials immediately signaled they do not intend to negotiate, arguing that internal deliberations involving Miers and Bolten are covered by executive privilege." The AP notes that former Bush political adviser Karl Rove is also in Conyers' "sights."
Roll Call reports, "The House Judiciary Committee on Monday filed an 862-page contempt of Congress report on its July 25 contempt resolution against...Bolten and...Miers for documents and testimony related to the scandal."
The Washington Times reports, "House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, said the committee's 'politically motivated investigation failed to produce any results.'"
The Washington Post reports the White House set the stage "for another confrontation with Congress over a major spending measure" by issuing "a veto threat yesterday against the Senate version of the $288 billion farm bill."
The Wall Street Journal reports the White House "appears focused most on the costs of the package and whether artificial 'cliffs' are created by cutting off funding for some initiatives, like disaster aid, after five years." This "helps reduce the 10-year costs of the package but also begs the question of whether a future Congress will let the programs run out or demand more spending to keep them alive."
The AP reports acting Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner "criticized as 'budget gimmicks' a delay in some payments to farmers until after the five-year life of the bill."
12 In Congress Collected Farm Subsidies USA Today reports that when the farm bill goes to the Senate floor this week, "eight senators will have special reason to pay close attention: They or their relatives collected about $3 million in federal payments from 1995 to 2005, according to government records compiled by a non-partisan environmental group. They join four House members in a small group of lawmakers connected to farming operations that received a total of $6.2 million in subsidies over that period."
The Washington Times reports Senate Democrats on Monday "flunked the 'rePORK card' issued by a watchdog group that graded lawmakers' support for stripping pet projects from spending bills." Democrats "scored an average of 12 percent out of a possible 100 percent compared with Republicans' 59 percent, according to the 'rePORK card' compiled by the Club for Growth, a group that advocates conservative economic policies."
Pentagon Earmarks Linked To Contributions Fox News' Special Report reported that Senate appropriators "have disclosed about 936 earmarks worth more than $5 billion in the 2008 Defense spending bill." Fox noted that the 2007 Defense Bill "has 2,700 earmarks totaling more than $11 billion dollars. A Seattle Times investigation found that 78% of the companies receiving pork barrel projects had given campaign contributions directly to the member of congress who had secured the earmark."
The Hill reports the House is "expected to vote overwhelmingly Tuesday to override President Bush's veto of legislation funding $23 billion worth of water projects." A House GOP aide "predicted a '99.99 percent' chance that the House would vote to override Bush, an outcome made likely by the 381 votes that the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) received before reaching the president's desk."
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The Washington Post reports a Government Accountability Office review released Monday found that Customs and Border Protection officers "failed to stop roughly 1 in 10 illegal immigrants and serious drug and weapons violators from entering the United States through airports and official land border crossings last year." The GAO "blamed failures by officers and supervisors along with inadequate training and staffing."
The AP says "some 21,000 people who should not have been allowed to enter the US came through official border crossing points between Oct. 1, 2005 and Sept. 30, 2006," according to the report.
The New York Times reports CBP spokesman Mike Friel said that despite continuing "challenges to our overall border security efforts," there has been "significant progress in certain areas, and we need to continue implementing some of the initiatives currently in place."
Meanwhile, the Washington Times reports Luis Garcia, director of CPB field operations in El Paso, "where a Mexican national with a highly contagious form of tuberculosis was allowed to enter the U.S. 76 times since August 2006 - has announced his retirement."
77 Percent Oppose Licenses For Illegals The Washington Times reports a Fox 5/Washington Times/Rasmussen Reports poll of 1,000 adults in the US, conducted Oct. 31 (+/- 3%), found 77 percent of those surveyed "opposed making driver's licenses available to illegal aliens, while just 16 percent supported the idea. Licenses fared poorly across party lines, including near-blanket opposition among self-identified Republicans, at 88 percent."
USA Today reports, "Americans are concerned about Iran's nuclear program but split on whether military action should be undertaken if diplomacy and economic sanctions fail to stop it, according to a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll." While "46% of those surveyed say military action should be taken either now or if diplomacy fails, 45% rule it out in any case."
The Hill reports Rep. Dennis Kucinich "plans to force the House to vote this week on whether to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney." If he "pulls it off, it could make for an uncomfortable situation for Democratic leaders and centrist Democrats."
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Rep. Ron Paul, the Libertarian-leaning Republican who raised eyebrows with a strong fundraising performance in the 3rd quarter, again surprised the political world yesterday. The AP reports Paul, "aided by an extraordinary outpouring of Internet support Monday, hauled in more than $3.5 million in 20 hours." Paul, "the Texas congressman with a Libertarian tilt and an out-of-Iraq pitch, entered heady fundraising territory with a surge of Web-based giving tied to the commemoration of Guy Fawkes Day." Paul's total "deposed Mitt Romney as the single-day fundraising record holder in the Republican presidential field. When it comes to sums amassed in one day, Paul now ranks only behind Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton, who raised nearly $6.2 million on June 30, and Barack Obama." Other reports indicate the take may have been as high as $3.7 million.
The Politico reports in what is "being called a 'money bomb,' Paul's fervent backers spread the word that today they'd blast their candidate with Internet contributions, setting up a website, 'This November 5th,' to push the plan. An aide said they had nothing to do with the effort." While "claiming not to be responsible for the 'bombing,' Paul's camp has certainly not lessened enthusiasm with a set of red numbers on their website that spin upward to show his total raised with every refresh click." The Washington Post reports, "Energized by the grass-roots online support, Paul set an ambitious goal: to raise $12 million for the fourth quarter. And in an innovative move, his official site streams, in real time, the names and home towns of online donors. His aides said last night that more people donated yesterday, more than 35,000, than had contributed to his campaign all of last quarter."
The New York Times gives a brief history lesson, reporting, "Historians and British schoolchildren remember Guy Fawkes as the Roman Catholic, anti-Protestant rebel who on Nov. 5, 1605, tried to assassinate King James I by blowing up the Parliament."
The Financial Times reports, "In a setpiece address on climate change," Hillary Clinton yesterday "rolled out a plan to enable America to lead the global green revolution." She "pledged that as president she would negotiate a successor treaty to the Kyoto protocol on climate change by 2010," and that it would include "mandatory targets that would bind all the world's polluters, 'including China and India.'" She also "pledged tougher fuel economy standards...with a target to achieve 55 miles per gallon by 2030" and "promised to set up a US-wide cap and trade system that would auction trading permits covering 100 per cent of America's carbon output." The AP adds that Clinton's "program calls for reducing greenhouse gases by 80 percent from 1990 levels by 2050 and cutting imports of foreign oil by two-thirds by 2030." It also includes the creation of a $50 billion strategic energy fund. "She estimated her plan would create 5 million new jobs over the next decade, many in rural sections of the country."
The New York Times reports that the energy plan "included several ideas that were in an energy speech last month by" Sen. Barack Obama, such as reducing carbon emissions and the "cap and trade" auction system. Meanwhile, "Republican Party officials and some leaders of utility and energy groups were critical of Mrs. Clinton's plan."
Automakers also signaled early opposition to the plan. The Detroit News reports Charles Territo, "a spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the trade group that represents the Big Three and Toyota, among others, said Clinton's proposal isn't realistic. 'Manufacturers are committed to increasing fuel economy and support efforts to increase the standards by as much 40 percent in 2022; however, Senator Clinton's proposal exceeds even the most aggressive estimates of what is technologically feasible,' Territo said, noting that 54 percent of vehicles bought in October were light trucks, despite high gas prices." The Detroit Free Press adds, "Clinton's plan 'probably won't play very well in parts of Michigan,' said Bill Rustem of the Lansing-based Public Sector Consultants. But 'Michiganders are kind of split. There are those who would support higher fuel economy and those on the other side, especially the business community, who don't.'"
Other Democrats also criticized the plan. The Greenville (SC) News reports Sen. Joe Biden "called it 'empty rhetoric.' Biden, who has proposed a corporate carbon tax, said, 'Leading experts agree that a corporate carbon tax targeted at polluters is needed to reverse the effects of global warming.'" The New York Sun (11/6, Berman) adds that Clinton's "endorsement of a 'cap and trade' system over a tax on carbon to reduce the impact of global warming puts her at odds with Mayor Bloomberg and drew a stinging rebuke from" Sen. Chris Dodd, who said Clinton's plan "smacked of 'empty rhetoric.'"
Mitt Romney, whose record as governor of Massachusetts has caused some conservatives to question his credentials, yesterday picked up a key endorsement. Fox News' Special Report reported that Romney won the endorsement of "long-time conservative leader" Paul Weyrich, who founded Moral Majority and the Heritage Foundation. Weyrich "says Romney already has an exceptional record of putting conservative values to work." The AP adds that less than "a year ago, Weyrich was among the conservative leaders expressing concerns about" Romney, who "had conceded that he had changed from supporting abortion rights to opposing them. He also had to deflect criticism after it emerged that he pledged during a 1994 U.S. Senate campaign to be a better advocate for gay rights than his then-opponent, Democrat Edward Kennedy."
The New York Times reports Weyrich "had been critical of talk this year among Christian conservative leaders about possibly bolting the Republican Party and backing a third-party candidate if Rudolph W. Giuliani, a supporter of abortion rights, is the nominee. Now it appears that Mr. Weyrich is backing up that criticism with action, lining up behind Mr. Romney, despite questions many Christian conservatives continue to harbor about the candidate's relatively recent conversion to opponent of abortion from supporter of abortion rights, as well as concerns about Mr. Romney's being a Mormon."
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CNN reports on its website, "With the election of the next president a year away, Sen. Hillary Clinton remains the person to beat, a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll" suggests. She "continues to dominate the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, and comes out ahead when voters are asked whether they prefer her or the GOP front-runner, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani." However, both Democratic rivals and Republican presidential candidates have "stepped up their attacks," and it "may be working. The CNN/Opinion Research polls suggests that Clinton's support has slipped from its height one month ago." Clinton now leads the Democratic field with 44%, followed by Barack Obama at 25% and John Edwards at 14%. The rest of the field is at 4% or less. On the GOP side, Giuliani leads with 28%, followed by Fred Thompson, 19%; John McCain, 16%; Mitt Romney, 11%; and Mike Huckabee, 10%. The rest of the field is at 5% or less. In a 2008 trial heat, Clinton leads Giuliani 51%-45%, up from 49%-47% a month ago.
Sen. Hillary Clinton holds a six point lead over Rudy Giuliani in their joint home state of New York, according to a new Zogby poll. The poll shows Clinton leading Giuliani 44%-38%, with 9% backing "someone else" and 9% undecided. While Giuliani tops Clinton upstate (45%-36%) and is competitive in the NYC suburbs (he trails 43%-40%), it is Clinton's massive margin (55%-27%) in the city he once led that gives her the lead. The poll surveyed 705 likely New York voters from October 30-31.
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The late night shows were in re-runs last night due to the Hollywood writers strike.
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