The Emoluments Clause of the Constitution is proving to be a minor barrier to the nomination of Sen. Hillary Clinton to be Secretary of State, as well as any other lawmakers who may join the Obama Administration. Roll Call notes members of the House and Senate are "barred from serving in a confirmable position within the executive branch if that position has had its pay increased while they were serving in Congress. Traditionally, the Department of Justice has interpreted that rule to mean that Congress must reduce the pay of the executive branch post to the level it was before the last pay increase."
The Wall Street Journal says in an editorial that Senate Democrats "are hoping to finesse the problem with the so-called 'Saxbe fix,' whereby the salary raise for Secretary of State would return to its previous level. Democrats point out this was used by Richard Nixon to make Ohio Senator William Saxbe Attorney General, and again for Lloyd Bentsen to become Treasury Secretary in the Clinton Administration."
The Financial Times reports "the provision in the constitution, known as the emoluments clause, was originally framed to rein in corruption by stopping congressmen from giving themselves sinecures and has complicated appointments in the past."
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, whose blunt statements have occasionally drawn controversy in the past, is taking criticism for remarks on Secretary of Homeland Security-designate Janet Napolitano. Fox News' Special Report reported, "Here is what a microphone picked up during a break at the National Governor's Conference in Philadelphia." Gov. Rendell: "Janet is perfect for that job because for that job you have to have no life and Janet has no family, it's perfect. She can devote literally 19, 20 hours a day to it." Baier: "Some have suggested that the comment was sexist and they point out that the two previous homeland security chiefs were men who had families."
The Politico reports, "CNN anchor Campbell Brown rebuked...Rendell Tuesday night for a private remark he made about" Napolitano. Brown "ran a clip of Rendell's remarks and reprimanded" him "for perpetuating stereotypes about working women."
Collins Laments View Of Single Women. In her New York Times column, Gail Collins discusses Rendell's remarks about Napolitano, writing that "it's unmarried women at the top who often wind up portrayed as vestal virgins who live only to serve their chief executive. (Condoleezza Rice's public image is so extreme that people must be wondering if she plans to immolate herself on the White House lawn during the inauguration.)"
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Media reports suggest that, like the current Bush Administration, the transition team of President-elect Obama has doubts about a high-level office to deal with the threat of nuclear proliferation and other weapons of mass destruction. ABC News reports on its website that President-elect Obama, Vice President-elect Biden "and their transition team will appoint a point person within the White House to coordinate and oversee programs aimed at reducing the risk of nuclear and other forms of terrorism." But sources say it is "less likely" that the new administration will create a WMD Czar, noting the "current White House has rejected" the concept, "thinking the position redundant and too accountable to Congress. And sources on the Obama-Biden Transition Team indicate that they are having some of the same qualms about the position as written."
Meanwhile, the Financial Times reports Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff noted the commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism's recommendation of the creation of a "tsar to co-ordinate non-proliferation policy." Chertoff "acknowledged that "terrorists had greater capabilities to develop WMD," but "questioned the need for a non-proliferation tsar."
The Los Angeles Times reports that the "commission presented its conclusions Wednesday" to Secretary-designate Napolitano and Vice President-elect Joe Biden. Chertoff "urged caution Wednesday, saying that the government risked creating too many extraneous layers of bureaucracy by creating 'a czar to do this and a czar to do that.'"
Meanwhile, US News and World Report says after a "series of dire new warnings about possible terrorist threats-capped by a government commission's report that terrorists are likely to stage a biological or nuclear attack somewhere in the world during the next five years-some experts are urging officials 'to retire the fear card,' as California Rep. Jane Harman puts it." Reacting to the commission's report, she said officials "need to educate and inform the American people, not terrify them with alarming details about possible threats to the homeland."
ABC World News reported Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin, the "second in command of US forces in Iraq," said Wednesday that "the number of attacks in that country in November were at their lowest level since 2003." Gen. Austin "said the drop in violence was due to an increase in the number of Iraqi security forces on patrol, as well as the arrest of a number of key Al Qaeda figures."
Lt. Gen. Austin, says the AP, also "blamed al-Qaeda in Iraq for a spate of bombings that has killed nearly 50 people in Baghdad and elsewhere since Monday," despite "an 80 percent drop in attacks nationwide since March."
USA Today, under the headline "US Combat Deaths Hit Low," notes "US combat deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan last month dropped to the lowest combined level since the United States began fighting the two wars more than five years ago." USA Today notes "eleven American servicemembers died in combat in the conflicts in November. Seven others died in non-hostile incidents."
Obama Iraq Rhetoric "Muted By Reality" The New York Times, in a story titled "Campaign Promises On Ending The War In Iraq Now Muted By Reality," reports that during the campaign, President-elect Obama "offered a pledge that electrified and motivated his liberal base, vowing to 'end the war' in Iraq." Yet "as he moves closer to the White House, President-elect Obama is making clearer than ever that tens of thousands of American troops will be left behind in Iraq, even if he can make good on his campaign promise to pull all combat forces out within 16 months."
The Miami Herald reports when President-elect Barack Obama "called Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen at her South Florida district office Wednesday, she hung up on him." Rep. Ros-Lehtinen said, "I thought: 'Why would Obama want to call a little slug on the planet like me?'" The Herald adds that later Rep. Rahm Emanuel, Obama's designated chief of staff, "called. Ros-Lehtinen hung up on him, too. 'I thought it was one of the radio stations in South Florida playing an incredible, elaborate, terrific prank on me,' Ros-Lehtinen said." Washington Post columnist Al Kamen also recounts the incident this morning.
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The Hill reports Minnesota Senate challenger Al Franken's (D) campaign again asserted yesterday that his campaign has taken a 22-vote lead in the recount. Josh Kraushaar, in his blog for The Politico, says "Franken campaign's internal tally...is based on the presumption that all of" the challenges to 6,300 contested ballots "have been frivolous, and would be rejected by the Canvassing Board." However, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that "Wednesday evening, a Star Tribune tally showed Coleman with a 316-vote lead, with 98 percent of the vote recounted." The St Paul Pioneer Press also reports Coleman leading with 316 votes with 98% of precincts recounted.
Recount Could Last Past Swearing In Date The St Paul Pioneer Press reports, "On Dec. 16, the canvassing board will meet to judge the disposition of the challenged ballots. The larger the stack of challenges, the longer the process will take. If the number of challenges remains about 6,300 ballots and each ballot takes about three minutes to judge, it could take 315 hours, or about 40 days worth of eight-hour days, to deal with all of them. If that timeline holds, it would take the canvassing board past Jan. 6, the date the new senator is supposed to be sworn."
McClatchy reports candidate Charlie Brown (D) "conceded defeat Wednesday in Northern California's 4th Congressional District race, 29 days after Election Day and two days after opponent Tom McClintock declared victory." Brown "trailed McClintock by fewer than 1,800 votes in the heavily Republican district, which stretches from the Sacramento suburbs to the Oregon border. Two years ago, Brown narrowly lost to Republican Rep. John Doolittle." The AP adds that McClintock, "forced by term limits to leave a state Senate seat in Southern California, is well-known among state conservatives for his unbending opposition to taxes and government spending."
The AP reports that national political figures are pouring in to aide Paul Carmouche (D) and John Fleming (R) in the LA4 House race, which will be held on Saturday. President-elect Barack Obama has recorded a radio ad for Carmouche, while Vice President Cheney has held a fundraiser for Fleming. The election was pushed back after Hurricane Gustav delayed September's primaries. Roll Call notes the national parties are also pouring money into the race and, "As of Tuesday, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had poured more than $1.13 million in independent expenditures into the contest while the National Republican Congressional Committee has spent nearly $850,000."
The AP reports Tuesday's double-digit win by Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R) could make him "a star in a Republican party hungry for fresh leadership," and he could now "gain a prominent national profile, political experts said." Chambliss' win "was a rare bit of good news for Republicans, reeling this year after ceding more seats in Congress and losing the White House. He beat Democrat Jim Martin 57 percent to 43 percent." The Atlanta Journal-Constitution notes Chambliss "said Wednesday the GOP must get back to the principles preached by Ronald Reagan if it is to win elections in the future. ... 'That's what we said on the campaign trail, and it resonated with voters,' Chambliss said during a Wednesday morning appearance on the Fox News channel." NBC Nightly News reported Chambliss won "with the help of some big-name campaigners, including Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. In fact, Chambliss gave some of the credit for his victory to Palin's appearances in Georgia on his behalf."
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Jay Leno: "Little bit of history trivia. It was this week, actually yesterday, in 1961," that Fidel Castro "announced...he was a Marxist and would turn Cuba into a communist country where the government would take over all the major industries. Or as we call that today, a bailout."
Jay Leno: "In an interview with President Bush just released this week," Bush "says he wants to be remembered as the man who liberated 50 million people. Well, when you think about it, he did. I mean, thanks to him, 50 million Americans are now liberated from their savings account, their 401(k)s, car payments, mortgage..."
Jay Leno: "Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss" won "the runoff election for the Senate seat for Georgia. Republicans think that Sarah Palin campaigning him for him helped him win. ... You know, this is the first candidate she's helped elect since, I guess, Barack Obama."
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