Washington Whispers
Powerless Dems Told to Fess Up
Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Joe Biden is fast winning the straight-talking title that Sen. John McCain had in his first White House run. The latest example: He says Democrats deserve their poor public-approval ratings because they oversold their powers to the voters in 2006. "We do not have control," he says, explaining that the party doesn't have enough votes to overturn a presidential veto. "They elected a Democratic Congress in anticipation we'd end this war, get the hell out of there, and we'd move on to attending to the business of the country. It was an unrealistic expectation."
Even Bob Novak Needs an Editor
His new autobio, The Prince of Darkness, is a great read that tells all about his leading role in the Valerie Plame affair. But we hear that Robert Novak needed a good editor just like the rest of us scribes to get it to press. At 662 pages-not including 16 pages of pictures—it's half of what he originally submitted. His team tells us that it goes on sale next week after he officially unveils it on Meet the Press. A big media tour is scheduled but so far no stop at CNN, which in 2005 unceremoniously dumped the longtime guest host—then under fire for revealing Plame's name—after he blurted out an obscenity.
Tax Dollars—a Lot of Them—at Work
A Jeopardy quiz: In the category of federal jobs, this position pays almost $20,000 more than the vice president's salary. No, sorry, it's not the president. He gets $400,000. It's the chief information technology job for the Comptroller of the Currency at $231,000. Sound extravagant? It's not, says a department spokesman, who argued that it's hard to find good IT people. "What we pay our folks doesn't come close to what Wall Street does," says Kevin Mukri. And Comptroller isn't the only one. Mukri says competing agencies like the Federal Reserve pay the same to stifle competition. He adds that while the pay can go as high as $231,000, as advertised in newspapers, Currency voluntarily caps the salary at the vice president's pay, now $212,100. And anyway, says Mukri, people don't go to Currency for the money. "It's the work that drives the people."
PETA Says Jenna Bush Laid an Egg
You knew it was coming. Following a report that first twin Jenna Bush was seen munching down foie gras, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have filed a protest. "You were recently spotted doing something truly scandalous," writes PETA President Ingrid Newkirk: "Eating foie gras, an item so cruel that it has been banned in several nations and parts of the U.S." Newkirk explains the yucky details of force-feeding ducks to bloat their livers then asks: "Will you commit to never eating foie gras again?" The White House says it never got the fax and had no comment anyway.
Paul Bedard's blog is at www.usnews.com/whispers
With Thomas Omestad
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