Wednesday, November 29, 2006
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Compiled by Stephen Bach CNN Washington Bureau Making news today... Full text of memo: (via NYTimes.com) "'How's your boy?' Bush asked, referring to Webb's son, a Marine serving in Iraq. 'I'd like to get them out of Iraq, Mr. President,' Webb responded, echoing a campaign theme. 'That's not what I asked you,' Bush said. 'How's your boy?' 'That's between me and my boy, Mr. President,' Webb said coldly." Meanwhile, "Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said an announcement of the senator's presidential intentions is now 'several weeks away,'" reports the Chicago Tribune. President's Schedule: Bush is scheduled to arrive in Amman, Jordan, at 12 pm ET (7 pm local), where tonight he'll meet with Jordan's King Abdullah and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki. Also on the Political Radar: * Republican governors head to Miami for their annual conference at the Doral Golf Resort and Spa. * Howard Dean gives the keynote address tonight at the Liberal Party of Canada's Leadership and Biennial Convention in Montreal. ================================================================= Political Hot Topics (Today's top political stories from news organizations across the country) "SERIOUS DOUBTS" ABOUT MALIKI IN CLASSIFIED MEMO: A classified memorandum by President Bush's national security adviser expressed serious doubts about whether Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki had the capacity to control the sectarian violence in Iraq and recommended that the United States take new steps to strengthen the Iraqi leader's position. The Nov. 8 memo was prepared for Mr. Bush and his top deputies by Stephen J. Hadley, the national security adviser, and senior aides on the staff of the National Security Council after a trip by Mr. Hadley to Baghdad... "His intentions seem good when he talks with Americans, and sensitive reporting suggests he is trying to stand up to the Shia hierarchy and force positive change," the memo said of the Iraqi leader. "But the reality on the streets of Baghdad suggests Maliki is either ignorant of what is going on, misrepresenting his intentions, or that his capabilities are not yet sufficient to turn his good intentions into action." New York Times: Bush Adviser's Memo Cites Doubts About Iraqi Leader EMERGENCY SPENDING REQUEST "GENERATING CONTROVERSY" INSIDE PENTAGON: The Pentagon is preparing an emergency spending proposal that could be larger and broader than any since the Sept. 11 attacks, covering not only the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but extending to other military operations connected to the Bush administration's war on terrorism. The spending plans may push the Defense Department into conflict with Democrats as they take control of Capitol Hill in January. Democrats had been planning to limit the emergency "supplemental" spending measures that have funded the wars in favor of the regular federal budget process, which affords greater oversight and congressional control. Congressional and military officials have said the Pentagon is considering a request of $127 billion to $150 billion in new emergency war spending, the largest such request since the special spending measures were begun in 2001. So far, Congress has allocated $495 billion for Afghanistan, Iraq and terrorism-related efforts. Even within the Pentagon, the spending request is generating controversy. Los Angeles Times: Controversy over Pentagon's war-spending plan GATES CALLS FOR "DIPLOMATIC ENGAGEMENT" WITH IRAN, SYRIA: Robert M. Gates, President Bush's nominee to become the next secretary of defense, said he opposes a swift pullout from Iraq, arguing in written testimony submitted yesterday to Congress that "leaving Iraq in chaos would have dangerous consequences both in the region and globally for many years to come." Gates, whose confirmation hearings are scheduled to begin next week, also staked out positions on Iran and Syria that are consistent with his past views but appear to be at odds with the Bush administration's current policies. He called for diplomatic engagement with both countries, noting that "even in the worst days of the cold war the U.S. maintained a dialogue with the Soviet Union and China and I believe those channels of communication helped us manage many potentially difficult situations." Washington Post: Gates Warns Against Leaving Iraq 'in Chaos' CHERTOFF ADMITS "BEAN COUNTING" IN CUTTING NY TERROR FUNDS: Six months after slashing New York's anti-terror funds, Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff yesterday admitted the feds were guilty of "bean counting" - a stunning acknowledgement from the man behind the cuts. Chertoff - who emphatically defended the funding squeeze last summer - yesterday all but said the Department of Homeland Security goofed by stiffing the nation's top terror target. "We've come to the conclusion that perhaps there was a little too much bean counting and a little less standing back and applying common sense to look at the total picture," Chertoff told a grant-writing conference. New York Post: HOMELAND BOSS: WE ERRED IN $TIFFING N.Y. HASTINGS WON'T GET INTEL GAVEL: Moving to end weeks of damaging speculation, Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said she wouldn't appoint Rep. Alcee Hastings, who was impeached as a federal judge, to be the next chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Ms. Pelosi gave no indication of who would get the post, but aides indicated that a decision could follow quickly this week in a bid to resolve the issue, which has been used by her critics to try to isolate the California Democrat and incoming House speaker. The criticism of her leadership is striking given that no other speaker before her has had the same length of service on the intelligence panel as Ms. Pelosi. Wall Street Journal: Pelosi Moves to End Quarrel Over Intelligence Post PELOSI ALSO PASSES ON HARMAN: Pelosi was not willing to bend the committee's unique term-limit rules for Harman, who she believes had violated a promise to step aside, according to Democrats. Harman had angered some Democrats with a tough management style that helped drive away longtime Democratic staffers... Instead of picking Harman or Hastings, Pelosi will look for a compromise candidate, probably Rep. Silvestre Reyes (Tex.), but possibly Rep. Norman D. Dicks (Wash.), a hawkish member of the Appropriations defense subcommittee, or Rep. Sanford Bishop (Ga.), a conservative African American with experience on the intelligence committee. Washington Post: Hastings, Harman Rejected for Chairmanship LABOR REPS, LIBERAL LEADERS, AND TOP DEMS MEET TO "PLOT STRATEGY": Labor union representatives, liberal leaders, and aides to House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) met yesterday to begin work on a broad lobbying push to promote Pelosi's 100-legislative-hour agenda with a campaign expected to mimic the one that helped defeat President Bush's proposed reforms to Social Security. Yesterday's meeting is a signal that interest groups allied with Democrats are going on the offensive, transitioning from the defensive crouch they have held for much of Bush's time in office. The purpose of the gathering was to ensure that party allies are unified during the first crucial weeks of the Democratic majority and that the agenda Democrats campaigned on this fall does not become entangled by interest-group squabbles and competition. The Hill: Dems, allies plot strategy GET READY TO "PUT IN SOME HOURS," SAYS REID: Senate Majority Leader-elect Harry Reid said Tuesday he's doing away with the "do-nothing Congress" that Democrats campaigned against and plans to keep senators working long hours - focusing first on ethics, the minimum wage and stem cell research. The Nevada Democrat said he would tackle those priorities after cleaning up the "financial mess" the outgoing Republican Congress is leaving behind, a reference to nine long-overdue spending bills covering 13 Cabinet departments for the budget year that began Oct. 1. "They're just leaving town, it appears," Reid said during an interview with The Associated Press in his Capitol office. "And so we're going to have to find a way to fund the government for the next year." AP via Yahoo! News: Senate leader-elect sets agenda NRSC IN DEBT: The Republicans' senatorial campaign arm, which lagged behind other national party committees in fundraising the past two years, emerged from the Nov. 7 election in debt and is soliciting donations to get out of the red. In an urgent appeal to donors this week, Sen. Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina, the chairwoman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, beseeched contributors to "help us retire our debt." "If we let this debt linger, it will cripple our efforts to recruit great candidates for the next election and begin our drive to win the one additional seat we need to regain the Senate majority," Dole wrote. AP via Yahoo! News: GOP senatorial committee in the red $2 BIL. IN MIL. EQUIPMENT "WEARING OUT" OR "BEING DESTROYED" EVERY MONTH: About $2 billion worth of Army and Marine Corps equipment - from rifles to tanks - is wearing out or being destroyed every month in Iraq and Afghanistan, military leaders and outside experts say. That's equal to about a quarter of the $8 billion per month in military war costs. The wear and tear may lead to future equipment shortages and cutbacks in more advanced weapons, such as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter being developed with allies around the world and the Army's new, high-tech family of weapons and equipment, says William Cohen, secretary of Defense from 1997 to 2001. Pressure to keep spending under control can lead to cuts in both current maintenance and future weapons, Cohen says, but "the longer we defer on that, the more expensive it's going to be." USA Today: Wars wearing down military gear at cost of about $2 billion a month BUSH WANTS TO MODIFY VISA WAIVER PROGRAM: President Bush said yesterday he will push Congress for a "loosening" of requirements for foreigners to visit the United States without a visa, pitting him against those who have called for the program instead to be tightened or even scrapped altogether after September 11. The Visa Waiver Program allows visitors with valid passports from 27 approved countries to enter the United States for up to 90 days without a visa. That makes tourism and business travel easier by eliminating the need for a visa, though such travelers can avoid a security screening. After meeting with Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves in Tallinn, Mr. Bush said he will press Congress to revamp the program to allow more countries to join. Washington Times: Bush seeks to ease visa requirement WEBB GETS OFF TO TESTY START WITH PRESIDENT BUSH: At a recent White House reception for freshman members of Congress, Virginia's newest senator tried to avoid President Bush. Democrat James Webb declined to stand in a presidential receiving line or to have his picture taken with the man he had often criticized on the stump this fall. But it wasn't long before Bush found him. "How's your boy?" Bush asked, referring to Webb's son, a Marine serving in Iraq. "I'd like to get them out of Iraq, Mr. President," Webb responded, echoing a campaign theme. "That's not what I asked you," Bush said. "How's your boy?" "That's between me and my boy, Mr. President," Webb said coldly, ending the conversation on the State Floor of the East Wing of the White House. Washington Post: In Following His Own Script, Webb May Test Senate's Limits OBAMA TO MAKE HIS NEW HAMPSHIRE DEBUT: New Hampshire's Democratic Party has chosen one of the hottest potential Presidential candidates to help it celebrate its historic Election Day sweep. Illinois Sen. Barack Obama accepted the party's invitation to be the "special guest" at an event in Manchester on Dec. 10 "to honor the historic victory that turned a red New Hampshire to solid blue for the first time since 1874," the party said in a statement yesterday... It will mark Obama's first visit to the state with the first-in-the-nation primary. Although he visited first-caucus state Iowa three times in the fall and has reportedly begun talking to political advisers there about a Presidential campaign, "New Hampshire is different," said state party chair Kathy Sullivan. New Hampshire Union Leader: Democrats land Obama for Dec. 10 NH celebration OBAMA ANNOUNCEMENT "SEVERAL WEEKS AWAY": [Senator Barack Obama] recently has discussed a potential campaign with leading Democratic activists in Iowa, which holds the influential caucus that kicks off the presidential primary campaign in early 2008. Among those he has spoken with are the former Iowa campaign managers for 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry and 2000 Democratic nominee Al Gore, an Obama campaign adviser said. Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said an announcement of the senator's presidential intentions is now "several weeks away." The recent release of his second memoir, "The Audacity of Hope," and a publicity tour in promotion of the book has bolstered his already high visibility just as he is contemplating a presidential run. Chicago Tribune: Obama tests presidential waters ANTI-HILLARY GROUP GETS BOO$T FROM DALLAS BUSINESSMAN: Now that Sen. Hillary Clinton is focusing on 2008 and weighing a presidential run, her enemies are focusing on her. At least one has begun pouring cash into a group called Stop Her Now, which was launched a year and a half ago in a bid to damage Clinton's Senate reelection. That didn't happen. Even though the outfit was hatched by New York GOP heavyweight Arthur Finkelstein, it barely broke $25,000 in fund-raising. But Dallas businessman and political operative Dick Collins has now taken charge. Between late July and Sept. 30 - the most recent period for which data are available - Collins spent $80,000 on the group. New York Daily News: New king of anti-Hil CLARK SAYS HE SHOULD HAVE JUMPED IN EARLIER IN '04: Wesley Clark said Tuesday he wants to avoid waiting too late to make a decision on whether to run for president - a mistake he made in his failed 2004 bid. "I think it was clear that I got in too late last time," the retired general and former NATO commander told The Associated Press in an interview. Clark announced his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in September 2003, just four months before the first votes were cast. He dropped out of the race the following February, with his only victory in 14 caucuses and primaries coming in Oklahoma. Clark is considering running again, but he said the late start was one of the mistakes he learned from in his last attempt. AP via Yahoo! News: Clark wants to avoid late campaign start NY SHOOTING PUTS SPOTLIGHT ON SHARPTON: The morning 23-year-old Sean Bell was shot to death by police, his grieving relatives did something that has become almost routine in such cases: They called the Rev. Al Sharpton. Within hours, the longtime civil rights activist had consoled relatives, held two news conferences, and begun organizing a community rally for the next day. Sharpton has long been a fixture on New York's left-wing scene, and has been especially vocal in his crusade against police brutality since the 1990s. But the Saturday shooting, which left Bell dead on his wedding day and wounded two other black men, is proving again how far Sharpton has come since the days he was routinely derided as a race-baiting, publicity-hungry opportunist. AP via Yahoo! News: Sharpton's stature rises amid shooting PHILLY MAYOR'S BROTHER INDICTED: Mayor Street's flamboyant brother, T. Milton Street Sr., was indicted on federal corruption and tax charges yesterday in connection with alleged scams at Philadelphia International Airport. Specifically, Milton Street is accused of failing to pay taxes on more than $2 million worth of income from 2000 to 2004. He also was accused of defrauding a prospective airport contractor, which gave him $80,000 on the promise that Street could get it a $3.2 million contract that didn't exist. In another instance, Street is accused of kicking back almost $100,000 to a businessman in exchange for help that businessman provided in ensuring that Street obtained a lucrative airport contract. Philadelphia Inquirer: Mayor's brother indicted in alleged scams |
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• Carter: Iraq one of the 'greatest blunders' by any...• Rice schedules talks with Palestinian president • Cheney still in the hunt • Ahead on CNN • Pelosi says no to Hastings heading up intelligence... • Clark says he wants to avoid jumping into '08 camp... • Senate Armed Services Committee set for Gates hear... • DeWine to profile Ohio's war dead during last days... • Administration signals willingness to work with De... • Top Rice adviser Zelikow announces resignation SUBSCRIBE
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