Friday, December 01, 2006
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Compiled by Stephen Bach CNN Washington Bureau Making news today... President's Schedule: Also on the Political Radar: ================================================================= Political Hot Topics (Today's top political stories from news organizations across the country) STUDY GROUP WILL RECOMMEND WITHDRAWING MOST COMBAT UNITS "BY EARLY 2008": The bipartisan Iraq Study Group plans to recommend withdrawing nearly all U.S. combat units from Iraq by early 2008 while leaving behind troops to train, advise and support the Iraqis, setting the first goal for a major drawdown of U.S. forces, sources familiar with the proposal said yesterday. The commission plan would shift the U.S. mission in Iraq to a secondary role as the fragile Baghdad government and its security forces take the lead in fighting a Sunni insurgency and trying to halt sectarian violence. As part of major changes in the U.S. presence, sources said, the plan recommends embedding U.S. soldiers directly in Iraqi security units starting as early as next month to improve leadership and effectiveness. Washington Post: Iraq Panel to Urge Pullout Of Combat Troops by '08 "NO OBSTACLES" FOR GATES, SAYS BYRD: Longtime Iraq war critic Sen. Robert Byrd said on Thursday he knew of no obstacles to Robert Gates becoming the new Pentagon chief, helping keep the nominee's prospects bright ahead of Senate hearings next week. Byrd, 88, one of the most relentless opponents of the war since Congress four years ago authorized Bush to use force in Iraq, stopped short of promising to support Gates as he hosted President George W. Bush's nominee for a chat on Capitol Hill. But the West Virginia Democrat, who is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee that will vote on Gates' nomination, said he was pleased the Republican Bush had chosen Gates to replace outgoing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Reuters via Yahoo! News: Byrd sees no hurdles to Gates at Pentagon DHS ISSUES CYBER ATTACK ADVISORY: A U.S. Homeland Security Department unit issued an advisory about a potential attack on U.S. financial institutions' computers, a department spokeswoman said. The U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team, which sent the warning to financial institutions earlier today, had "no information to corroborate" the seriousness of the threat, spokeswoman Joanna Gonzalez said. The advisory stemmed from a posting on the Web site of a group called al-Firdaws urging an attack on financial institutions, said a Homeland Security Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Al-Firdaws is related to al-Qaeda, the Islamic radical group behind the Sept. 11 attacks, according to the Center for Nonproliferation Studies. The Homeland Security official said that the Web site posting called for denial of service attacks against financial institution Web sites starting tomorrow and continuing through the "infidel new year." Such attacks may try to cripple a Web site with a flood of e-mails, for example. Bloomberg: U.S. Warns of Cyber Attack on Financial Institutions "IF WE SHRUG OUR SHOULDERS AND SAY 'IT WAS JUST A FLUKE'... WE WILL LOSE AGAIN IN 2008," SAYS MEHLMAN: Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman warned a somber and diminished gathering of GOP governors that the party will face years in the political wilderness unless it corrects the mistakes that led to last month's election losses. "If we shrug our shoulders and say, 'It was just a fluke, a perfect storm of factors out of our control,' then we will lose again in 2008," Mehlman told the Republican Governors Association at its annual meeting, as he prepares to step down from the RNC at the end of the year. "If that is the approach we take, then we are destined to spend far more than one term in the minority," Mehlman added. "And we as a party will deserve it." Washington Post: GOP Must Correct Its Mistakes, Mehlman Says NEW SENATE LEADER "UNLIKELY TORCHBEARER" FOR DEMS: Unpolished and a little grandfatherly, [Harry] Reid in many ways seems an unlikely torchbearer for his party. He is uncomfortable delivering sound bites and policy pronouncements. He often interrupts his comments with awkward pauses that give the impression he has lost his train of thought. He seems to enjoy chatting about a legendary Nevada killer who eluded authorities in the 1920s and '30s as much as discussing the business of government. And he makes no secret of his indifference for the spotlight. "I don't think it's what the job calls for," Reid said in a recent interview. As minority leader the last two years, his approach proved highly effective: By playing defense, Reid bottled up many GOP initiatives. But with Democrats catapulted into control of the Senate, the former amateur boxer will assume a broader responsibility for charting alternatives to the Bush agenda. On Iraq, for example, Reid has promised a vigorous drive to withdraw troops. Los Angeles Times: Reid's skills on offense to be tested TIME MAY BE RIGHT FOR DC HOUSE VOTE: For more than 200 years, residents of the District of Columbia have lived in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol without having a vote that counts there. For the district's 550,000 residents, that may be about to change. Monday, the Utah Legislature will set in motion a plan that would permanently increase the size of the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time since 1911. Gov. Jon Huntsman summoned the lawmakers into a special session last week to approve a redistricting plan that would give the predominantly Republican state a fourth member of Congress... In return, Eleanor Holmes Norton, the longtime delegate for the predominantly Democratic District of Columbia, would win full voting privileges. That would increase the number of House members from 435 to 437. USA Today: Legislative shuffle could give D.C. vote in Congress REPORT YOUR OWN VIOLATIONS AND WE'LL REDUCE THE FINES, SAYS FEC: The Federal Election Commission on Thursday took steps to encourage politicians and contributors to report their own possible violations of campaign finance laws by offering them significantly reduced fines. Commission officials said the number of self-reported violations has increased recently, prompting the need for a specific policy that spells out how the FEC will dispose of such cases. "This is not meant to be a get out of jail free card," said Commissioner Ellen Weintraub. "If you're racing to the FEC three steps in front of the guy who's got the complaint in his hand against you, this policy is probably not for you." Before fully adopting the policy, the commission has asked for public comment on the proposal by Jan. 29. AP via Yahoo! News: FEC to pols: Blow whistle on yourself E-VOTING MACHINES "CANNOT BE MADE SECURE," SAYS REPORT: Paperless electronic voting machines used throughout the Washington region and much of the country "cannot be made secure," according to draft recommendations issued this week by a federal agency that advises the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. The assessment by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, one of the government's premier research centers, is the most sweeping condemnation of such voting systems by a federal agency. In a report hailed by critics of electronic voting, NIST said that voting systems should allow election officials to recount ballots independently from a voting machine's software. The recommendations endorse "optical-scan" systems in which voters mark paper ballots that are read by a computer and electronic systems that print a paper summary of each ballot, which voters review and elections officials save for recounts. Washington Post: Security Of Electronic Voting Is Condemned TSA "VIRTUAL STRIP SEARCH" TO BE TESTED IN PHOENIX: The federal government plans this month to launch the nation's first airport screening system that takes potentially revealing X-ray photos of travelers in an effort to find bombs and other weapons. Transportation Security Administration screeners at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport will test a "backscatter" machine that could vastly improve weapons detection but has been labeled a "virtual strip search" by the American Civil Liberties Union. Backscatter can show clear images of nude bodies. At Phoenix and another yet-to-be-decided test airport, the machines will blur or shade images to obscure body parts and medical devices. The TSA also will look at using the machines in subways. "It's time to get them out and get feedback from [screeners] and the traveling public," said Randy Null, TSA assistant administrator. The TSA has been considering the machines since 2002 while struggling with privacy issues. USA Today: TSA's revealing X-ray screening raises privacy concerns TOUGHER NEW CITIZENSHIP TEST: The federal government rolled out a new citizenship test Thursday to replace an exam that critics say has encouraged prospective Americans simply to memorize facts, rather than fully understand the principles of a democracy. The exam will be assessed in a pilot program in 10 cities beginning early next year. Gone are these questions: "How many stripes are there in the flag?"; "What color are the stripes on the flag?"; "What do the stripes on the flag represent?"; and the obvious, "What are the colors of our flag?" The new exam rephrases the questions to focus on what the stripes represent, asking, "Why do we have 13 stripes on the flag?" or "Why does the flag have 13 stripes?" (The answer: Because the stripes represent the original 13 colonies). New York Times: New Citizens Will Need Deeper Knowledge QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS FOR NEW PILOT NATURALIZATION EXAM: (via uscis.gov) THE MOTHER OF ALL ELECTIONS: The first thing pundit James Carville did on stage Thursday was to comically imitate the way his fellow members of the "commentariat" hyperventilated over the political significance of the most recent elections. The next thing he did was to sincerely hyperventilate over the significance of the 2008 election -- a schtick his audience at the 9th Annual American Democracy Conference let him get away with because they were mostly political junkies, too. "It's going to be the mother of them all," Carville predicted of the '08 presidential race. "It's historical. We're on the precipice. We're in a paradigmatic transformational blah blah blah." In Carville-speak, that seems to mean this one is going to be the most entertaining in recent history. Chicago Tribune's The Swamp: Carville: 2008 election to be 'mother of all' VILSACK JUMPS IN, STARTS FIVE-STATE TOUR: The Iowa governor's bid for the Democratic presidential nomination took flight after a send-off announcement Thursday morning in Mount Pleasant, Ia., Vilsack's adopted hometown... After ceremonially launching his campaign from the small Iowa city where he began his career of government service, Vilsack said the event in the community of 9,000 people underscored his campaign's principle that solutions to the nation's challenges seldom come from Washington, D.C. "I am clearly geographically, politically from outside of Washington," said Vilsack, who was Mount Pleasant's mayor and state senator before becoming governor. After the kickoff rally attended by 800 people at Iowa Wesleyan College, Vilsack flew by chartered jet to New Hampshire, which holds the first primary election in the presidential nominating process. In Concord, N.H., the state capital, Vilsack met first with about 80 Merrimack County Democrats. Des Moines Register: Mounting a drive from Mount Pleasant McCAIN MAKES "GUERRILLALIKE VISIT" TO RGA MEETING: Last anyone checked, Senator John McCain of Arizona is not - and has never been - a governor. But no matter. Mr. McCain turned up on Thursday morning at the Doral Golf Resort and Spa [in Miami] for a guerrillalike visit to the annual meeting of the Republican Governors Association. That is a group headed by Mitt Romney, the Massachusetts governor who is widely viewed as Mr. McCain's chief rival for their party's 2008 presidential nomination. As Mr. Romney gamely presided over the morning session of the meeting, Mr. McCain commandeered a room at the Doral Resort for eight hours of meetings with nine Republican governors, including Gov.-elect Charlie Crist of Florida, according to Republicans familiar with his schedule. New York Times: McCain Courts Crucial Support of Governors CIPEL: McGREEVEY'S "GAY AMERICAN" ADMISSION JUST "PART OF THE SPIN": The man former New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey identified as his gay lover said Thursday he believes McGreevey is not gay. Appearing on "Larry King Live," Golan Cipel, an Israeli citizen hired by McGreevey first as a campaign aide and later as his homeland security adviser, said that McGreevey's 2004 resignation speech admission that he is "a gay American" was "part of the spin." Through lawyers, Cipel had threatened to sue McGreevey for sexual harassment shortly before and after McGreevey's resignation. A lawsuit was never filed. "I think McGreevey had no choice. There was a sexual harassment lawsuit against him. And he didn't know what to do, and his advisers told him, 'come out first,' and he would be perceived as the victim" and thereby gain control of the story, Cipel said. AP via Yahoo! News: Cipel says ex-Gov. McGreevey is not gay "1600 FOR MEN": When the Secret Service phoned Lesa Glucroft, they were calling about hand lotion. Officials wanted to know if the Calabasas businesswoman was interested in sticking the U.S. presidential seal on her lotions and powders and selling them as "America's Legacy" at the White House gift shop. At first she thought it was a hoax. "I certainly didn't think it was a serious call," said Glucroft, a registered Democrat. But the inquiry, from a licensing agent for the U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division Benefit Fund, was genuine. And now a line of toiletries bearing the presidential insignia is about to hit the gift shop's shelves. The antibacterial hand wash, glycerin soap, after-shave and other products come in bottles embossed with the distinctive presidential seal: a vigilant eagle holding an olive branch and arrows in its talons and encircled by stars and the words "The President of the United States." Los Angeles Times: Psst! The Secret Service may have a seal for you |
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