Friday, December 15, 2006
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Compiled by Stephen Bach CNN Washington Bureau Making news today... Adm. John Eisold, attending physician at the U.S. Capitol, said Johnson's post-operative recovery has been "uncomplicated." According to the senator's spokeswoman, Julianne Fisher, Eisold said the bleeding in the senator's brain was the result of pressure from blood vessels that are too close together, a condition known as congenital arteriovenous malformation. Johnson was born with the condition, he said. "Obama said that he would reveal his decision in January, following a two-week family vacation that returns him to his roots in Hawaii," the Tribune reports. President's Schedule: Among those receiving the award today: bluesman Riley "B.B." King, columnist William Safire, and the late baseball great John "Buck" O'Neil. At 1:15 pm ET, Bush participates in an armed forces full honor review for outgoing Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld at the Pentagon. Later this afternoon, at 4:30 pm ET, Mr. and Mrs. Bush attend a holiday reception for the Diplomatic Corps at the Department of State. Also on the Political Radar: ================================================================= Political Hot Topics (Today's top political stories from news organizations across the country) SCHOOMAKER ISSUES "MOST DIRE ASSESSMENT YET," CALLS FOR MORE TROOPS: Warning that the active-duty Army "will break" under the strain of today's war-zone rotations, the nation's top Army general yesterday called for expanding the force by 7,000 or more soldiers a year and lifting Pentagon restrictions on involuntary call-ups of Army National Guard and Army Reserve troops. Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, the Army's chief of staff, issued his most dire assessment yet of the toll of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on the nation's main ground force. At one point, he banged his hand on a House committee-room table, saying the continuation of today's Pentagon policies is "not right." Washington Post: General Says Army Will Need To Grow McCAIN SAYS GENERALS DISCUSSING POSSIBLE 35K MORE TROOPS: Senator John McCain said Thursday that American military commanders were discussing the possibility of adding as many as 10 more combat brigades - a maximum of about 35,000 troops - to "bring the situation under control" while Iraq's divided political leaders seek solutions to the worsening bloodshed here. After talks in Baghdad with Gen. George W. Casey Jr. and other top American generals, Mr. McCain, an Arizona Republican, said a substantial United States troop increase was one of the strategy changes the generals were considering as they reviewed what he called "a steadily deteriorating situation." He said meetings with Iraqi government leaders showed that they, too, "have certainly not ruled out the option of more troops." New York Times: Military Considers Sending as Many as 35,000 More U.S. Troops to Iraq, McCain Says PRICE TOO HIGH TO ASK IRAN OR SYRIA FOR HELP, SAYS RICE: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday rejected a bipartisan panel's recommendation that the United States seek the help of Syria and Iran in Iraq, saying the "compensation" required by any deal might be too high. She argued that neither country should need incentives to foster stability in Iraq. "If they have an interest in a stable Iraq, they will do it anyway," Rice said in a wide-ranging interview with Washington Post reporters and editors. She said she did not want to trade away Lebanese sovereignty to Syria or allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon as a price for peace in Iraq. Rice also said there would be no retreat from the administration's push to promote democracy in the Middle East, a goal that was de-emphasized by the Iraq Study Group in its report last week but that Rice insisted was a "matter of strategic interest." She reiterated her commitment to pursuing peace between Palestinians and Israelis -- a new effort that President Bush announced in September but that has yielded little so far. Washington Post: Rice Rejects Overture To Iran And Syria SNOW SAYS NELSON'S SYRIA TRIP "UNDERMINES" DEMOCRACY IN REGION: The White House on Thursday stepped up its criticism of Sen. Bill Nelson for meeting with President Bashar Assad, saying it undermined the cause of democracy in the Middle East and that the Florida Democrat was allowing himself to be used by the Syrian leader. Nelson's meeting Wednesday in Damascus was the first between a senior American and the Syrian leader since the Iraq Study Group advocated working with Syria and Iran to stabilize Iraq. "The point is that even lending a further specter of legitimacy to that government undermines the cause of democracy in the region. The Syrians have been adventurous and meddlesome in Iraq, and in Lebanon, and working against the causes of democracy in both of those countries," White House press secretary Tony Snow said. Orlando Sentinel: White House: Syrian leader used Nelson JOHNSON RESPONSIVE, "RECOVERING WITHOUT COMPLICATION": Sen. Tim Johnson, who underwent brain surgery Thursday morning, is responding to word and touch, his doctor said. The Democratic senator from South Dakota suffered a brain hemorrhage on Wednesday. Johnson, 59, was in critical condition Thursday morning after surgery, said David Boyd, a spokesman in the nursing supervisor's office. Adm. John Eisold, attending physician at the U.S. Capitol, said Johnson's post-operative recovery has been "uncomplicated." According to the senator's spokeswoman, Julianne Fisher, Eisold said the bleeding in the senator's brain was the result of pressure from blood vessels that are too close together, a condition known as congenital arteriovenous malformation. Johnson was born with the condition, he said. CNN: Doctor: Senator responding to voice, touch SITUATION HIGHLIGHTS DEMS' "TENUOUS" HOLD ON SENATE: Suddenly, the Democrats' grip on the Senate looks very tenuous indeed. With the party poised to take power with a 51-49 edge in January, Sen. Tim Johnson's unexpected hospitalization ignited the possibility of a 50-50 Senate and a return to the unprecedented power-sharing pact that existed during the first half of 2001. Johnson's illness alone would not create a vacancy in the Senate. Senators have convalesced for months, even years, and retained their Senate seats. Another South Dakota Senator, Republican Karl Mundt, was incapacitated by a stroke in 1969, but served until the end of his term in 1972. Only resignation, death or expulsion by two-thirds of the Senate can create a vacancy. If Johnson's seat would become vacant sometime in the next two years, South Dakota Gov. Michael Rounds, a Republican, would select a replacement. A GOP appointment would split the Senate anew, giving Vice President Dick Cheney the tie-breaking role and, thus, the numerical majority in the chamber to the Republicans. AP via Yahoo! News: Johnson's illness threatens Dems' power WELL-WISHERS ON THE HILL: The new, artificial Christmas tree for Sen. Tim Johnson's office here remained unopened in a long cardboard box. Instead, Johnson's office was filled Thursday with flowers and cards brought by a steady stream of well-wishers rooting for the senator's recovery from brain surgery. One card was delivered by Benjamin Ready, a field representative for Republican Sen. John Thune. Johnson, a Democrat, beat Thune by 524 votes in the closest Senate race of 2002. When Thune was elected to the Senate two years later, the home-state colleagues vowed to make their Senate relationship work. That bipartisan cooperation was evident after Johnson's surgery. "They've been wonderful," Johnson's field representative Sharon Boysen said of Thune's staff. Rep. Stephanie Herseth, a Democrat and the state's lone member of the House of Representatives, and her staff "brought us lunch today," Boysen said. "There were Krispy Kremes here this morning." Boysen called the outpouring from the state "amazing." USA Today: Good wishes pour in for Sen. Johnson HOUSE DEMS PLAN "TASK FORCE TO EVALUATE ETHICS ENFORCEMENT PROCESS": As part of their effort to overhaul ethics and lobbying rules, House Democratic leaders are planning to create a bipartisan task force to evaluate the ethics enforcement process and return with recommendations by the end of March. That panel will consider whether lawmakers should outsource at least part of the policing power currently vested in the ethics committees to a new, independent office. Public interest groups have pushed for the creation of the office as their top priority in the upcoming reform drive, but some Democratic lawmakers have indicated uneasiness with that idea. The development came Thursday as Democratic leaders circulated an outline of their reform proposals to Caucus members. Incoming House Democrats were briefed on the package during conference calls. Roll Call: House Democrats Plan Bipartisan Task Force on Ethics Reform CBC ASKS FOR MORE DIVERSITY IN HILL HIRING: The Congressional Black Caucus has asked Democratic leaders to hire more minorities to work for House committees and on lawmakers' staffs, saying the dearth of diversity on Capitol Hill is a problem. In a letter to House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi and the leaders of the Democratic Steering Committee, the CBC said the party must increase the number of minorities working for committees and subcommittees, which will be controlled by Democrats. The hiring of black, Hispanic, Asian and other minority staffers has "been a major problem" for years, said outgoing CBC Chairman Melvin Watt, North Carolina Democrat. "All you have to do is look at the composition of committees, subcommittees and leadership staffs," Mr. Watt said, adding that the lack of diversity extends to legislators' staffs. Although Mr. Watt did not provide numbers, committee staffers who spoke with The Washington Times on the condition of anonymity said that fewer than 50 minorities are among the hundreds of committee staffers. Washington Times: Minority hiring on Hill pushed C-SPAN WANTS THE FULL PICTURE: In a Dec. 14 letter, C-SPAN CEO and Chairman Brian Lamb asked Pelosi to roll back the three-decade old practice that put the House Speaker in charge of the cameras. C-SPAN and the House reached the current agreement in 1979 when cameras were first introduced to the chamber. He wrote that he sought a similar agreement in 1994 when Republicans captured control of the House, but he did not get it. Lamb wrote that the current 28-year-old arrangement is "an anachronism that does a disservice to the institution and to the public…Congressional technicians are limited to taking static, head-on shots of the representative who's speaking at the podium." Rules and established practices prevent cameras from taking individual reaction shots or from panning the chamber, leaving viewers with an incomplete picture of what's happening in the House," he added. The Hill: C-SPAN presses Pelosi on transparency U.S. GIVES UP ON "CRITICAL" SECURITY PROGRAM: In a major blow to the Bush administration's efforts to secure borders, domestic security officials have for now given up on plans to develop a facial or fingerprint recognition system to determine whether a vast majority of foreign visitors leave the country, officials say. Domestic security officials had described the system, known as U.S. Visit, as critical to security and important in efforts to curb illegal immigration. Similarly, one-third of the overall total of illegal immigrants are believed to have overstayed their visas, a Congressional report says. Tracking visitors took on particular urgency after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, when it became clear that some of the hijackers had remained in the country after their visas had expired. But in recent days, officials at the Homeland Security Department have conceded that they lack the financing and technology to meet their deadline to have exit-monitoring systems at the 50 busiest land border crossings by next December. A vast majority of foreign visitors enter and exit by land from Mexico and Canada, and the policy shift means that officials will remain unable to track the departures. New York Times: U.S. Is Dropping Effort to Track if Visitors Leave GOP ENVIRONMENTAL AGENDA "THWARTED" IN 109TH: If ever there was a Congress in which Republicans were positioned to remake the nation's environmental laws, it was the 109th. But by the time the session ended last week, the GOP's environmental agenda had been largely thwarted. Whether it was rewriting the Endangered Species Act, opening up most of the nation's coastline to oil and gas drilling, or selling off public lands in the West, Republicans failed to enact a range of ambitious proposals. "It was the best chance for Republican-shaped initiatives for as long we can remember," said Daniel Kemmis, senior fellow at the Center for the Rocky Mountain West at the University of Montana. Los Angeles Times: GOP misses chance to reshape environmental laws JERSEY LAWMAKERS VOTE TO ALLOW GAY CIVIL UNIONS: Lawmakers voted yesterday to make New Jersey the third state in the nation to allow gay couples to form civil unions with all the rights and responsibilities of married couples. The historic votes by both houses of the state Legislature came just 50 days after the state Supreme Court declared New Jersey's constitution requires equality for same-sex couples and gave lawmakers six months to enact change. The bill amending New Jersey's 1912 marriage law was adopted over the objections of social conservatives -- who said it threatens the sanctity of marriage and who railed against judicial activism -- as well as of gay-rights activists, who pressed lawmakers to call it marriage. The court had left it to the Legislature to decide whether to use that term. The bill passed 56-19 in the Assembly, and 23-12 in the Senate. Newark Star-Ledger: N.J. lawmakers approve gay civil unions ROMNEY REAFFIRMS ANTI-GAY MARRIAGE STANCE: Republican Gov. Mitt Romney, who is weighing a White House bid, dismissed criticism that he has flip-flopped on the issues of gay marriage and abortion and reaffirmed his opposition to both. "Like the vast majority of Americans, I've opposed same-sex marriage, but I've also opposed unjust discrimination against anyone, for racial or religious reasons, or for sexual preference," Romney said in an interview with the National Review magazine published online Thursday. Regarding abortion, Romney said - as he has said previously - that although he campaigned for governor as an abortion-rights supporter, he changed his position several years ago after being briefed on embryonic stem-cell research. "I'm committed to promoting the culture of life," the Massachusetts governor told the conservative magazine. "Like Ronald Reagan and Henry Hyde and others who became pro-life, I had this issue wrong in the past." AP via Yahoo! News: Romney again says he's anti-gay marriage "I WOULDN'T RUN IF I DIDN'T THINK I COULD WIN": On the cusp of a historic decision over whether to run for the White House, Sen. Barack Obama said Thursday that he believed he would be a "viable candidate" for president who could move the nation beyond the generational politics that have defined the last 40 years. "I wouldn't run if I didn't think I could win," Obama (D-Ill.) said in a wide-ranging, hourlong interview with the Tribune editorial board in which the senator articulated a rationale for his potential candidacy, confidence in his ability to win and an assessment of potential opponents—both Democrat and Republican. Obama said that he would reveal his decision in January, following a two-week family vacation that returns him to his roots in Hawaii, setting an extraordinary arc for a politician who a little more than two years ago was a state senator toiling in Springfield. Chicago Tribune: Obama: Not 'the un-Hillary' HILLARY INVITED TO HEADLINE NEW HAMPSHIRE "100 CLUB" EVENT: New Hampshire Democrats have invited New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to be the featured speaker at a major fundraiser early next year and the potential presidential candidate is considering the invite. The trip would be Clinton's first to the early presidential primary state in more than 10 years. Her last visit was in October 1996 when the then-first lady campaigned for Democratic candidates, including her husband's re-election bid. The New Hampshire fundraiser - known as the "100 Club" fundraiser - is usually held in February or early March. AP via Yahoo! News: New Hampshire Dems invite Clinton to speak FAT AMERICANS SPEND 64 DAYS A YEAR WATCHING TV: Americans drank more than 23 gallons of bottled water per person in 2004 - about 10 times as much as in 1980. We consumed more than twice as much high fructose corn syrup per person as in 1980 and remained the fattest inhabitants of the planet, although Mexicans, Australians, Greeks, New Zealanders and Britons are not too far behind. At the same time, Americans spent more of their lives than ever — about eight-and-a-half hours a day — watching television, using computers, listening to the radio, going to the movies or reading. This eclectic portrait of the American people is drawn from the 1,376 tables in the Census Bureau's 2007 Statistical Abstract of the United States, the annual feast for number crunchers that is being served up by the federal government today. New York Times: Fatter, Taller and Thirstier Americans MORE STATS (via Census.gov) |
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• Sen. Johnson responding to wife's voice, following...• House task force to look at independent ethics boa... • Johnson having an "uncomplicated post-operative co... • Ahead on CNN • McCain recruits key Florida, Michigan Republicans • Record amount spent on campaign ads in 2006 • Johnson able to retain senate seat even in prolong... • Pelosi plans to establish new intelligence oversig... • New Hampshire Democrats invite Clinton to headline... • Romney reaffirms his opposition to gay marriage, a... SUBSCRIBE
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