Wednesday, January 03, 2007
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Compiled by Stephen Bach CNN Washington Bureau Making news today... In an op-ed in today's Wall Street Journal, Bush writes: "In the days ahead, I will be addressing our nation about a new strategy to help the Iraqi people gain control of the security situation and hasten the day when the Iraqi government gains full control over its affairs. Ultimately, Iraqis must resolve the most pressing issues facing them. We can't do it for them." At 3:30 pm ET, Ford will be buried in a private interment service on the grounds of his presidential museum in Grand Rapids. President's Schedule: Also, this evening, "the president will host a bicameral, bipartisan reception with approximately a dozen members of Congress and their spouses," White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said yesterday. On The Hill today: ================================================================= Political Hot Topics (Today's top political stories from news organizations across the country) STRATEGY SPEECH EXPECTED EARLY NEXT WEEK: President Bush is expected to announce his new Iraq strategy in an address to the nation early next week, several sources in Washington told CNN... Bush wrote a commentary published in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal promoting his agenda as the Democratic Party prepared to take control of Congress this week. "In the days ahead I will be addressing our nation about a new strategy to help the Iraqi people gain control of the security situation," Bush wrote. The president has not yet signed off on any changes, including a possible increase of U.S. troops, according to sources with information about Bush's deliberations on Iraq. However, the sources said Tuesday he is "driving toward a conclusion" and a plan is "taking shape" which is "getting more detailed" as the president puts "on the finer points." CNN: Officials: Bush mulls Iraq surge, address likely next week LEVIN WILL CALL ON GATES TO TESTIFY: Defense Secretary Robert Gates will be asked to testify about the Bush administration's approach to Iraq once President George W. Bush announces his new course, an aide to incoming Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin said. The Gates testimony may come as early as Jan. 11, said Levin spokeswoman Tara Andringa. It will be postponed if Bush has not yet delivered a planned address to the nation on Iraq, she said. The hearing may prove contentious, given the gap between Levin and other congressional Democrats and the Bush administration over how to proceed in Iraq. Levin, 72, a Michigan Democrat, has called for the U.S. to set a timetable of four to six months for withdrawing most of its forces from Iraq. Bloomberg: Gates to Be Called By Senate Panel After Bush Reveals Iraq Plan IRAQIS FORM COMMITTEE TO PROBE "ABUSIVE BEHAVIOR" AT SADDAM EXECUTION: Iraq's Shiite-led government said Tuesday that it had ordered an investigation into the abusive behavior at the execution of Saddam Hussein, who was subjected to a battery of taunts by official Shiite witnesses and guards as he awaited his hanging. Officials said a three-man Interior Ministry committee would look into the scenes that have caused outrage and public demonstrations among Mr. Hussein's Sunni Arab loyalists in Iraq, and widespread dismay elsewhere, especially in the Middle East. New York Times: Iraq to Review Abusive Acts at Hussein's Execution NEW SECRETARY-GENERAL'S COMMENTS ON DEATH PENALTY DRAW ATTENTION: On his first official day on the job, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stepped back from the United Nations' long-standing opposition to the death penalty, saying capital punishment was an issue for each country to decide. Ban's statement Tuesday contrasted sharply with his predecessors' rejection of the death penalty and the U.N. special envoy to Iraq's condemnation of Saddam Hussein's execution. To U.N. watchers scrutinizing Ban's first moves, the remarks signaled that he would be more cautious than predecessor Kofi Annan in using the secretary-general's post as a bully pulpit, and that he was not afraid to depart from traditional U.N. positions. Los Angeles Times: New U.N. chief creates a stir on his first day BUSH OP-ED... "WE CAN'T PLAY POLITICS AS USUAL": "Tomorrow, members of the 110th Congress will take their oaths of office here in Washington. I will have the privilege of working with them for the next two years -- one quarter of my presidency, plenty of time to accomplish important things for the American people. Together, we have a chance to serve the American people by solving the complex problems that many don't expect us to tackle, let alone solve, in the partisan environment of today's Washington. To do that, however, we can't play politics as usual. Democrats will control the House and Senate, and therefore we share the responsibility for what we achieve." Wall Street Journal: What the Congress Can Do for America LIBERALS TO PROTEST NEW LEADERS ON DAY 1 OF 110TH: Democratic leaders set to take control of Congress tomorrow are facing mounting pressure from liberal activists to chart a more confrontational course on Iraq and the issues of human rights and civil liberties, with some even calling for the impeachment of President Bush. The carefully calibrated legislative blitz that Democrats have devised for the first 100 hours of power has left some activists worried the passion that swept the party to power in November is already dissipating. A cluster of protesters will greet the new congressional leaders at the Capitol tomorrow. They will not be disgruntled conservatives wary of Democratic control, but liberals demanding a ban on torture, an end to warrantless domestic spying and a restoration of curbed civil liberties. Washington Post: Activists on the Left Applying Pressure to Democratic Leaders WHEN EXACTLY DOES THAT "100 HOURS" START? Even as Democrats filtered back to Capitol Hill on Tuesday in anticipation of the opening of the 110th Congress on Thursday, there was a bit of confusion about just when the 100 hours would officially begin. Would it be as soon as the new Congress was sworn in and began voting on internal rules changes? Or when the House takes up its first actual legislation next Tuesday? And since it is 100 hours of strictly legislative activity, the clock would be on pause when House members give their customary one-minute speeches at the start of each day and during the "special orders" at night when members reserve floor time to carry on about their favorite issues for the C-Span audience. And next Monday is out since the House, despite Democratic pledges of a disciplined five-day work schedule, will not be in session. New York Times: Democrats Plan First 100 Hours, Give or Take a Speech PLAN TO BYPASS COMMITTEES LEAVES PELOSI OPEN TO CRITICISM: [A]s party leaders prepare to push their legislative priorities before President Bush delivers his State of the Union address later this month, they realize they can't meet their pledge to complete their agenda within the first 100 hours if they allow full hearings, debate and amendments. To quicken passage of bills to raise the minimum wage, expand stem cell research and tighten homeland security, among others, Democrats say they will bypass House committees, move legislation directly to the floor and strictly limit the GOP's ability to make changes. The decision opens Pelosi to attack from Republicans who say she is beginning her speakership by reneging on a campaign promise to restore the rights of the minority party. San Francisco Chronicle: Pelosi to strike fast on agenda HOUSE DEMS TO UNVEIL ETHICS PACKAGE: House Democrats hurried yesterday to put the finishing touches on ethics reforms that would ban lawmakers and staffers from accepting trips, gifts and meals from lobbyists and prevent the new majority from holding votes open to change the outcome. Democrats will adopt and then amend the House Rules package tomorrow to ban all travel paid for by lobbyists or organizations that employ lobbyists, require the ethics committee to pre-approve travel paid for by outside groups, enact a total gift ban, and require lawmakers to pay the market cost of flying on a corporate jet, said Democratic staffers and officials with government watchdog groups. The Hill: Dems finalize new rules CLYBURN'S RISE: In this time of change in Congress, Rep. James Clyburn, a minister's son from South Carolina, takes his place tomorrow as the House Majority Whip -- the No. 3 Democratic post and highest ever held by an African-American from a Southern district. The 66-year-old Mr. Clyburn, who was 25 before the Voting Rights Act was enacted, symbolizes the rise of a set of Southern black lawmakers, shaped by the region and with a distinctive approach to politics separate from that of black leaders representing urban Northern districts. Georgia Rep. John Lewis, a sharecropper's son who won national fame in the civil rights movement, will be chairman of a panel within the House tax-writing committee. Wall Street Journal: Clyburn Leads Southern Blacks' Ascent To Top Posts in Congress LEAHY HITS DOJ AFTER REFUSAL TO TURN OVER TERROR DOCS: The incoming chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday described as "disappointing" the Justice Department's refusal to release documents detailing the Bush administration's interrogation and detention policy for terrorism suspects. Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat, called on the department and the White House to "reconsider their response" and work with the committee "to promptly share this information, with any appropriate confidentiality safeguards." Mr. Leahy, who bitterly criticized FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III last month during a committee hearing for refusing to discuss the Bush administration's domestic terrorist-surveillance program, has promised that as chairman he will target what he called the "unprecedented" efforts by the administration to "hide its own activities from the public." Washington Times: Leahy warns Justice over terror policies K STREET FIRMS LOCKING UP DEM TALENT: New Democratic lawmakers aren't the only ones measuring for drapes and unsealing boxes. In a job swapping cycle unseen for some time, Democratic congressional aides and former members are leaping to lucrative lobbying posts, Democratic lobbyists are grabbing for influential jobs in Congress and advocacy groups are waging bidding wars for the best talent around. Call it a six-year itch. Washington's $2.3 billion lobbying industry is undergoing one of its periodic adjustments to shifts in government power - the first since the White House changed hands in 2001. Accustomed to dealing with Republicans and at times discouraged by Republican lawmakers from hiring Democrats, lobbying firms and business groups are now filling their ranks with policy experts and lobbyists more closely aligned with the new leadership on Capitol Hill. AP via Yahoo! News: Lobbyists hired to align with Congress SETBACK FOR SAME-SEX MARRIAGE IN MA: A week after the state's highest court declared lawmakers had a duty to cast a vote, the Massachusetts Legislature yesterday advanced a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, pushing it over a critical hurdle to get onto the 2008 state ballot. In a tense afternoon of nose-counting and backroom negotiations, the proposal received 62 votes, a dozen more than required, from the joint session of the House and Senate... The proposed amendment now moves to the next legislative session, where it will have to be approved again by at least 50 lawmakers in order to be placed on the November 2008 ballot. The narrow margin left gay marriage advocates optimistic they could defeat the measure in the new legislative session, which begins today. Boston Globe: Same-sex marriage ban advances NJ MAY BE 1ST STATE IN 35 YEARS TO ABOLISH DEATH PENALTY: A state study commission recommended yesterday that New Jersey's death penalty, which has never been carried out during nearly a quarter-century on the books, should be abolished and replaced with life imprisonment without possibility of parole. That would make New Jersey the first state since 1972 to abolish capital punishment by legislative action. Gov. Jon Corzine and Democratic legislative leaders quickly endorsed the proposal, while Republican leaders said they continue to believe death is an appropriate punishment for the worst murderers. Newark Star-Ledger: Panel calls for an end to death penalty ROMNEY WANTS TO BE "CLEAR CONSERVATIVE STANDARD-BEARER": Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who today will file papers forming a committee to explore a run for president in 2008, has spent recent months moving steadily to try to occupy the conservative ground in the Republican presidential field. His entry into the ranks of Republicans officially exploring a run for the presidency underscores the strange nature of the field at this point - there is no candidate able to claim the position of the clear conservative standard-bearer, so all of the candidates think they can win a sizable chunk of those all-important primary voters. "The case that he's going to make is that Mitt Romney has a record of governing that demonstrates an extraordinary level of accomplishment that will lead the country toward success," said a Romney aide familiar with the governor's decision to announce the exploratory committee. Washington Times: Romney eyes 2008 bid, sets sights on conservative base WILL OBAMA'S HONESTY ABOUT PAST DRUG USE HURT HIS AMBITIONS? Long before the national media spotlight began to shine on every twist and turn of his life's journey, Barack Obama had this to say about himself: "Junkie. Pothead. That's where I'd been headed: the final, fatal role of the young would-be black man... I got high [to] push questions of who I was out of my mind." The Democratic senator from Illinois and likely presidential candidate offered the confession in a memoir written 11 years ago, not long after he graduated from law school and well before he contemplated life on the national stage... Obama's revelations were not an issue during his Senate campaign two years ago. But now his open narrative of early, bad choices, including drug use starting in high school and ending in college, as well as his tortured search for racial identity, are sure to receive new scrutiny. Washington Post: Effect of Obama's Candor Remains to Be Seen CRIST AIDES SUSPECTED IN PLAYBOOK THEFT: Suspicion ran high yesterday that Rudy Giuliani's lost White House campaign playbook was swiped by aides to Florida's new governor - while the ex-mayor was helping him win election, sources told The Post. Giuliani's aides were tightlipped about how it disappeared, but said it happened during a private plane ride on the campaign trail for 2006 candidates. They included Florida Gov. Charles Crist. "During one leg of his campaign travel, all luggage was removed from a private plane and later put back on," said Giuliani's spokeswoman, Sunny Mindel. "During one leg of his campaign travel, all luggage was removed from a private plane and later put back on," said Giuliani's spokeswoman, Sunny Mindel. New York Post: RUDY'S TRAITORS |
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