Thursday, March 08, 2007
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Compiled by Stephen Bach CNN Washington Bureau Making news today... The measure would link the conditions to the nearly $100 billion the Bush administration requested for fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan this year. That legislation is expected on the House floor later this month. One condition stipulates the creation of a deadline for U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq if Bush fails to produce evidence that the Iraqi government is meeting specific benchmarks -- such as training Iraqi forces and sharing oil revenue. (CNN Wire) In head-to-head match-ups of the top two Democratic and Republican presidential candidates, the poll finds Hillary Clinton leads Barack Obama, 47-39 percent, and Rudy Giuliani leads John McCain, 55-34 percent. (NBC News) "Cheney has become the Administration's enemy within, the man whose single-minded pursuit of ideological goals, creaking political instincts and love of secrecy produced an independent operation inside the White House that has done more harm than good." (TIME.com) President's Schedule: Also on the Political Radar: ================================================================= Political Hot Topics (Today's top political stories from news organizations across the country) "SURGE" INTO 2008: The day-to-day commander of American forces in Iraq has recommended that the heightened American troop levels there be maintained through February 2008, military officials said Wednesday. The White House has never said exactly how long it intends the troop buildup to last, but military officials say the increased American force level will begin declining in August unless additional units are sent or more units are held over. The confidential assessment by the commander, Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, reflects the military's new counterinsurgency doctrine, which puts a premium on sustained efforts to try to win over a wary population. It also stems from the complex logistics of deploying the five additional combat brigades that are being sent to Iraq as part of what the White House calls a "surge" of forces. New York Times: Buildup in Iraq Needed Into '08, U.S. General Says SEVEN IN TEN PESSIMISTIC ON IRAQ OUTCOME: Almost two months after President Bush announced he was sending more than 21,000 additional troops into Iraq, saying, "We can, and we will, prevail," nearly seven in 10 Americans remain pessimistic about the war's outcome, the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds... According to the poll, a whopping 69 percent say they are less confident the Iraq war will come to a successful conclusion, compared with just 20 percent who are more confident. That finding is virtually unchanged from the previous two NBC/Journal polls, which were taken in January and December. What's more, a similar number believe the war in Afghanistan against al-Qaida and the Taliban is faring poorly. Sixty-nine percent say the war there isn't going well, versus 28 percent who think it is. NBC News: Nearly 70 percent pessimistic on war outcome MORE POLL RESULTS: (pdf via MSNBC.com) "THE ADMINISTRATION'S ENEMY WITHIN": George Bush's sense of humor has always run more to frat-house gag than art-house irony, so he may not have appreciated the poetic justice any more than the legal justice on display in the Libby verdict. Or, to be more precise, the Cheney verdict. Bush stumped just about everyone seven years ago when he tapped the safe and solid Dick Cheney to be his running mate. But Bush didn't want any trouble. He didn't want a Vice President who preened before the cameras. He didn't want a policy sparring partner. And he didn't want someone who would check out after five years and run for President himself. And because Bush got exactly the kind of partner he wanted, he now faces the very problem he tried to avoid. Cheney has become the Administration's enemy within, the man whose single-minded pursuit of ideological goals, creaking political instincts and love of secrecy produced an independent operation inside the White House that has done more harm than good. TIME: Dick Cheney in Twilight JUROR CALLS FOR LIBBY PARDON: Saying "I don't want him to go to jail," a member of the jury that convicted I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby of perjury and obstruction of justice in the CIA leak case called Wednesday for President Bush to pardon Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff. The woman, Ann Redington, said in an interview on MSNBC's "Hardball" that she cried when the verdicts against Libby were read Tuesday. She said Libby seemed to be "a really nice guy." Redington said "it was very difficult - it was hard" to vote to convict Libby, who was found guilty of four of five felony counts accusing him of lying to a federal grand jury and the FBI. Prosecutors said he hoped to derail a special prosecutor's investigation of the leak of the identity of Valerie Plame, a covert CIA operative. MSNBC: Juror calls on Bush to pardon Libby "TWO WORDS WITH A COMBUSTIBLE HISTORY": If some people imagined a verdict in the criminal trial of I. Lewis Libby Jr. would calm the political passions surrounding his fate, they may have forgotten two words with a combustible history: presidential pardon. The 11 jurors had barely pronounced Mr. Libby guilty of obstruction of justice and perjury on Tuesday when a new donnybrook broke out. "Now President Bush must pledge not to pardon Libby for his criminal conduct," declared Senator Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada and the majority leader, taking a stance echoed by other Congressional Democrats, some editorial writers and bloggers on the left. New York Times: Debate Over a Pardon Follows the Libby Verdict COUNTERING HUGO: President George W. Bush heads to Latin America today to rally support among leaders who may not like Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez much more than he does. Bush's five-country tour takes him to a region feeling the tug of promised aid from and trade with the U.S. on the one hand, and the lure of the socialist Chavez's oil-fueled, anti-American populism on the other. Bush took office with a promise to pay special attention to Latin America -- a goal that fell victim to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the invasion of Iraq, which diverted U.S. attention. Bloomberg: Bush Aims to Counter Chavez's Influence on Latin American Trip DHS TESTING "SUPERSNOOP" COMPUTER: Homeland Security officials are testing a supersnoop computer system that sifts through personal information on U.S. citizens to detect possible terrorist attacks, prompting concerns from lawmakers who have called for investigations. The system uses the same data-mining process that was developed by the Pentagon's Total Information Awareness (TIA) project that was banned by Congress in 2003 because of vast privacy violations. A Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation of the project called ADVISE -- Analysis, Dissemination, Visualization, Insight and Semantic Enhancement -- was requested by Rep. David R. Obey, Wisconsin Democrat and chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. Washington Times: Homeland Security revives supersnoop DOMENICI HIRES LAWYER, JUD. PANEL PREPARING TO SUBPOENA DOJ OFFICIALS: Senate Democrats said yesterday they are preparing to subpoena five senior Justice Department officials as part of a widening probe into whether eight U.S. attorneys were fired for political reasons. The fallout from the investigation into why the prosecutors were dismissed continued yesterday. Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.) hired a top defense attorney to handle a related probe by the Senate ethics committee, which is investigating allegations that he pressured a New Mexico prosecutor to bring indictments against a Democrat just before the November elections. The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote today to authorize subpoenas for Justice officials, including Michael A. Battle, who carried out the firings, and Kyle Sampson, chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales. Washington Post: Subpoenas Likely for Justice Officials in Prosecutor Firings BLUNT HAS WILSON'S BACK: House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) Wednesday defended Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.), who has become entangled in a controversy over the firings of eight U.S. attorneys last year. During his weekly meeting with reporters, Blunt said that it was inappropriate for members to pressure U.S. attorneys but added that he did not believe Wilson did anything wrong. "My view is it is inappropriate for any member of Congress or their staff to pressure a person from the Justice Department in any way," Blunt said. "But it is also my view that Heather Wilson has made it clear that she didn't do that, and I have confidence in her." Blunt was responding to a question about whether the ethics committee should launch an investigation into Wilson's phone call. The Hill: GOP leader defends Wilson TOO MUCH "BIG APPLE" IN RUDY BID? When Republicans say they are skeptical that Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, can survive their party's presidential nominating process, they usually point to his record of support for abortion rights, gay rights and gun control. But there may be a less obvious hurdle that Mr. Giuliani has to overcome: Whether he is too much of a New Yorker for the rest of the country. Americans like New York City, as officials in both parties are quick to say. Most find it vibrant, entertaining and an object of sympathy and pride since the terrorist attacks five and a half years ago that made Mr. Giuliani the national contender he is today. But the city, with all its tumult and rough edges, is not for everyone. And few people embody all the complicated facets of New York City as much as Mr. Giuliani. New York Times: New York Label May Not Fit All in Giuliani Run ONLY $375? IF IT WERE DC HIS WAR CHEST WOULD BE EMPTY: Barack Obama is no longer a scofflaw, at least in Cambridge and Somerville. Two weeks before the US senator from Illinois launched his presidential campaign, he paid parking tickets he received while attending Harvard Law School, officials said yesterday. Obama received 17 parking tickets in Cambridge between 1988 and 1991, according to the city's Traffic, Parking & Transportation Department. Of those tickets, he paid only two while he was a student and paid them late, said Susan Clippinger, the office's director. In January, about when the Globe began asking local officials about Obama's time at Harvard, including any violations of local laws, someone representing the senator called the parking office to inquire about the decades-old tickets. On Jan. 26, the remaining $375 in fines and fees were paid by credit card using the city's website, Clippinger said. She said she didn't know who paid them. Boston Globe: Obama paid late parking tickets SLIMMER DENNY: It's easy to see how losing the Speakership has affected Rep. Dennis Hastert: In the four months since Election Day, the Illinois Republican has lost an impressive 50 pounds, and he is working to trim down even more. "I'm finding these old suits in the back of my closet that are fitting again," Hastert said in a Tuesday interview in his Capitol office, after a monthlong stint at home during February to recover from gall bladder surgery helped him work to get his health - and weight - back under control. Diabetes, a poor diet and a grueling political schedule took a toll on Hastert's health in his eight years as the longest-serving Republican Speaker; he calculates that he went to more than 2,000 political events and fundraisers. Roll Call: Weight of Speaker Post Off Hastert |
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