A poll Bush could learn to love

Posted by Mark Silva at 2:48 pm CST

President Bush is hardly the first politician to liken law-making to the manufacture of sausage.

But Bush’s assessment today of the immigration debate taking shape in Congress, at his urging, carried an especially flavorful analogy.

Posted by Mark Silva at 8:45 am CST and updated at 2:20 pm CST

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- The difference between Dave "Mudcat'' Saunders and most Democratic campaign consultants is that Mudcat knows the difference between the cherished "Bubba'' voter and the sorry redneck.

Here's a big new test of that knowledge: Can Jim Webb, decorated Vietnam veteran, author and secretary of the Navy under President Reagan who is now sharply critical of the war in Iraq, overcome an incumbent Republican senator, George Allen of Virginia, with the help of a couple of guys who know their way around the backwoods of a very Red state?

Posted by Mark Silva at 6:15 am CST

Censure of the president and immigration reform are only a couple of the most controversial plates on the table of the Swamp today:

8:30 am CST: Senate resumes consideration of S.2454, the Border Security bill. There will be no roll call votes in the Senate today.

Posted by Mark Silva at 3:35 pm CST

Who says President Bush has no appreciation for the finer, cultural attractions of the foreign countries that he visits? So what if he went to India and never stopped to see the Taj Mahal?

Today, Bush took a little – and we mean, little – tour of the ancient Mayan ruins at Chichen-Itza on his way to a trilateral summit meeting with the leaders of Mexico and Canada at Cancun.

Posted by Mark Silva at 3:20 pm CST

"America is rushing headlong into disaster,’’ said the man testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today. This can be averted, he noted, “if we can only find the political will to do so.’’

This is one way to get the Senate’s attention – particularly when it comes to this nation’s dependence on imported oil, a dependency that affects every American who climbs behind the wheel of a car, pickup or SUV.

Posted by Matthew Chayes at 3:05 pm CST

A day after the Bush administration defended the legality of its military tribunals for suspected terrorists before a skeptical Supreme Court, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice took center stage for a broad defense of the Bush administration’s foreign policy in a ballroom overflowing with international lawyers.

And when you get lawyers in a ballroom, watch out for fireworks--or at least what passes for fireworks in this swamp of a town.

Posted by William Neikirk at 11:05 am CST

I was sitting at my desk when the phone rang. It was Steve Neal, our White House correspondent. He was out of breath, excited. "Reagan's been shot!" he shouted. "They've taken him to the hospital."

That call 25 years ago today touched off a surge of office activity as we all pulled together to report and write the story. We had early afternoon editions in those days, so time was of the essence. I paused a moment to gather myself. I had lived through the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King as well as attempts on Gerald Ford's life. I said to myself, "Please not again."

Posted by Mark Silva at 6:10 am CST

President Bush has left Washington for a two-day meeting with leaders of Mexico and Canada -- he arrived in Cancun, Mex., last night -- and the normally all-business traveling president will start his day with a tour of the historical Chichen-Itza ruins outside Cancun. Meanwhile, back in the Swamp:

8:30 am CST: Senate Foreign Relations Committee, hearing on "The Hidden Cost of Oil.'' 419 Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Posted by Jeff Zeleny at 5:38 p.m.

In the end, the Democratic point man on ethics and lobbying reform voted no.

When the Senate passed its election-year ethics package this afternoon by a 90 to 8 vote, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) was among those opposing the legislation. Two other Democrats and five Republicans also voted no, including Arizona Sen. John McCain, one of the most vocal advocates on the subject.

So why would the senators who seemed so supportive of reform object to the legislation? Because the final product was thin soup, absent any of the tough components ranging from regulating air travel to creating an office of public integrity to police the lawmakers.

Posted by William Neikirk at 3:50 p.m. CST

Public officials spend much of their time putting a positive spin on their achievements. That's natural. But with the sharp partisan divide in American politics, sorting through the rhetoric to determine how well your government is performing can lead to confusion.

Reading reports from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) often helps me cut through the political cacophony. The GAO, Congress' watchdog arm, gathers facts independently and lays them on the line. Often, the reports can be a little on the dull side, but beneath most all of them lies a deep current of truth: Your government needs to improve its performance, especially when it comes to the biggest issue of our time, security.

Posted by Mark Silva at 2:45 pm CST

The favorite ride of the president’s incoming chief of staff is a Harley Fat Boy, and to appreciate how much of an insider Joshua Bolten has become in the Bush administration, suffice it to say that Bolten keeps a spare hog at the president’s ranch.

Yet Bolten also is Washington, D.C-born, son of a career CIA man. And despite his credentials as one of the central strategists of the 2000 presidential campaign born in Austin, Tex., Bolten counts the liberal Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine of New Jersey among his fans - Corzine once competed with Bush in hiring Bolten.

“I’ve ridden motorcycles for a long time - it’s not just a midlife crisis,’’ Bolten told C-Span in an interview last year. “The one that I ride most now, the one that’s really close to my heart, is the Harley-Davidson Fat Boy, a 2003 anniversary edition.’’

Posted by Frank James at 11:55 a.m. CST

President Bush was saved from having to make a ticklish decision this morning about whether to go through with his scheduled meeting with Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo by the arrest of Charles Taylor, the former Liberian president and warlord.

Taylor “disappeared” from the Nigerian city where he had been living in exile following reports that Nigeria had agreed to hand him over to United Nations forces. The U.N. was to turn him over to a war-crimes tribunal in Sierra Leone for his alleged role in atrocities against the population committed by fighters aligned with him.

Posted by Frank James at 7:05 a.m. CST

Some Washington events-of-interest for Wednesday, March 29, 2006, from the Associated Press.

Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) holds a helmet safety press conference to launch a new helmet guide. With Dick Button, Olympic gold medalist and skating commentator, who serves as national spokesman for the Brain Injury Association of America. 10 a.m. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 4330 East West Highway, fourth floor hearing room, Bethesda, Md.

Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) holds a news conference on outsourcing homeland security and trade policy. 10 a.m. Cannon Terrace. Cannon House Office Building.

Posted by William Neikirk at 5:35 p.m.

Ben Bernanke came out blazing Tuesday in his first big meeting as chairman of the Federal Reserve. The central bank raised short-term interest rates a 15th straight time and signaled that there will likely be a 16th at its May meeting. And some analysts predicted that there could be more after that.

For those who thought that Bernanke was going to be a laid-back guy who thought there should be a pause in raising interest rates, he was a big disappointment. He and his central bank colleagues cited the potential for more inflationary pressure coming from higher prices for energy and other commodities. They boosted the Fed's benchmark short-term interest rate from 4.5 to 4.75 percent.

Posted by Frank James at 4:09 pm CST

The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, known as TRAC, released a new study that shows that the Internal Revenue Service conducts face-to-face audits on a smaller percentage of millionaires than low-income taxpayers.

While this is not a new trend, it is still interesting, especially as April 15 approaches.

Posted by Frank James at 1:38 p.m. CST

The White House announcement that Andrew Card is stepping down as White House chief-of-staff to be replaced by Josh Bolten, who will vacate the Office of Management and Budget director’s job, is being treated as big news in Washington.

It’s likely that most people beyond the Beltway couldn't care less about this high-level personnel shuffle. But what happens inside the White House can often have global consequences. So a change like this could matter, even to those who’ve never heard of Card.

Posted by Frank James at 12:04 p.m CST

The Indian embassy issued a press release with a word unfamiliar to a few of us in the newsroom--'prepone,' as in "We will prepone the press conference, not postpone it." For anyone out there who knows, is this a typical Indian usage or is there a rogue wordsmith at the Indian embassy?

Posted by Frank James at 7:02 a.m CST

Some Washington events-of-interest for Tuesday, March 28, 2006, from the Associated Press.

National Association of Health Underwriters holds a half-day conference to discuss solutions to the health insurance coverage problems facing Americans. Congressional update with Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. Congressional staff debate "The True Cost Drivers in Health Care." "President's Health Care Agenda," with Al Hubbard, Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and the Director of the National Economic Council. 8:30 a.m. Capital Hilton Hotel, 1001 16th St. NW.

Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the wartime executive powers and the NSA's surveillance authority. 9 a.m. Hart Senate Office Building, room 219. Begins as closed session, followed by open session.

Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Bioterrorism and Public Health Preparedness Subcommittee hearing on the infrastructure for public health services. 10 a.m. Dirksen SOB, room 430.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonse Jackson addresses the annual legislative conference of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers. 2 p.m. Wyndham Hotel, 1400 M St. NW.

Posted by Andrew Martin at 1:10 pm CST

It seems as if everyone in the dairy business is out to stop Hein Hettinga, a prosperous dairy farmer who just happens to sell about the cheapest milk in the nation.

First the U.S. Department of Agriculture passed regulations, effective April 1, that would effectively curtail Hettinga’s business. And now, Congress is considering a bill-called the Milk Regulatory Equity Act-which would do the same thing. It’s scheduled for a vote Tuesday in the House of Representatives, having already passed the Senate.

Posted by Mark Silva at 11:20 am CST

Samira Honarmand first came to the United States from Iran 12 years ago, became a citizen and had two children - “I have lots of good American friends. And my boys, ’’ she proudly declares, “they are American.’’

And today her mother, Ozra Fathi Koohi, became an American as well, raising her right hand and swearing the oath of citizenship in a small assembly imbued with great meaning - with President Bush greeting the 30 newest U.S. citizens this morning at the start of what promises to be a contentious debate about reforming the nation’s immigration laws.

Posted by Frank James at 7:00 a.m CST

I received a press release over the weekend announcing a hunger strike in San Francisco to protest some of the more draconian immigration legislation on Capitol Hill right now.

The press release appears to be a case of no good deed going unpunished, at least when it comes to Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.,) the moderate Republican chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The press release says the planned hunger strike is to protest of H.R. 4437 which they identify as the "Specter bill" and part of a "witch hunt against immigrants."

But the bill the protesters are incensed about is not Specter's legislation but that of Rep. James Sensenbrenner, chairman of the HOUSE Judiciary Committee, and a Wisconsin Republican.

Posted by Frank James at 8:00 a.m CST

Today the Senate takes on a little bit of that March Madness feel, with last-second heroics possible as the Senate Judiciary Committee races to meet today's deadline, imposed by Senate Majority Leader Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) to produce an immigration-reform bill.

If the clock runs out today on the committee and it hasn't produced a bill, Frist has said he will introduce his own legislation that's heavy on enforcement. His bill would do little, however, to ease the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. into some form of legal status.

While the judiciary committee appears to be headed towards tightening enforcement too, it also by most accounts wants to establish a path for legalization.

Posted by Frank James at 6:00 a.m. CST

Some Washington events-of-interest for Monday, March 27, 2006, from the Associated Press.

Senate Judiciary Committee takes up immigration reform legislation and other matters. 10 a.m. Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace holds a discussion on Islamist movements and the democratic process in the Arab World. 12:15 p.m. 1779 Massachusetts Ave. NW

School of Advanced International Studies holds a discussion on the upcoming Cancun conference between the U.S., Canada and Mexico. 12:30 p.m. Room 812, 1619 Massachusetts Ave. NW.

Veterans Administration Secretary Nicholson gives the "State of VA" speech. 12:30 p.m. National Press Club.

Falun Gong practitioners hold a rally and hunger strike to demand an investigation into reports of an alleged death camp for followers of Falun Gong. 1 p.m. Lafayette Park.

Posted by Frank James at 1:07 p.m. CST

After yesterday's Washington D.C. press conference where civil-rights leaders vowed to fight the planned April 22 New Orleans election, I asked Rev. Jesse Jackson about his view of the national Democratic party's response to the plight of displaced voters. To say he wasn't satisfied with their response would be an understatement.

He said he met with Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean last week as well as Senate and House minority leaders, Sen. Harry Reid (D.-Nev) and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.)

Posted by Frank James at 6:27 p.m. CST

At a press conference here today, some of the nation’s best-known civil rights leaders vowed to fight the upcoming New Orleans city election.

The election, they said, would grossly violate the 1965 Voting Rights Act since thousands of city’s voters dispersed across the nation by Hurricane Katrina would find it difficult to participate.

Posted by Jeff Zeleny at 11:55 p.m. CST

Former Chicago radio personality Nancy Skinner is running for office again. The politically inclined may -- or may not -- remember that she received 1 percent of the vote in the 2004 Democratic Senate primary in Illinois. That, of course, was the election that launched the national career of Sen. Barack Obama, who won 53 percent of the vote.

Skinner, who was suspended from her duties at a Chicago radio station after announcing on air that she intended to run for Senate, moved to Michigan. And now, she is running for Congress in the state's 9th District.

Posted by Mark Silva at 11:05 am CST

Here was George W. Bush, face to face with Benjamin Franklin, and some of the president’s own words were coming back to him:

“War is difficult,’’ Franklin, dressed in knickers, told Bush and some 100 guests at the White House. “Lives are lost. Property is destroyed.’’

Posted by Frank James at 6:00 a.m. CST

Some Washington events-of-interest for Friday, March 24, 2006 from the Associated Press.

Georgetown University Law Center and Harvard Law School hosts a conference. "Economic and Social Inequality: The Role of Race in Law, Markets, and Social Structures." 8:30 a.m. - 6 p.m. Georgetown University Law Center, Hotung Building, Room 2000, 550 First St. NW.

Center for American Progress holds a day-long conference with academic and policy experts from around the country who will highlight options for reforming the tax code. 9 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. Center for American Progress, 1333 H St. NW, 10th Floor.

Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, sponsors a conference on "The Role of the Press, Political Parties and Interest Groups in the Supreme Court Nomination Process." 9 a.m-4:15 pm. National Press Club.

Consumer, Clinical and research groups hold the 2006 National Quality Forum to discuss a plan to increase awareness of the dangers surrounding Deep Vein Thrombosis. 9 a.m. Washington Renaissance Hotel, 999 9th St. NW.

Posted by Frank James at 4:18 pm CST

The Smoking Gun has gotten its hands on a copy of Vice President Cheney's hotel requirements and posted it on its web site. (Yes, another smoking gun-Cheney confluence.)

The list looks pretty standard, though I'm not sure why the hotel has to make sure all the lights in the vice president's suite are on. Can't the Secret Service advance person take care of that?

The buzz seems to be about the vice president's need to have all the televisions tuned to Fox News Channel. No surprise there, though the Weather Channel would be a good choice too.

Posted by Frank James at 3:50 pm CST

In another sign that Blackwater USA, the private-security firm, is assuming roles you’d normally associate with the U.S. military, the company has just created a parachute-demonstration team, a private-company version of the Army’s famous Golden Knights.

Blackwater, based in Moyock, N.C., has received a lot of attention due to its contractor role providing security in Iraq or in the post-Hurricane Katrina Gulf Coast.

Posted by Mark Silva at 11:32 am CST and updated at 2:45 pm CST

As the Senate nears a debate on immigration reform next week, President Bush is underscoring his desire for legislation that not only toughens control of the nation’s border, but also takes into account many of the 11 million undocumented immigrants already living and working in the United States.

Bush met with advocates of reform today at the White House. Yet the president has refrained from picking legislation in what promises to be a rough debate. It could pit the House - which already has approved a bill that concentrates on border control and offers nothing for the undocumented already here - against the Senate, with its Judiciary Committee debating a more “comprehensive’ bill that could reach the floor next week. Bush is all for comprehensiveness, but the lines drawn in this debate - with the Republican Party sharply divided within itself - could prevent anything from happening.

Posted by William Neikirk at 8:04 am CST

This is a city of many heavy concerns--Iraq, terrorism, the deficit, immigration reform, Social Security, Medicare, outsourcing of jobs, education, abortion and the next election. And then there's Alfonso Soriano.

No, Alfonso Soriano is not Bush's next Supreme Court nominee, nor the person the president will pick to bring new life into a White House suffering from second-term blues. He's an all-star baseball player for the Washington Nationals. And he pitched a hissy fit because the manager, Frank Robinson, insisted that he play left field, not second base where Soriano has played for previous teams.

Posted by Frank James at 6:11 a.m. CST

Some Washington events-of-interest for Thursday, March 23, 2006 from the Associated Press.

National Community Reinvestment Coalition holds a rally protesting Wal-Mart's application to establish an Industrial Loan Company. 8:30 a.m. Lafayette Square.

Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute hold a symposium on avian flu to assess health and surveillance readiness. 9 a.m. Russell Senate Office Building, room 418.

Brookings Institution and the Center for Strategic and International Studies co-host a discussion of Taiwan's role in peace and stability in East Asia. 9 a.m. Falk Auditorium, 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW.

Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, Foreign Minister of Afghanistan, visits American University to deliver remarks on Afghanistan's strategic objectives. 9:30 a.m. American University, Ward 1, 4400 Massacusetts Ave., NW.

Posted by Cam Simpson at 7:20 pm CST

Repeated suggestions by the White House and friendly commentators that the news media’s selective displays of terrorist attacks in Iraq are warping American public opinion seem to belie several unclassified assessments of the situation produced by the U.S. government itself.

In fact, just two weeks ago the Bush administration publicly released a detailed report stating that “even a highly selective” inventory of the terrorist attacks inside Iraq “could scarcely reflect the broad dimension of the violence” there.

Posted by Andrew Zajac at 5:08 p.m. CST

After putting a heavy emphasis on announcing busts of terror suspects for much of the past year, the Gonzales regime at the Justice Department is starting to broaden the public relations menu to include, among other things drugs and kiddie porn.

Posted by Frank James at 3:57 p.m CST

A few commenters have accused me of plagiarizing an idea from an Associated Press story in my posting “President Bush fights the strawmen” because my piece, which was posted to the Swamp after the AP piece, has essentially the same theme.

In fact, I independently observed the same thing as the AP reporter, independently drew my own conclusions, then wrote the posting.

I was totally unaware of the AP story until a commenter brought it to my attention. That I posted my piece a few days after the AP story ran is coincidence, no more.

Posted by Mark Silva at 12:40 pm CST

President Bush wrapped up a weeklong campaign to renew support for the war in Iraq today with a Merv Griffin-like appearance on a stage in Wheeling, W. Va.: A stage-roaming, question-fielding president asserting not only that he has a plan for victory, but also that it will succeed. The White House also offered some clarification today on the question of when U.S. troops might leave Iraq -- no telling.

“I’m an optimistic guy,’’ Bush said. “I believe we’ll succeed.’’

Posted by Frank James at 11:32 a.m CST

Now that Operation Iraqi Freedom war vet Tammy Duckworth has won the Democratic nomination for the sixth Congressional District seat in Illinois, the question is will her race against State Sen. Peter Roskam, the Republican nominee, wind up looking anything like last year’s Ohio contest that featured another Democratic Iraq veteran.

Paul Hackett, as you’ll recall, a former Marine who spent seven months in Iraq, lost narrowly to Republican Jean Schmidt in a special election in a staunchly Republican district.

Posted by Frank James at 7:01 a.m. CST

Some Washington events-of-interest for Wednesday, March 22, 2006 from the Associated Press.

Food and Drug Administration Pediatric Advisory Committee meets to discuss a report on adverse event reports possibly related to pharmaceutical products including clofarabine; irbesartin, (AVAPRO); sibutramine (MERIDIA); and mixed salts amphetamine (ADDERALL). The committee will also resume discussion on neuropsychiatric events possibly related to ADHD medication. 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. Hilton Gaithersburg, 620 Perry Parkway, Gaithersburg.

World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH) program hosts a half-day workshop entitled "Investing in Nutrition, Health and Sustainable Development," with panel discussions on food aid, nutritition, and challenges to public and private efforts to reduce hunger and encourage development. 8:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. Hart Senate Office Building, room 902.

Energy Secretary Bodman meets with the National Coal Council. 9 a.m. Grand Hyatt Hotel, 1000 H St. NW

Posted by Frank James at 1:21 pm CST

More thoughts on the president's conference today.

The press conference once again showed the president's fondness for the old debater's trick of setting up straw men and knocking them down, the result being that you look like you've demolished your opponents' ridiculous argument.

It's the rhetorical equivalent of fighting a battle on the ground of your choosing. The president often turns to this tactic whenever his approach to the war on terror is questioned.

Posted by Frank James at 10:46 am CST

President Bush just finished an hour-long press conference. He didn't really break any news.

It was another event in the White House's current strategy to counter the American public's falling support for the Iraq war by getting the president out in front of the cameras.

The president conceded as much. "I believe that my job is to go out and explain to people what's on my mind," he said. "That's why I'm having this press conference, see. I'm telling you what's on my mind. And what's on my mind is winning the war on terror."

Posted by Frank James at 8:57 a.m. CST.

President Bush is about to hold a White House press conference at 9 a.m. CST. The White House rarely gives the White House press corps much notice before these events.

Let's watch to see if the president randomly takes questions from the reporters or follows the usual pattern of going down a list of reporters that's written out for him by aides. If he drops the list, that would mark a real sea change.

Posted by Frank James at 7:04 a.m. CST

Some Washington events-of-interest for Tuesday, March 21, 2006 from the Associated Press.

The American Counseling Association holds a briefing on the role of school-employed mental health service providers. 8:30 a.m. Hart Senate Office Building, room 902.

Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty host a discussion on the controversial Belarus presidential election, including the government's tactics to silence opposition candidates and the erosion of civil liberties in Belarus. 9 a.m. conference room A, 4th floor, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff delivers remarks on chemical facility security issues at the The National Chemical Security Forum. 9 a.m. Capital Hilton, 16th and K Sts. NW.

The Census Bureau holds a news conference to release new details on Hispanic-owned businesses. 10 a.m. Commerce Department, room 4830.

Posted by Frank James at 5:27 pm CST

On the third anniversary of the U.S.’s Iraq invasion, Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) and Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) are renewing a request they made in 2004 that a memorial to those members of the military members who have fallen during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom be placed in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.

They had no success with the earlier effort during a presidential-election year. But for Democrats, who have in recent decades been less attractive than Republicans in courting military voters, there’s little to lose in making such a gesture and perhaps much to gain. The web site Iraq Coalition Casualty Count reports 2,318 have members of the U.S. military have died in Iraq and 282 in Afghanistan.

Posted by William Neikirk at 4:42 pm CST

Sen. Dick Durbin, Democrat from Illinois, created a major uproar last year when he compared the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay with the treatment of World War II prisoners by Nazi Germany and other infamous regimes. The criticism became so harsh that Durbin was forced to apologize. "Some may believe that my remarks crossed the line," Durbin said as he told the nation he was sorry.

In an op-ed article in Sunday's Washington Post, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld wrote: "Turning our backs on postwar Iraq today would be the modern equivalent of handing postwar Germany back to the Nazis. It would be as great as disgrace as if we had asked the liberated nations of Eastern Europe to return to Soviet dominaton because it was too hard or too tough or we didn't have the patience to work with them as they built free countries."

Posted by Frank James at 4:07 pm CST

After today’s Iraq speech in Cleveland, President Bush took questions that were apparently unscreened, and some were hardballs from audience members. Here’s one that brought a revealing answer from the president.

Q Mr. President, at the beginning of your talk today you mentioned that you understand why Americans have had their confidence shaken by the events in Iraq. And I'd like to ask you about events that occurred three years ago that might also explain why confidence has been shaken. Before we went to war in Iraq, you said there were three main reasons for going to war in Iraq: weapons of mass destruction, the claim that Iraq was sponsoring terrorists that would have attacked us on 9/11, and that Iraq had purchased nuclear materials from Niger. All three of those turned out to be false. And my question is, how do we restore confidence -

Q -- that Americans may have in their leaders, and to be sure that the information they are getting now is correct?

Posted by Jeff Zeleny at 2:01 p.m. CST

Long before the debate over ethics and lobbying reform had stalled in Congress, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) was among the first senators to make a pledge to wean himself from private air travel.

The law still allows members of Congress to hop aboard a private plane -- typically owned by a corporation or wealthy contributor -- and pay only the cost of a first class tickett, instead of reimbursing the entire cost of the plane. But after taking several trips last year on corporate jets, Obama created a new rule for himself so he would, in effect, be practicing what he preached.

His new policy of traveling on commercial airlines faced its first serious test over the weekend as Obama jetted from Oregon to Washington to California. The Western trip was designed to raise money for his Hopefund political action committee as well as helping the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Posted by Frank James at 6:54 a.m CST

Some Washington events-of-interest for Monday, March 20, 2006 from the Associated Press.

National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance and Military Families Speak Out holds a rally and march starting near the Vietnam War Memorial to the Pentagon to mark the three year anniversary of the war in Iraq and call for an end to the war. Organizers plan a ceremony to honor the fallen, and a "die-in." A delegation will attempt to deliver a coffin, representing the dead killed in Iraq, to Secretary of War Donald Rumsfeld 9 a.m. Daniel French Drive, near the Lincoln Memorial followed by a march across the Arlington Memorial Bridge to the Pentagon.

The Immigration group FAIR holds a news conference to release a new study, "U.S. Population Projections to 2050," on the impact of current and proposed immigration policies on U.S. population growth. FAIR says that without significant reductions in overall levels of immigration, U.S. population will climb to more than 450 million by mid-century, while increases in immigration currently under consideration in the Senate will add 200 million people to the U.S. population by 2050. 10 a.m. FAIR's national headquarters, 1666 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.

Posted by William Neikirk at 12:41 pm CST

I grew up in a large family in Kentucky. Some of my brothers and sisters did what many Kentucky folk did in those days. They went to Ohio to find a job and raise a family, but they almost always came home on the weekend. "Home" was still in the hills, not in the expanding suburbs of Dayton or Cincinnati.

This "hillbilly" exodus was so great on the weekends that it was hard for the bridges over the Ohio River to handle it. The "Buckeyes" of Ohio took great delight at this and loved to poke fun at us.

Posted by Frank James at 3 p.m. CST

This from Steven Tomaszewski, press secretary to Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.):

"Congressmen John Shimkus (R, Illinois-19) and Alcee Hastings (D, Florida-23) are headed to Belarus as election observers of Sunday's presidential election. They will officially be representing the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly. Hastings is head of the OSCE, and Shimkus is a U.S. delegate to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

"Shimkus is also co-chair of the House Baltic Caucus. Belarus borders both Latvia and Lithuania.

"They are the only two Members of Congress serving as election observers."

Posted by Mark Silva at 10:30 am CST

As President Bush marks the third anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq with stepped up speechmaking in an attempt to explain his strategy for success, Democrats are calling on Bush to exert greater pressure on the Iraqis to form the government that will be needed to maintain stability there – one of the three pillars of Bush's formula for success.

Bush used his weekly radio address today to frame the argument for pressing ahead with the war in Iraq that he will deliver again with a speech in Cleveland on Monday and with another appearance in Wheeling, W.Va., on Wednesday. The Democrats tapped Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Cal.) to deliver their rebuttal in a radio address today following Bush's.

Posted by Jeff Zeleny at 10:00 a.m. CST

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is spending the weekend on the West Coast, hopscotching from Oregon to Washington to California.

Friday, he is in Portland, raising money for his Hopefund political action committee. On Saturday, he travels to Seattle, where he is scheduled to deliver an education speech at Garfield High School as he campaigns for the re-election bid of Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.)

And on Sunday, he is headlining a fundraiser for Senate Democrats in San Francisco before traveling to San Diego to raise money for the Hopefund.

In his second year in the Senate, Obama's travel schedule has increasingly become more aggressive. Last weekend, he traveled to New England before performing at a white-tie Gridiron dinner in Washington. And in the coming weeks, his itinerary includes stops in Connecticut, Minnesota and Nebraska.

Posted by Andrew Martin at 4:23 pm CST

A short notice from the United States Department of Agriculture has created a stir-and perhaps a wave of nausea-among the nation’s meat inspectors.

Called “FSIS NOTICE 15-06: Use of Non-Amenable Animal Tissue in Inspected Products,” the notice essentially says that animals that you wouldn’t normally associate with hamburgers can be “included in amenable meat or poultry products produced in official establishments.”

Posted by Mark Silva at 11:33 am CST

As ceremonies go, the annual reception of the bowl of shamrocks at the White House is an especially light-hearted occasion.

Acknowledging millions of Irish-Americans living in the United States, a green-tied President Bush suggested with a smile today: "On St. Patrick's Day, I suspect that number jumps a little bit.''

Posted by Frank James at 5:44 pm CST

Some Washington events-of-interest for Friday, March 17, 2006 (Happy St. Patrick's Day!) from the Associated Press.

The Infectious Diseases Society holds a congressional briefing on the impact of bacteria resistant infections, the need for new antibiotics, and the need for government leadership to spur antimicrobial research. 10 a.m. Dirksen SOB, room 430

Chief economists from the American Bankers Association economic advisory committee hold a news conference to present their economic predictions for 2006 and 2007. Topics to include consumer spending, housing market, mortgage rates and regional forecasts. 10 a.m 7th Floor Boardroom, 1120 Connecticut Avenue, NW.

Posted by Mark Silva at 5:05 pm CST

“We may face no greater challenge from a single country than from Iran,’’ the Bush administration declared today, in its published reaffirmation of a national security strategy supporting “pre-emptive war’’ against nations or terrorists that pose threats to American security.

While this may sound to some like a formula for invasion of Iran, which apparently has defied international entreaties to cease development of nuclear weaponry, the Bush administration maintains that diplomacy is the key to resolving the complaint that the U.S. and other nations have with Iran.

Posted by Frank James at 3:25 pm CST

The Family Research Council wants the Bush administration to reverse a federal waiver that would allow non-U.S. citizens with HIV/AIDS to enter the U.S. to attend this summer’s Gay Games in Chicago.

Earlier this year, the Homeland Security Department gave the Gay Games, a series of sporting events modeled on the Olympics, “designated event status.” Such status would allow non-citizens with HIV/AIDS to visit Chicago for the games.

Posted by Frank James at 1:32 pm CST

The Pew Research Center for People and the Press has just emailed a press release on a new poll on the American public's attitudes towards the Iraq situation. It's the latest in a series of surveys to indicate that the public is losing faith that Iraq will turn out well. Read the press release below.
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Optimism about the prospect for establishing democracy in Iraq has declined sharply. Fewer than half of Americans (49%) now say that the U.S. is likely to succeed in establishing a stable democratic government in Iraq, down from 57% in December and 55% as recently as last month.

Posted by Mark Silva at 11:08 am CST

Sen. Edward Kennedy today said that people shouldn't be punished for "minor" crimes such as "streetwalking."

Apparently, the senior senator from Massachusetts meant to say "jaywalking.''

Posted by Jeff Zeleny at 9:56 am CST

Rep. Lane Evans (D-Ill.), who for more than a decade has quietly battled Parkinson’s disease, has been largely absent from his congressional office for about a month.

He has not cast a vote in the House of Representatives since Feb. 14, missing at least 33 votes in the last month. He was hospitalized briefly last month and since then has been recovering at his Washington home.

Posted by Frank James at 5:34 am CST

Some Washington events-of-interest for Thursday, March 16, 2006, from the Associated Press.

The Northeast-Midwest Institute and the Great Lakes Task Force sponsor Great Lakes Day, to encourage discussion of Great Lakes restoration and protection. 8 a.m -12:30 p.m. Russell and Dirksen Senate office buildings.

The National Inhalant Prevention Coalition, with sponsorship from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), holds a press briefing. SAMHSA will unveil new data from a report, "Characteristics of Recent Adolescent Inhalant Initiates." The data show that almost 20 percent of youth ages 12-17 who initiated inhalant use were using it on 13 or more days in their first year, even though Sudden Sniffing Death can kill a teen on the first use. 9:30 a.m. National Press Club.

Posted by Steve Hedges at 5:34 pm CST

Recently retired Gen. Richard Myers, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who led the Pentagon into war with Iraq, hasn't stayed out of work long.

Northrop Grumman, one of the nation's largest and best-known defense firms, announced Wednesday that Myers, an Air Force veteran and former fighter pilot, has joined its board of directors.

As one of 11 "non-employee" directors, Myers will earn $200,000 a year, according to a company spokesman. Half of that sum is paid to the company's 12 directors in stock.

Posted by Frank James at 4:41 pm CST

Americans are generally optimistic, and with good reason. We’ve got the world’s largest economy, most powerful military and achievements in science, technology and the arts that are the envy of the globe.

So when an American president talks of a future where the roads rise to meet us and the wind is at our backs, well, that’s what we’ve come to expect.

But when the president of a war-ravaged, impoverished basket-case-of-a-nation like Liberia gives an upbeat speech that persuades you, at least for a few minutes, that her nation might actually have a shot, that’s special.

Posted by Mark Silva at 10:30 am CST

Amid increasing questions about the apparent “fatigue’’ of the senior White House staff and a series of mishaps in recent months prompting even members of the president’s own party to privately suggest that a shake-up is in order, the White House clearly is showing fatigue about one thing:

The questions.

Posted by Frank James at 6 a.m. CST

Some Washington events-of-interest for Wednesday, March 15, 2006, from the Associated Press.

James A. Baker III, former Secretary of State, joins members of Congress, the U.S. Institute for Peace and others for a news conference to announce the formation of a Study Group on Iraq. 8:50 a.m. Russell SOB, room 236.

A press conference launching ReadtheBill.org's "72 Online" campaign that advocates posting proposed legislation online for at least 72 hours before being brought up on the floor of Congress. 10 a.m. Cannon HOB Terrace.

Leaders from the U.S. Conference of Mayors and others hold a press conference to release the results of a national survey they say shows the devastating economic impact of recent cuts to the Community Development Block Grant program on the nation's communities. 10 a.m. National Press Club.

Posted by Frank James at 12:46 pm CST

I went to this morning’s press conference at the National Press Club on hearing-loss concerns related to the use of portable media players like iPods as well as CD and DVD devices.

The American Speech-Language Hearing Association which held the press conference released a survey whose implications are very troubling. The poll by Zogby International found that significant percentages of the high schoolers surveyed reported signs of hearing loss.

Posted by Mark Silva at 11:25 am CST

Among the lesser-noticed ceremonies of the Bush presidency are the greetings and farewells that the president gets at arrivals and departures at the many airports he frequents during any given week.

One of the better-noticed stories in the Rochester, N.Y., area, where Bush landed today for an appearance, is the inspirational tale of high school senior Jason McElwain, a 5-foot-6 kid suffering from autism who sank six three-point shots in his debut on the basketball court last month, tying a school record at Greece Athena High School. “J-Mac,’’ as he’s known, greeted Bush upon his arrival today.

Posted by Mark Silva at 10:15 am CST

While President Bush struggles to convince the American public that he has a clear strategy for success in Iraq – nearly three years since the U.S.-led invasion – two-thirds of all Americans surveyed aren’t buying it.

For Bush, this is among the most troubling findings of the latest Gallup Poll of American adults. “Only 32% of Americans believe he has a clear plan for handling the situation in Iraq, while 67% say he does not,’’ Gallup reports today in its survey conducted with CNN and USA Today.

Posted by Frank James at 5:00 am CST

Some Washington events-of-interest for Tuesday, March 14, 2006, from the Associated Press.

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association reports findings from a national survey on the latest audio technology like the iPod, other MP3 players and portable CD players with hearing experts discussing how the technology may be harming the nation's hearing, especially among younger listeners. 9:30 a.m. National Press Club.

D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams and the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Divison unveil the design for the new Washington Nationals Ballpark to be opened in 2008. 11 a.m. Washington Convention Center.

President Bush travels to Canandigua, NY to discuss the Medicare drug prescription program.11:35 a.m. Ferris Hills at West Lake.

Posted by Frank James at 4:32 pm CST

Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) rose to question Sen. Arlen Specter after the Pennsylvania senator let up in his drubbing of Sen. Russ Feingold and the resolution to censure Bush.

Durbin asked Specter if when Specter voted to authorize military action against al Qaeda and the Taliban in 2001, he thought he was also authorizing warrantless wiretaps.

"No," Specter said.

Posted by Frank James at 4:00 pm CST

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) has taken to the floor to rebut Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisc) who just introduced a resolution to censure President Bush.

Specter, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, had wanted to debate Feingold, man to man. But the Wisconsin senator left the floor and stayed away even though Specter asked Feingold's staff to ask him to return.

Posted by Frank James at 3:41 pm CST

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.) is at this moment on the Senate floor introducing a resolution to censure President Bush for authorizing warrantless domestic wiretaps.

The chances the Republican-controlled Senate will pass the resolution are slim to none. At least one Senate colleage, Sen. John Warner (R-Va.,) has accused Feingold, who's expressed interest in running for president, of political grandstanding.

Posted by Mark Silva at 9:05 am CST

The White House says that Claude Allen, the president’s former domestic policy adviser facing felony theft charges for an alleged scheme of fraudulent returns of merchandise to department stores, informed his bosses the day in January that he first was apprehended in a Target store.

But the White House accepted Allen’s story that it involved a “misunderstanding’’ about his credit card, and he had undergone extensive background checks for work in the administration that revealed no problems.

Some Washington events-of-interest for Monday, March 13, 2006, from the Associated Press.

Actor Lou Gosset Jr. speaks to the Congress of State Drug Court Associations meeting. 9 am. Rayburn House Office Building.

The new Canadian ambassador-designate, Michael Wilson, arrives in Washington. 10:30 am. Canadian Embassy.

An ecumenical religious gathering offers prayers and scripture readings for world peace and an end to the Iraq war. 12 p.m. U.S. Capitol, West Front Lawn.

President Bush speaks about the Global War on Terror. 1:15 pm. George Washington University's Dorothy Betts Marvin Theatre.

America's Health Insurance Plans brief the media on two new surveys of beneficiaries enrolled in the Medicare prescription drug-benefit program. 12 pm. AHIP's Washington offices.

Posted by Mark Silva at 11:45 pm CST

It turns out that Sen. Barack Obama not only has impeccable timing and creative writers, but the freshman Democratic senator from Illinois who has arrived in Washington to exceedingly great expectations among leaders of a party desperately in need of new leaders also can sing.

And when Obama had a chance in the spotlight tonight at the annual dinner of The Gridiron Club to poke some fun at the Bush administration, lampoon Vice President Dick Cheney's hunting mishap and even take a few pokes at himself and his own party, he rolled it all out with extraordinary ease. He unloosed a song to boot, sung to the tune of "If I Only Had a Brain,'' with the punch-line landing on John McCain.

Posted by Cam Simpson, traveling with Condoleezza Rice, at 3:25 pm CST

Bolivian President Evo Morales, Latin America's newly elected leftist firebrand, sent officials traveling with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice into a small tizzy Saturday. But it wasn’t overheated rhetoric targeting Washington that generated the buzz.

Instead it was the small, handcrafted Bolivian guitar Morales offered Rice as a gift, an instrument that might have been intended to send Washington a message beyond the sweet sound of Andean music, assuming she is able to bring it home.

Posted by Jeff Zeleny at 12:37 p.m. CST

MEMPHIS - Call it early or call it absurd, but the first voting of the 2008 presidential race commenced here today in a mock election among nearly 2,000 delegates to the Southern Republican Leadership Conference.

Yes, the outcome is technically irrelevant. And the consequences are almost certainly insignificant. But that didn't stop prospective candidates from intensely jockeying to influence the results.

It all started when Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said he intended to bus supporters from across his native Tennessee to the conference here so they could vote in the "straw poll." He wanted to ensure a strong showing in his home state and to prevent being shown up by GOP rivals.

Posted by Mark Silva at 9:45 am CST and updated 12:15 pm CST

When the news was first broken here at The Swamp that Claude Allen, the president's former domestic policy adviser, had submitted his resignation in early February, the White House said Allen wanted to spend more time with his family.

It appears now that he may have been seeking more time with his defense attorney.

Posted by Frank James at 5:55 pm CST

House members normally are back in their congressional districts on Friday. So when the Bureau of Labor Statistics, or BLS, releases its employment report the first Friday of every month, House Republicans typically weren’t around to throw a press conference and take credit for any good economic results the bureau might've reported.

No more. Today, House Republicans were no beyond-the-beltway, but they held a teleconference in order to crow about the creation of 243,000 new jobs the economy created in February.

Posted by Frank James at 2:27 pm CST

Gary Brown, a third-generation longshoreman from Tacoma, Wash. testified on Capitol Hill yesterday about the weaknesses in port security he and his fellow stevedores see daily and I came away thinking the security situation may be even worse than I thought.

Brown was a no-nonsense man who seemed to be giving us what the military calls ground truth, the view of what’s really happening OUT THERE that’s so hard to come by in Washington. With a Mike Ditka haircut and sporting a shiny red shirt and no suit jacket, he was a welcome relief from the conventional dark suits you normally see at these events.

Posted by Jeff Zeleny at 2:10 pm CST

MEMPHIS -- Ladies and gentlemen, take your seats, Lamar Alexander is about to entertain you.

The Republican senator from Tenessee kicked off the Southern Republican Leadership Conference here with a musical interlude. As he was introduced to deliver a speech this afternoon, Alexander walked to a black grand piano, sat down and played a mean rendition of "Love Me Tender."

Posted by Jeff Zeleny at 9:55 am CST

Never mind that the calendar says March 10, 2006. Today, at least for hundreds of Republicans gathering in Memphis, the conversation has already turned to 2008.

That is, of course, the final year of President Bush's term, which means a vacancy sign will be hanging in the White House.

Posted by Frank James at 9:49 am CST

Vice President Dick Cheney will be in Chicagoland Monday to campaign for congressional candidate State Sen. Peter Roskam who is running to replace one of the old lions of the House, Rep. Henry Hyde, who is retiring. I thought of starting this post by saying that Roskam was calling in a Republican big gun but thought better of it, thinking it might be in poor taste and was too obvious a pun.

In any event, we reported in the Chicago Tribune on Feb. 28 that tickets were going for $250--$2,100 and that Roskam is running unopposed in the Republican. Three Democrats are vying for the seat in the March 21 primary Christine Cegelis, Tammy Duckworth and Lindy Scott. Duckworth, a disabled Iraq war vet, has been anointed by the national Democratic party as the chosen candidate.

Posted by Mark Silva at 3:10 pm CST

Federal agencies gave $2.15 billion last year to “faith-based’’ organizations around the nation delivering social services, a 7.5 percent one-year boost for President Bush’s long-running campaign to “rally the armies of compassion,’’ empowering religious oriented charities with government money.

But if religious groups are grabbing a lot of federal money, lobbyists are grabbing more.

Posted by Frank James at 2:55 pm CST

Lawmakers are weighing in on Dubai's move to hand over its U.S. port terminal assets to an American company. Essentially, they all say it was a good move.

Here are press releases from House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Rep. Melissa Hart (R-Pa.) Collins and Hart indicate this isn't over by a long shot.

Posted by Frank James at 2:14 pm CST

CNN has emailed a rush transcript all over Washington and beyond of Sen. John Warner's comments on Senate floor about the move by the Dubai government to try and squash the controversy over its purchase of terminal facilities at numerous U.S. ports.

PHILLIPS: I want to break away and take you straight to the Senate floor right now.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

Posted by Frank James at 1:25 pm CST

Well, the Dubai government, at least on the outside, and the Bush White House, perhaps on the inside, keep blinking.

First Dubai agreed to 45-day review of its deal to purchase control of terminal operations at numerous U.S. ports.

Posted by William Neikirk at 7:02 am CST

They call it cashing in. That's what Alan Greenspan is doing now that he has left the Federal Reserve as its chairman after more than 18 years in the position. He's making speeches and charges as much as $125,000 a pop. His book contract reportedly calls for an advance of $8.5 million. He hopes to have it written by the end of the year, or so it is reported.

If the book reads anything like Greenspan talks, it would be indecipherable. But he will have a ghost writer to help him, and actually he is not such a bad writer in his own right. But what is he going to say? Will this be a kiss-and-tell vote on the inner workings of the highly secretive agency? Will he confess to miscalculations? Will he tell us about his political activity? And just how long will this book be?

Posted by William Neikirk at 4:20 pm CST

The House voted 409-12 Wednesday to designate former President Bill Clinton's boyhood home in Hope, Ark., as a National Historic Shrine even though a Republican member had delayed the vote after objecting that Clinton "has some explaining to do" for his role in the Dubai ports controversy.

Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-Fla.) spoke against the measure early in the day as its Arkansas sponsors were trying to rush it through without a formal roll-call vote. With her opposition, she succeeded in forcing a roll call, but lost overwhelmingly when the House voted in the afternoon.