The Note: "As Strongly As He Ever Has"
— -- WASHINGTON, April 27
NEWS SUMMARY
The Republican White House is standing firm in support of DeLay, Bolton, private accounts, nuclear power, a lean budget, and the constitutional option on judges.
The Senate Republican leadership is standing firm in support of Bolton, private accounts, nuclear power, a lean budget, and the constitutional option on judges. (DeLay is not their business.)
The House Republican leadership is standing firm in support of DeLay, private accounts, nuclear power, and a lean budget (Bolton and judges are not their business).
The House Republican leadership is, apparently, going wobbly on the recently enacted ethics rules changes, which, when adopted, were cast as really important, a big improvement, and the right thing for America and the House.
Democrats -- with visions of Lucy's football in their dreamy eyes -- think this is all a big house of cards, about to tumble.
As you try to make sense of this, read the blind quotes below, and see if you have as easy a time as we did (and the White House senior staff did!!!) in figuring out who said what:
On Bolton:
New York Times (Bumiller): A Republican close to the White House said. "It would mean that Colin Powell had influence to block someone. It's a troubling sign if the president can't get him confirmed."
New York Times (Bumiller): A Republican lobbyist with close ties to the White House said "Losing this might actually be beneficial . . . . I think what will happen is that it will just atrophy on the Hill. And Bolton will just withdraw. I don't know if there will be indications from the White House, there will just be a lack of activity."
On the possible House ethics rules re-changes led by Speaker Hastert:
Washington Post (Allen): A "Republican adviser" says "There will be a [political] cost to this, but if he had not done this, the cost would continue to increase."
Washington Post (Allen): A House Republican leadership aide" says the "automatic-dismissal rule is 'the rule that is most commonly believed to be designed to protect Tom DeLay' and that it was 'impossible to win the communications battle' on it.'"
New York Times (Hulse): "one senior Republican official" said "We fumbled the ball badly."
Los Angeles Times (Curtius): "Senior GOP aides" said "it would rob Democrats of a potent political weapon by resurrecting the House ethics process."
Los Angeles Times: (Curtius): "One exasperated GOP congressman" said "Why did they do it that way? Because they could."
Note advice: call the Speaker, the Leader, and/or White House now, and confess, you blind quoters, before they call you on it.
At 10:00 am ET, the United States Supreme Court meets to hand down what court watchers expect will be some key decisions, including, possibly, one on medical marijuana. Chief Justice Rehnquist might -- or might not -- announce his retirement, setting up an inevitable wave of SCOTUS appointment speculation stories and dominating news coverage. Get those Luttig, McConnell, Roberts, Garza etc., stills ready.
House Republicans leaders are expected to detail to members an ethics committee compromise today as the GOP caucus meets in closed session this morning. ABC News' Linda Douglass reports that the leadership will likely seek to simply go back to the rules that governed the last Congress while a bipartisan task force comes up with proposed changes for the future.
The tone of the papers is that this is a done deal -- with the House GOP leadership willing to take a short-term hit for long-term benefit -- but let's see what the rank-and-file in the conference think about the plan before we get all fatalistic about things.
The President today is in Washington. He speaks tonight at a National Republican Senatorial Committee dinner at a private residence in DC. (Hint: the host's name rhymes will "Shrill Prist," and if you live in Woodley Park, you'll want to avoid the main roads between 6:45 and 7:55 pm ET.)
The President will help raise about $3.5 million for the NRSC, according to a Republican official.
During the day, he speaks at the Small Business Administration's National Small Business Week Conference at the Washington Hilton, giving his second majorish energy speech in the space of just a week.
Mr. Bush plans to propose using closed military bases as sites for new oil refineries and ask for government action (the Wall Street Journal calls it a "new type of risk insurance") to spur construction of new nuclear power plants (there has not been a new commercial nuclear power plant ordered in the U.S. since 1973). Bush will also call for a tax credit for hybrid and clean diesel drivers.
Elsewhere on the Hill, the Senate Intelligence Committee hears from A.G. Gonzales, FBI Director Mueller, and CIA Director Goss at 10:00 am ET. The House Government Reform Commission takes on the National Football League and its steroid policy, with guests Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, NFL Executive Vice President Harold Henderson; and NFL Players Association Executive Director Gene Upshaw. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld testifies before the Senate Appropriations subcommittee for defense at 10:45 am ET.
Speaker Dennis Hastert appears before cameras ("Doyouagreewithdochastigsonethics?canyoutellusaboutcompromises?haveyoufiledanyethicsformsyourself . . . ?") as he steps into the GOP's closed conference session this ayem.
S 271, which is the 527 Reform Act, goes before the Senate Rules Committee.
Sens. Rick Santorum and Joe Lieberman today introduce the Savings for Working Families Act of 2005, which they say would expand Individual Development Accounts for low-income families. Sen. Santorum is getting positively Clintonian in his bipartisan sponsorship of centrist legislation.
The Senate itself gavels into session at 9:30 am ET with more debate on the highway bill -- the White House says it will veto a too-expensive bill. House is in session at 10:00 am ET on approps.
Sen./Dr./Leader Frist meets with the President of Panama at 10:30 am ET.
Democratic Leaders Reid and Pelosi join other Democrats for a press conference to highlight disparities in health care coverage and treatment at 10:45 am ET.
At 11:00 am ET., James Fallows will moderate a panel including some guy name Bill Gates, Sen. Patrick Leahy, Rep. David Dreier and Princeton President Shirley Tilghman. They'll discuss innovation and education in a global marketplace. That's at the Library of Congress. Will Fallows tolerate Microsoft/gay rights questions? We (and rawstory.com) certainly hope so.
First Lady Laura Bush spends the day in California after her newsless-but-charm-filled romp on Jay Leno. LINK
(OK: not TOTALLY newsless: she isn't running in '08 and she doesn't mind her husband holding hands with men.)
Ethics: new rules?
The Washington Post's Mike Allen details congressional Republicans' move to back off the change in ethics rules that they adopted in January that stymied the committee because it called for an automatic dismissal of ethics complaints in the case of deadlock. Republicans on the committee say they will investigate DeLay's overseas trips and gifts as soon as the panel comes to an agreement. LINK
But even if/when the panel investigates DeLay, there are issues -- potential conflicts of interest, specifically -- because all five Republicans on the ethics committee have gotten contributions from DeLay's PAC, USA Today's Jim Drinkard reports. LINK
USAToday.com provides a handy link to ARMPAC's donations on opensecrets.org: LINK
"Other officials said the leadership was considering a floor vote on whether to revert to the rules that governed the handling of complaints until early this year. Republicans could also allow individual up-or-down floor votes on the three rules at the center of the dispute to see if allowing a new debate and vote would eliminate Democratic objections," writes sensible Carl Hulse in the New York Times. LINK
The Los Angeles Times' Mary Curtius paints the shift as a rare admission by House Speaker Dennis Hastert that he was wrong. LINK
And it's not playing so well in Peoria.
"[Rep. Ray] LaHood said many Republican lawmakers were frustrated at the prospect of being asked -- for the second time this year -- to roll back a vote that had proved politically unpopular."
"'People fell on their sword' when they rescinded the rule in January concerning possible indictments of GOP leaders, LaHood said. 'Now it's the same thing.'"
Roll Call's Ben Pershing writes about all this too.
Local stories about ethics and congresessional travel:
Rep. Maurice Hinchey, courtesy of the New York Post, which dubs Karl Rove's favorite member a "junket junkie": LINK
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, courtesy of the Washington Post. LINK
Roll Call's Chris Cillizza talked to party strategists who say Rep. Harold Ford's privately funded travels may complicate his Senate bid. And Mike Madden does the same: LINK
Rep. James Sensenbrenner, courtesy of the Post Crescent. LINK
It ain't the House banking scandal yet, but Members are watching their backs, their ed boards, and their spouses.
Ethics: Leader DeLay and Jack Abramoff:
The New York Times Magazine this Sunday features a profile of Jack Abramoff by Michael Crowley. Abramoff cooperated with Crowley, and gave him an interview. In the piece, Abramoff denies deceiving his tribal clients, apologizes for words used in e-mails, and says some interesting (though not damning) things about his life, the Congress, and Tom DeLay. More excerpts tomorrow.
An excerpt:
''I just don't think members of Congress for the most part sell their votes or their ideology,'' he told me. For the most part? ''Ahem!'' Lowell interjected. ''Hold on, hold on.'' Lowell stood and summoned his client from the table. The two men walked to a corner of the room and huddled with their arms around each other. After a minute or two Abramoff returned and sat down. ''I would say the same thing,'' he told me. ''I would say, generally speaking, that's the case.'' Generally speaking, that is."
Two new investigative stories to highlight:
The AP's Sharon Theimer enterprised a great new angle off a public documents request of material related to Jack Abramoff's lobbying for the Northern Mariana Islands.
Here are the documents: LINK
(And who know that the Northern Mariana Islanders had such a broad public disclosure law!!!!)
Here's what we found most interesting: Abramoff writes what he perceives the ethics rules to be: "I am under pressure here since the firm, under the gift ban rules, is not allowed to be out of pocket too long on the costs of congressional member and staff travel," Abramoff wrote in November 1996. And apparently, the House ethics folks had concerns with Abramoff all the way back in 1996 And it seems that Abramoff billed the Marianas for interactions on the 1997 Russia trip! "On one trip that Abramoff arranged for DeLay and his staff to take to Russia in August 1997, the lobbyist billed the Northern Marianas for 20 hours of interactions with DeLay and his staff even though the trip was supposed to focus on Russian affairs, the records show."
And Time's Karen Tumulty's sources claim that Abramoff gifted members of DeLay's staff -- in one case, Tony Rudy allegedly got a weekend getaway apparently paid for by Abramoff's frequent flyer and hotel points. The story also has Tim Berry, DeLay's current chief of staff, acknowledging that Abramoff once gave him a golf club, which he then says he "lost" (in the "Sopranos" sense of "lost"). LINK
The Wall Street Journal's David Rogers, a man of simple tastes, seems bothered in a citizen-y way, that Rep. Tom DeLay's trip expenses exceeded the "norm" with meal and hotel expenses above the going guvmint rate.
Moving forward, if Nick Lampson can take advantage of the dynamic in the following Rogers paragraph, he has a fair shot of de-throning the Majority Leader in 2006: "And for a conservative who has identified more with small business than Wall Street, some of Mr. DeLay's travel contrasts with his populist image and Houston-area congressional district."
Owl eyes and foodie Cragg Hines in the Houston Chronicle tries to gauge the impact of DeLay on the 2006 congressional elections. LINK
April Castro of the AP writes that prosecutors have dropped their charges against Questerra Corp., a California-based company which was accused of contributing $25,000 of corporate funds to a political action committee founded by DeLay. The committee, called Texans for a Republican Majority, was formed during the 2002 election campaign season. LINK
That lift on AF1 has the press off the fence about whether the President is embracing DeLay enough or not. "Enough" is the consensus.
DeLay's presidential eye-wink receives Dick Stevenson write-up treatment in the Old Gray Lady. LINK
Writes Jim VandeHei of the Washington Post: "President Bush is doing for Tom DeLay what he refused to do for Trent Lott three years ago: taking a political risk to defend an embattled congressional leader's career, several Republican officials and strategists said." DeLay is necessary to his second-term agenda, and the complaints against him aren't the same kind of liability, Bush reportedly has told friends. LINK
The Los Angeles Times' Ed Chen has more details of the Bush-DeLay travels. LINK
Asked how strongly the President backs DeLay, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said "Strongly as he ever has, which is strongly," USA Today's Richard Benedetto reports -- and proving once again that no one supplies as many Note headlines as El Scotto. LINK
Jim Drinkard and Kathy Kiely of USA Today take a closer look at the allegations of conduct that Leader DeLay shares with an array of fellow members of Congress who regularly engage in the same practices of travel and employing family members. LINK
Big casino budget politics:
An agreement nears on a 2006 budget? The Wall Street Journal's David Rogers reports that negotiators in both chambers are close to proposing at least $40 billion in savings and $106 billion in new tax cuts.
"Farm subsidies and student-loan programs will be among the targets, and the draft plan assumes about $7 billion in savings from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, including increased premiums for business. In the case of Medicaid, Republicans hope to salvage an $10 billion in savings over five years -- far less than the White House once hoped for, but a first step that is still very sensitive politically."
"In many respects the health-care program has driven the budget timetable, and instead of acting on the deficit-reduction package this spring, Congress will now wait until September to allow an independent commission to assess the impact of the cuts on Medicaid's beneficiaries."
"Given the $106 billion target, that represents a significant lift politically, and for the Senate Finance Committee, it comes on top of the fact that the panel is also responsible for Medicaid savings and what could be an additional $6 billion from other poverty sensitive programs like Supplemental Security Income payments."
And there are some revenue enhancers in there, and we continue to be impressed at how the President and his party just seem to be able to slide those in with impunity (and sans political cost).
"The sticking points included not only proposed cuts to Medicaid, which provides health insurance for more than 50 million low-income people, but also questions of how far to extend President Bush's tax cuts and whether to include a provision clearing the way for oil drilling in an Alaskan wildlife refuge," write Robert Pear and Sheryl Gay Stolberg. LINK
Social Security:
A Jackie Calmes paragraph in the Wall Street Journal gives a taste of the legislative pickle the White House finds itself in on Social Security: "Mr. Grassley, knowing his panel's divisions, has persuaded the White House not to put a full-blown plan before Congress. Other Republicans, notably (sic) Finance member and party leader Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, have lobbied the president otherwise, arguing that only specifics from Mr. Bush can jump-start debate. "
She also Notes the seeming discounting of personal accounts from Wyoming Sen. Craig Thomas.
In the New York Times, David Rosenbaum and Robin Toner suggest that (White House hero) Robert Pozen's testimony "was implicitly critical of the president's policy of dealing first with investment accounts and considering the system's long-term financing afterward. Lawmakers, he said, should instead 'come to grips with the growth in benefits,' and only then should they "figure out what sort of personal accounts would be complementary." LINK
Jonathan Weisman and Michael Fletcher of the Washington Post write that they saw cracks in Republicans' support for overhauling Social Security according to President Bush's plan in yesterday's inaugural meeting to discuss it, Noting the Democrats' unity and that "Republicans appear to be splintering in the face of falling public support for the president's private accounts plan." LINK
"Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) is not likely to bring a partisan bill to a vote in the full Senate because any Social Security change will need 60 votes to pass, he said. To get Democratic votes, [Sen. Chuck] Grassley said, he could drop the centerpiece of the president's plan, the creation of private investment accounts through the diversion of Social Security taxes. But doing that would cost him critical Republican support, he said."
The Los Angeles Times' Joel Havemann and Richard Simon Note Sen. Grassley's frustration: "Grassley said later in the hearing: 'Those of you that are bad-mouthing every other suggestion out there, suggest your own plan . . . Doing nothing is not an option, because doing nothing is a cut in benefits.'" LINK
Five House Republicans and four House Democrats are set to sit down tomorrow with Bill Novelli, AARP's CEO to talk about solutions to overhauling Social Security, The Hill's Patrick O'Connor reports. LINK
"President Bush plans to extend an olive branch to House conservatives today, inviting the leadership of the Republican Study Committee (RSC) to the White House to deliver a letter that outlines their opposition to 'add-on' accounts on Social Security reform," reports The Hill's Hans Nichols. LINK
Sen. Charles Grassley's home state Des Moines Register offers its take through the pen of Jane Norman: LINK
Scolding Democrats for their fruitless complaints, he challenges them to ante up and present alternatives if they are so unsatisfied with private account options. Nonetheless, he acknowledges that bipartisan cooperation is key. "'I could fail,' he said. 'If we don't get some Democratic support, obviously I do fail.'"
Grassley is also sincerely concerned for his own progeny, as are many Americans. "Grandpa Grassley gets Social Security, but my granddaughter, when she retires 56 years from now, if we do nothing, is going to get this cut that you're talking about.' "
Despite misgivings from many Finance Committee members, there does appear to be some nascent left-leaning backing. Kent Conrad (going yet again and again and again and again with the Iowa corn reference) "said he has believed there is a 'kernel of a good idea' in personal accounts."
Filibuster showdown:
We guess, from reading his New York Times op-ed today, that Bob Dole really does support the nuclear/constitutional option after all. LINK
He does add a John Kerry/Iraq War-ish hedge at the end: "In the coming days, I hope changing the Senate's rules won't be necessary, but Senator Frist will be fully justified in doing so if he believes he has exhausted every effort at compromise."
Jeanne Cummings makes it clear (in case it wasn't, even after USA Today reported it yesterday) that the White House will not accept any compromise on judicial nominees that doesn't include a guaranteed vote on the seven most contentious nominees.
The Senate was designed to have unlimited debate, and this fight has turned the nominees in question into political symbols, when they should be replaced, USA Today's editorial board argues. LINK
The filibuster doesn't relate to the Founders' intentions and undermines the independent judiciary, C. Boyden Gray responds. LINK
Roll Call's Chris Cillizza evaluates how the filibuster fight is playing in the campaign for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's seat in Tennessee.
MoveOn has ginned up their filibuster activities this week not only with former Vice President Al Gore's speech at noon ET today, but also with a $600,000 buy to run two ads this week: one showing elephants stampeding the Capitol on nationwide cable, the other, "Smashing the Courts," in Virginia, Nebraska, Maine, and Oregon. They're also sponsoring rallies -- at last count 172 -- at federal courthouses in all 50 states to protest changing the filibuster rules.
The economy:
John Harwood and two colleagues turn a fascinating A-1 look at the woes of U.S. automakers and seeming U.S. government indifference to their plight. Being big donors doesn't always translate into political favors.
"The changed attitude reflects the markedly reshaped political situation in the auto industry. For two decades, Japanese and European auto makers have sprinkled job-producing auto-assembly plants across the U.S. Those have created a political constituency for foreign auto companies that didn't exist before."
"Many of those plants are situated in southern states such as Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina and Texas, which make up the heart of the red-state region in which today's dominant Republican party is strongest. As a result, politicians have less desire to penalize foreign auto makers as a way of shielding traditional American auto manufacturers than they did in the past."
"In addition, both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue today are controlled by a market-oriented Republican party, which is reluctant to dive into the marketplace to favor one company or industry over others. The Bush administration has hesitated from jumping to the aid of sickly airlines, and most officials regret an earlier, controversial attempt to help the steel industry with import tariffs. Indeed, politicians in both parties revere market forces more than their counterparts did a quarter-century ago."
The Wall Street Journal's Greg Ip on the candidates to replace Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan in January: " . . . for now there appear to be three front-runners, all with sterling academic pedigrees: Martin Feldstein, 65 years old, a Harvard University economist who advised President Reagan and has been a leading advocate of Social Security private accounts; R. Glenn Hubbard, 46, who served in the Bush White House and now is dean of Columbia University's graduate business school, and Ben Bernanke, 51, a Fed governor who has been nominated to be chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, a White House post previously held by the other two men and by Mr. Greenspan."
An old Rove interview makes clear: the White House is taking its time on this one, and understandably so, Mr. Ip suggests.
Bolton:
Mr. Bolton himself was apparently on Capitol Hill yesterday, at meetings unknown, although a certain Senator from the Buckeye State would not deny that they had some quality time together.
The New York Times' Douglas Jehl reports that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will interview 10 new witnesses, including Thomas Hubbard, John McLaughlin and John Wolf. LINK
Jehl frames this all as an ominous expansion of the probe, and says the question of re-calling the nominee as a witness is TBD.
Writes Elisabeth Bumiller: "The White House is intensifying its campaign to rescue the nomination of John R. Bolton to be ambassador to the United Nations, administration officials said on Tuesday, as Republicans close to the West Wing acknowledged that a rejection of Mr. Bolton would be politically damaging for President Bush." LINK
"Administration officials said that Vice President Dick Cheney and Karl Rove, the White House deputy chief of staff and the president's powerful political adviser, are playing a central and aggressive role in trying to salvage Mr. Bolton's prospects. Mr. Cheney met with some influential Republican senators and then called others on Tuesday afternoon to press them with the president's point of view, while Mr. Rove met on Capitol Hill with the Senate Republican whip, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, as well as other Republican allies of the White House."
" . . . Republicans close to the administration also said that a powerful motive for the White House was simply showing strength and an unwillingness to back down, particularly after Colin L. Powell, the former secretary of state who often warred with the hawks, expressed private doubts to Republican senators last week about Mr. Bolton."
Tom Friedman suggests nominating 41 for U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. LINK
Bush agenda:
The Los Angeles Times' Warren Vieth curtain-raises President Bush's speech today before the Small Business Administration conference in Washington, where he'll talk about five initiatives to address the causes of high energy prices, including building oil refineries on closed military bases, expanding a proposal for tax credits on hybrids to include "clean diesel" burning vehicles, increasing federal control over liquefied natural gas terminals, and work with other countries in efforts to hold down pollution and use energy more efficiently. LINK
USA Today's Judy Keen has more. LINK
9/11 commissioners Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton told reporters and editors at USA Today that they'll be holding hearings in June and July to assess the government's progress in responding to their commission's report, Mimi Hall writes, Noting that while they'll have no subpoena power, they'll have a bully pulpit. LINK
2008: Republicans:
Joe Mahoney of the New York Daily News heard Gov. George Pataki open the door to 2008 and suggest that he had operatives already working Iowa. LINK
The New York Times' Cooper says it was a rare "Lunch with the Governor" and that the Governor ate a wrap. LINK
Learned Hill watchers have noticed that Senate Majority Leader and (potential) future presidential candidate Bill Frist seems to have begun avoiding TV cameras in Washington. Except of course the camera that recorded his address to evangelical Christians, which was shown every 30 seconds over the weekend.
Frist, who runs the Senate, holds a short televised press conference every Tuesday outside the Senate chamber to outline what the Senate is going to do in the week ahead. His last appearance was April 12. He held no press conferences last week. Today, he took reporters into the Senate chamber, where TV camera are not allowed. He then announced he would not appear at the Tuesday on-camera stakeout.
His staff says he is "alternating" between doing print press conferences and TV press conferences.
The Hill's Geoff Earle looks at the difficult balancing act of Frist between his current day job and his impending presidential campaign -- and how his successes or failures in the former could greatly affect the latter. LINK
Wise Chuck Todd writes of Frist, "It's still unclear what kind of presidential candidate Frist is going to make (he's not the quickest on his feet just yet). For now, he must continue his maneuverings on judges. Some believe he should never have taken the majority leader post, because he's getting defined by process fights. His position is certainly becoming a bigger obstacle to the Oval Office than it should be." LINK
"The good news is Frist has established himself as one of his party's conservative leaders, something that was in question six months ago. Now, it would seem silly to back down. Frist may just have to grin and bear it if the editorial pages and the David Broders and John McCains are disappointed, because the dividends social conservatives can pay, particularly in a place like Iowa, are huge."
The Santorum '08 domain names are already registered by his Internet consulting firm, while he is defining whatever the opposite of "Shermanesque" is in his answers about serving a full term if re-elected. LINK
2008: Democrats:
The New York Observer ed board kisses its popular home-state Senator, Mrs. Rodham Clinton. LINK
" . . . if her fund-raising success is any guide, there are a lot of people in this country who want to see more -- much more -- of Mrs. Clinton in the future."
The Observer's Ben Smith also has an endless-but-awesome look at potential Senate foe Ed Cox. LINK
Joe Biden on Imus this morning self-consciously edited himself several times, apparently to ward off trouble. (Perhaps he was stifling an imitation of Judge Ito?)
2006:
The Washington Post's John Wagner reports that Rep. Ben Cardin (D-MD) made it official yesterday -- he's running for the open seat of retiring Sen. Paul Sarbanes. LINK
2005:
"Republican gubernatorial hopeful Jerry W. Kilgore yesterday proposed creating regional transportation authorities that would have the power to put tax increases before voters, as part of his plan to improve Virginia's road and rail networks," reports the Washington Post's Steven Ginsberg. LINK
Congrats to Ed Skyler (elevated to Bloomberg Comm Dir) but no matter how much e-mail praise you send him today, he will not help you get in to the Bloomberg party on Saturday. LINK
A Marist poll shows a sharp reversal of fortunes in New York City, with Mayor Bloomberg leading Freddy Ferrer by double digits. LINK
Politics:
Roll Call's Suzanne Nelson reports that donors to 527 groups found a loophole to avoid having their contributions disclosed, by writing "withheld" in the space for their name.
"At the request of Roll Call, Political Money Line searched documents submitted to the IRS by 527 groups listing 'withheld' in place of a donor name for the 2004 election cycle. The query yielded 38 instances submitted by 19 different organizations. A separate search done by the Center for Responsive Politics garnered similar results. Political Money Line and CRP are private, nonpartisan groups that track money in politics. Tallying such surveys is an inexact science, however, as the IRS' Web site does not allow searches by contributor name and groups often fill out forms inconsistently. So an accurate tally could be far higher."
"The contribution amounts for receipts labeled 'withheld' ranged from $6 to $189,041, and totaled just under half a million dollars. But it's not clear which donations, if any, were from individuals or organizations who gave to 527s wishing to remain anonymous. For instance, three of three organizations contacted by Roll Call indicated that the amounts listed as 'withheld' were simply aggregates of small contributions that the IRS doesn't require to be itemized."
The State's Lee Bandy writes about South Carolinians ability to amend their state constitution to ban gay marriage. The South Carolina House voted on Tuesday to put the question on the 2006 election ballot. LINK
The AP reports that Bob Jones University is seeking accreditation for the first time. Although the school still won't accept any federal aid, it would like to be accredited by the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools so it will be easier for students to transfer credits or get into graduate school. LINK
See if you agree that Bill Gates' comments on the Washington State gay rights measure can be reconciled with Steve Ballmer's. LINK
Ralph Reed gets a cameo in the story but serves as the centerpiece of the next one:
"Microsoft Corp. is paying social conservative Ralph Reed $20,000 a month as a consultant, triggering complaints that the well-connected Republican with close ties to the White House and to evangelist Pat Robertson may have persuaded the company to oppose gay rights legislation," reports the Seattle Post-Intelligencer's Charles Pope. LINK
HarperCollins will publish Ronald Reagan's White House diaries, the Washington Post's David Montgomery reports. LINK
Globe-trotting Anglofile Adam Nagourney of the New York Times turns in big-thinks about the state of the Tories, fumbling about with 10 days to go. LINK
Writes the Wall Street Journal's editorial board: "In the small victories department, we'll chalk up the nearby letterfrom Senator Byron Dorgan and his two Democratic sidekicks. They're now saying they want the independent counsel report investigating IRS abuses related to the Henry Cisneros tax-fraud case to be made public. Glad to hear it."
"The only problem is that for that to happen with any certainty their amendment de-funding Independent Counsel David Barrett shouldn't become law. As the Senators concede, their provision could end up putting the fate of the report in the hands of the Justice Department, which just happens to be one of the two main departments that we hear are accused of major wrongdoing in the Barrett report. That outcome would defeat the whole point of having an "independent" counsel in the first place."
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Iowa:
As presented by Bret Hayworth of the Sioux City Journal: many Iowa Republicans are nesting in Nussle's corner for the 2006 gubernatorial race, urging him to challenge the lone Republican, (Vander Plaats) currently signed up. "Eighty-four percent of the Republican members of the Iowa Senate signed a letter urging Nussle to run for governor, and 76 percent of House Republicans joined the effort as well." Nussle has no comment, yet. But Mr. Plaats does. Seizing his public response to the possible competition as an opportunity to plug his own aptness for the job, he Notes his own "fresh vision." Plaats argues that Nussle is nothing but a "career politician" in excellent shape for the governor's race. "Jim Nussle has been running for months." LINK
The Clintons of Chappaqua:
The beat reporters who covered the Clinton campaign in 1992 have gone on to do a variety of things: one anchors her own show on PBS; several have become big-time newspaper editors; one spends her days on cable TV praising Ann Coulter's legs; one traded SoHo for proximity to Cactus Cantina; one makes infrequent appearances on The Deuce's "Cold Pizza."
But, so far as we know, only one (former Boston Globe and Wall Street Journal scribe Michael K. Frisby) uses photos of himself with William Jefferson Clinton to promote his PR firm on its Web site. LINK
(Click on "Services" for the Al Gore cameo!!!)
(And, yes, Fris, we can hear your trademark cackling laugh right now, as you ponder the free publicity this item will bring you . . . )
(On the other hand, we wonder if David Kendall will get a Johnny-Chung-like sensation from all of this. LINK
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