The Note: Don't Know What It Always Was With Us

— -- WASHINGTON, July 1

NEWS SUMMARY
To review before the holiday:

Resolved and agreed to by the Chattering Class (which, again, doesn't make it true):
Matt Cooper's source is (or: "sources are") now sweating the bullets that Matt used to sweat; the Boston Globe will not take anything Governor Romney does at face value ever again; Ken Mehlman got more pleasure out of reading Ted Kennedy's fundraising solicitation e-mail celebrating Howard Dean than most Democrats who read it did; a functioning ethics committee is . . . . a functioning ethics committee; it would be darned unfair of any SCOTUS justice to retire right before a three-day weekend; the first four hours after said retirement are key to determining what is expected from the President.

Unresolved as far as the public is concerned:
If they will think anew about their Iraq war feelings in the wake of the President's speech; what all these recent Supreme Court decisions mean to their lives; if they are more afraid of being bitten by a shark or kidnapped; (still) when are gas prices coming down?; why the Democratic establishment thinks they care more about PBS and NPR than health care; will Brooke Shields' New York Times op-ed rebuttal cause more strange behavior from Tom Cruise?; the new Iranian president used to be a what, now?

Pending for the Chattering Class: Will there be any SCOTUS retirements in the next 100 hours?; where will more news be committed -- at the NGA meeting in Iowa or the DLC meeting in Ohio?; CAFTA; energy reconcillation; who gets invited to Terry Holt's wedding?

In the Oval Office today, President Bush meets with Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jabir al-Sabah at 11:25 am ET. The President then heads to Walter Reed Medical Center where he will visit wounded soldiers. He spends the weekend at Camp David.

Zalmay Khalilzad, newly appointed U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, speaks on the future of Iraq at a 10:00 am ET press conference.

Today, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist will take a key Republican ally to task, sort of.

In a speech on the floor of the Senate around 10:00 am ET, Frist, a heart transplant surgeon, is expected to lay part of the blame for rising health care costs on the doorstep of the pharmaceutical industry and challenge its advertising and marketing practices. He is expected to announce a GAO investigation into the FDA's drug ad review process.

The industry, led by PhRMA, its trade group, is coming up with voluntary guidelines. Frist wants them to include a restriction on "consumer drug advertising during the first two years that a new drug is on the market." If they don't, and if the GAO inquiry finds the process lacking, Frist suggests he will propose new legislation to that end.

In the speech, Frist will propose beefing up the FDA's advertising review staff, He's also expected to call for better and quicker public access to clinical data and post marketing studies

His key line: "If drug companies don't clean up their act, Congress will . . . ."

Democrats will say that if Frist was serious about lowering health care costs, he could do more than call for a government review of the problem.

The Senate Appropriations Committee holds a hearing at 9:30 am ET to discuss funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Homeland Security approps are also on the agenda. The House, having passed an emergency $1 billion for veterans care (though not as much as the White House wanted, Notes David Rogers in the Wall Street Journal), adjourned.

Antonio Villaraigosa is inaugurated as the 41st Mayor of Los Angeles at City Hall at 1:00 pm ET.

RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman, DNC Chairman Howard Dean, and former President Bill Clinton travel to Little Rock, AR today for the 76th Annual League of United Latin American Citizens National Convention. At 3:00 pm ET, Mehlman speaks on Social Security, taxes, and Republican efforts to reach out to Latinos. Dean meets with Arkansas Democratic Party Hispanic Caucus members and Hispanic candidates before addressing the convention at 3:30 pm ET. And finally, Clinton takes the stage at 8:00 pm ET to deliver the keynote address and kick off a presidential ball.

At 8:15 am ET, Gingrich fans delight when the former Speaker of the House addresses fellow Republicans at a breakfast fundraiser. After eggs and bacon, expect Gingrich to mingle with the crowd and autograph copies of his latest book, "Winning the Future: A 21st Century Contract with America".

Saturday night, catch Live 8 on the ABC television network, and on Sunday morning, George Stephanopoulos interviews Toby Keith about it.

On Sunday, Young Democrats for America begins its convention in San Francisco, CA.

As Congress takes an Independence Day recess on Monday, Sen. Rick Santorum new book, "It Takes a Family," is slated for release.

Also on Monday, the Leadership Institute holds its annual picnic at Bull Run Park.

And voting ends on Monday for the "Hottest U.S. Senator" contest. The candidates include Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, Joe Biden of Delaware, Robert Byrd of West Virginia, and Evan Bayh of Indiana. In addition, organizers of the vote explain that Barack Obama was intentionally left off the list due to his "extreme hotness." LINK

Finally: we love the smell of charcoal in the air.

So. . . fire up that barbecue, load up the Springsteen and Mellencamp in the iPod, and set the DVR for that July 4 (8:00 pm) showing of The West Wing's "Jefferson Lives" episode on Bravo (LINK). While you're doing all of that, we're going to hang our "Gone fishin'" sign in the window and take our tackle box on the road to celebrate Independence Week.

While we're gone, you can always check out The Notes you've missed in our user-friendly archives: LINK

You can also catch up on your political planning with our exclusive and comprehensive ABC News political futures calendar: LINK

We'll be back on Monday July 11, 2005 and look forward to your reading us then.

Until then, have a fantastic Fourth of July recess.

--The Note

CAFTA:
A look at the Senators thinking of running for president in 2008 shows no surprises. It will be up to those candidates seeking the nominations from outside the Senate to use CAFTA as an intra-party wedge, should they choose to do so. Otherwise, it'll have to wait until the general election.

Republican Sens. Frist, Allen, Hagel, McCain, Brownback and Santorum all voted yea.

Democratic Sens. Clinton, Biden, Bayh, Feingold, and Kerry all voted nay.

A look at some Democratic Senators up for reelection next year in Red States: Sens. Conrad and Byrd voted nay. Sens. Nelson (NE) and Nelson (FL) voted yay.

And the Republicans running in Blue States: Sens. Chafee and Santorum (as Noted above) both voted yea. (Note too the Santorum/Specter split on the issue.)

The Wall Street Journal's Greg Hitt Notes that VPOTUS did interviews in Minnesota and North Dakota.

"Administration officials said the pact is tougher than previous trade agreements in requiring countries to enforce their own laws. In a deal struck earlier this week with Senator Jeff Bingaman, Democrat of New Mexico, the administration also agreed to spend $40 million a year to help Central American countries beef up enforcement of their own laws. But even supporters of the pact acknowledged it would have a limited impact on wages and working standards," writes Edmund Andrews in the New York Times. > LINK