Cheney's FBI interviews kept from Congress with executive privilege claim
Newsweek Jul 17, 08 3:07 AM CDT
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President Bush has invoked an unprecedented executive privilege claim to bar FBI interviews with Dick Cheney from a congressional committee probing the leak that exposed Valerie Plame as a CIA agent, Newsweek reports. The Bush order argues that turning over the records of Cheney's grilling concerning the scandal would violate the president's right to confidential communication with his advisers.
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Republicans say his stubbornness on Iraq reminiscent of president
Huffington Post Jul 16, 08 6:22 PM CDT
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The McCain camp borrowed a page from its rivals today with a new tack on Barack Obama: He looks a whole lot like George W. Bush. McCain's national security adviser took Obama to task for the rigidity of his Iraq strategy, the Huffington Post reports. "I think the American people have had enough of stubbornness and inflexibility in national security policy,” said Randy Scheunemann.
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Bernanke gives gloomy outlook for rest of 2008, but raises growth forecast
Bloomberg Jul 15, 08 1:08 PM CDT
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The US government won't be lending capital to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the near future, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told a Senate committee today. "There are no immediate plans to access either the proposed liquidity or the proposed capital backstop,'' Paulson said, and any lending to the mortgage giants would be done "under terms and conditions that protect the US taxpayer," Bloomberg reports.
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analysis
Ruling party has only increased share of popular vote once since 1928
Boston Globe Jul 14, 08 4:10 PM CDT
(Newser)
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In all six elections since 1928 in which one party had 8 consecutive years in the White House, the incumbent party lost popular vote ground; in four, Americans voted for change. That's bad news for John McCain, Robert David Sullivan writes in the Boston Globe , because George Bush only won 50.7% of the national popular vote in 2004.
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White House spins decision as attempt
to motivate Congress
Associated Press Jul 14, 08 10:24 AM CDT
(Newser)
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President Bush is about to lift the ban on offshore drilling that's stood since his father was in office, White House press secretary Dana Perino announced today. The move will be meaningless unless Congress follows suit, the AP reports. Two bans on the practice are in place: an executive order signed by Bush 41 and a law enacted by Congress.
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Need for troops in Afghanistan may drive unexpected shift
New York Times Jul 13, 08 7:29 AM CDT
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US officials in Washington and Baghdad may pull as many as three brigades from Iraq by the time George Bush leaves office, the New York Times reports. The move, driven in part by a need to bolster the American presence in Afghanistan, could remove far more troops than seemed likely just months ago, and would mark a major shift in policy from the past few years.
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House outcome uncertain; Bush will veto unless changed
Associated Press Jul 11, 08 8:35 PM CDT
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By a huge margin, the Senate today passed a $300 billion bill to help homeowners avoid foreclosure—but the White House vows to veto it unless the House makes changes, the AP reports. The bill will let struggling homeowners reinsure at cheaper rates backed by the government, but President President Bush says that nearly $4 billion in the bill, slated to fix up foreclosed homes, benefits lenders, not owners.
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OPINION
Taking pages from Bush-Cheney playbook may help, but flip-flops hurt credibility
Wall Street Journal Jul 10, 08 11:53 AM CDT
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For all Barack Obama's shots at the Bush Administration, the Democrat's campaign "has cribbed an awful lot from the Bush-Cheney playbooks," their author writes in the Wall Street Journal . Karl Rove sees his own winning strategies at work, from Obama's “army of persuasion,” to Internet efforts, to electoral “microtargeting,” to attempts to bring red states back into play. But there's a problem, Rove hints.
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President leaves other leaders open-mouthed with defiant farewell
Daily Telegraph (UK) Jul 10, 08 8:00 AM CDT
(Newser)
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George Bush concluded the last G8 summit of his presidency with a defiant final joke: "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter," he quipped. The president then punched the air, his mouth fixed in a huge grin, the Daily Telegraph reports. Bush, who has faced international condemnation for years for his reluctance to fight climate change, then left the summit, as fellow leaders Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy looked on in shock.
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ANALYSIS
Maliki's demand for US withdrawal the latest sign of new confidence
New York Times Jul 10, 08 7:41 AM CDT
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Nouri al-Maliki and the Iraqi government are now openly demanding a timetable for the withdrawal of American forces, reports the New York Times . While nobody expects Baghdad to boot American troops, several military victories and greater political stability have emboldened Maliki, and the increasingly loud demands reflect a new confidence on the part of the Iraqi PM.
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AFL-CIO spot aims to separate war record from economic policy
Chicago Tribune Jul 9, 08 5:05 PM CDT
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Worried about the appeal John McCain has for military veterans among its members, the AFL-CIO is launching an advertising campaign criticizing the Republican's economic policies, the Chicago Tribune reports. The union will spend $53.4 million on the campaign, running mainly in places like Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Virginia— battleground states hit hard by the economic downturn.
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ANALYSIS
Republican needs the publicity; convention trump card could benefit Democrat
Time Jul 9, 08 4:14 PM CDT
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Timing the unveiling of one's running mate is a crucial publicity challenge, David Von Drehle writes in Time —and John McCain would be best served by playing his card soon, while Barack Obama should keep his ace up his sleeve. Obama could run into trouble from rabid Hillary Clinton fans at the Democratic convention, and might need “to hold a headline in reserve."