February 2006 Archives

Update (Wednesday 10:08 a.m. est) ...see new item above for briefing on quick Afghanistan visit.....

A ``gaggle'' is White House slang for a press briefing..
I'm not flying along with the presidential entourage. This transcript of a gaggle with SECRETARY OF STATE CONDI RICE AND NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR STEPHEN HADLEY comes from the White House. It is a primer on some of the issues Bush wants to deal with on the India and Pakistan trip, especially on nuclear non-proliferation.

A little double entendre here. The vision thing at issue with President Bush is eyes, not policy.

Your blogger celebrated ``Save Your Vision Week'' early, with a visit to the opthalmologist this morning.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), a former Chicago alderman--who is mulling a mayoral run--returned to City Hall this morning to rally support against a House bill passed last December on the strength of GOP votes. The legislation would criminalize many aspects of illegal immigration. The Senate is preparing to write its own immigration measure and eventually the House and Senate must agree on the same language in order for a bill to become a law.

Gutierrez is one of the Democratic House leads on immigration.

A few weeks ago the Republican National Committee asked more than 30 cities to bid to host the 2008 presidential nominating convention. Chicago was on the RNC long list, though the city has no interest in pursuing the business..
Just moments ago...
The Democratic National Committee announced that eleven cities have expressed an interest in hosting the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

The include: Anaheim, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, New Orleans, New York, Orlando, Phoenix, and San Antonio.

President Bush again turns to the ``U.S. as gas addicts'' theme in speech to National Governor's Association meeting.

This is the winter meeting Gov. Blagojevich is skipping.

Never wait for the press conference...
Today, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Il.) and Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.)
continue the Democratic blitz....to criticize the new Medicare Part D cost to bring prescription drug benefits to seniors...

Their comments to be based on a Jan. 18 study....To read about it, start here...http://www.cepr.net/pressreleases/2006_01_18.htm Last week, in a co-ordinated drive, House Democrats threw about 100 events to complain about the GOP-authored plan....Long time critics Schakowsky and Emanuel owed their leadership their event...so they weigh in again in a few hours from Chicago....

Together.....rare bipartisan joint action....

(Washington, D.C.) -- Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) today
announced that he and Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will lead a
bipartisan delegation March 2 - 4 to Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama to
look at progress in the cleanup and rebuilding efforts by all levels of
government and charitable organizations. The delegation will look at the
effectiveness of recovery assistance, while ensuring the most resources
possible are reaching people directly.

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) delivered the Democratic Hispanic radio address today, in Spanish.
Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor told me that Obama can get by in Spanish. Text of message and translation, click here.

FRIDAY
PRESS BRIEFING BY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR STEVE HADLEY ON THE PRESIDENT'S TRIP TO INDIA AND PAKISTAN

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

the following is an item from the ``Hotline,'' a political tipsheet published by the National Journal

http://nationaljournal.com/pubs/hotline/h060224.htm
The Sweetest Thing
Lynn Sweet is the DC bureau chief for the Chicago Sun-Times and writes a
column for the paper. She also is a columnist for The Hill. In '04 she was a
spring semester fellow at Harvard's Inst. of Politics in the Kennedy School
of Government. But today she's our Friday Feature:

Why wait for the press conference...this just in..

I ran into John Anderson, a former Republican congressman who represented the Rockford area in northern Illinois, presiding over a press conference Thursday, called to gin up interest in revamping a system where the candidate who has the most votes does not always win. (Remember Al Gore in 2000).

When White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen decided not to attend a White House ceremony honoring the 2005 World Series champs, it was, well, noticed.

In that spirit, I pass along the information that Gov. Blagojevich is also saying no to a White House invite.

UPDATE: I just watched...CNN just ran the comedy ambush interview clip with Blagojevich..done for the Jon Stewart show....very amusing....

After a war of words (seems so long ago) over ethics reform between Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), this joint announcement issued by McCain comes out about ``ongoing discussions.''

BIPARTISAN WORKING GROUP ON LOBBYING REFORM ANNOUNCE AGREEMENT ON PROVISIONS TO BE INCLUDED IN REFORM LEGISLATION

Washington, D.C. - Today Senators Santorum (R-PA), McCain (R-AZ), Lott (R-TN), Kyl (R-AZ), Vitter (R-LA), Lieberman (D-CT), Obama (D-IL), Isakson (R-GA), Dodd (D-CT), Feingold (D-WI) and Collins (R-ME), today issued the following joint statement:

Your federal government at work
NEW $10 NOTE TO GO INTO CIRCULATION ON MARCH 2

Here's the lede of my latest column:

The White House ignored warnings from Republicans that the deal to allow a United Arab Emirates company to manage port terminals in six U.S. cities would create at the least a perception problem for the Bush administration

To read the whole shot, click here
http://www.suntimes.com/output/sweet/cst-edt-sweet23.html

The Bush team goes on the offensive to defend the ports deal with a United Arab Emirates company

After a cabinet meeting this morning, President Bush today tried again to quiet the storm over whether letting an United Arab Emirates company manage six U.S. ports.

And so people don't need to worry about security. This deal wouldn't go forward if we were concerned about the security for the United States of America.

Today, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said Congress will get briefed on the controversial plan to let a company soon to be owned by the United Arab Emirates operate ports in the U.S.

He admits the White House could have handled it better.

`` I mean, in hindsight, when you look at this and the coverage that it's received and the false impression that it has left with some, we probably should have briefed members of Congress about it sooner. ''