Morning copy 02.07.2006

Bush's budget

The White House website has the budget.

New York Times analysis: "Holding Fast to a Policy of Tax Cutting"

Jonathan Weisman in the Washington Post:

President Bush's budget blueprint would bring the federal government's budget deficit under control by decade's end. But to do that without raising taxes, the White House would need a sweeping tax reform that it has avoided proposing and a swift end to the war in Iraq.

The budget plan for fiscal 2007 underscores what budget analysts of all political stripes have been saying for years: The goals of balancing the budget, waging a global fight against terrorism and making Bush's first-term tax cuts permanent may be fundamentally at odds.

The Boston Globe: "Deep cuts sought for social programs"

Ronald Brownstein and Janet Hook in the Los Angeles Times:

WASHINGTON — President Bush's austere federal budget proposal, with its bold effort to curb spending on Medicare and other popular programs, establishes an unusual and potentially risky election-year strategy for congressional Republicans.

In calling for tough fiscal medicine 10 months before midterm elections, Bush is betting that voters will accept painful measures in the name of controlling government growth.

Julie Hirschfeld Davis in the Baltimore Sun:

The budget, some analysts say, is as significant for what it omits as for what it includes, painting a rosy picture of the nation's fiscal health and understating the costs of some of the Bush administration's most expensive undertakings. Factoring in those elements - among the highest on the president's wish list - makes the budget picture look much bleaker than White House projections.

The Baltimore Sun also has this interesting story (Note that headlines like this in middle-of-the-road states are not good for the White House): "Budget would take a bite out of programs in Md."

Orlando Sentinel: "Moon, Mars missions are budget winners"

The A.P. (via The San Diego Union Tribune) has one quote on this "austere" budget:

“It's a heavy lift,” said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg, R-N.H. “There's no question it's going to be a challenge.”

Senator Arlen Specter has an importat press release from yesterday. This Blue State Republican will be an important vote:

“The President’s FY07 budget proposal is going to require substantial modifications by the Congress. The Constitution gives the Congress the authority to determine appropriations levels. It is scandalous to provide insufficient funding for our Nation’s two greatest capital investments: health and education.

“The proposed budget for Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies is $3.8 billion below FY’06 and eliminates vital programs such as: the Reintegration of Youthful Offenders, Cord Blood Stem Cell Bank, and Safe and Drug Free State Grants. Factoring in inflation, the Administration’s budget for FY’07 gives these departments approximately $7 billion less than FY’06.

“It is harmful to our country that the proposed budget, if adopted, would fund the National Institutes of Health and Head Start at FY’06 levels, reduced by inflation, and less funding for critical programs like those administered by the Centers for Disease Control.

Wiretap hearing

The New York Times: "In Limelight at Wiretap Hearing: 2 Laws, but Which Should Rule?"

The New York Times: "Balancing Act by Democrats at Hearing"

The Washington Post: "Activists on Right, GOP Lawmakers Divided on Spying"

The Boston Globe: "GOP senators add heat on spying"

Bloomberg News:

``That just defies logic and plain English,'' said Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican. He said no ``realistic or fair reading'' of a congressional resolution enacted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks suggested that lawmakers intended to give President George W. Bush power to order surveillance without a court warrant.

Houston Chronicle: "Sparks fly over wiretaps"

One of the basic rules of journalism is that you do not use a quote in the lede. Quote ledes give too much influence to one voice in the story. Now, the Washington Times uses a quote headline: "'Enemy is listening,' Gonzales warns"

A.P.: "Ex-President Carter: Eavesdropping Illegal"

McCain and Obama

Chicago Tribune: "McCain criticizes Obama on Lobbying Ethics"

The letter is available here. It's tone is worth the read.

John Kerry

In the Boston Globe:

WASHINGTON -- John F. Kerry's decision to lead last week's unsuccessful filibuster of Samuel A. Alito Jr.'s Supreme Court nomination met with predictable ridicule from Republicans and some Democrats, but it could end up being his smartest political move in a long time.

The gratitude of liberal activists who hate Alito will be helpful if Kerry runs for president again.

I guess liberal activists like to lose.

Rudy

The New York Daily News:

After months of mostly ceding the political spotlight to other presidential wanna-bes, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani is starting to get his political groove back.

Giuliani is set to headline a May 2 fund-raiser in Washington for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, a group headed by Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.) that is behind efforts to keep the Senate in Republican hands this year.

Louisiana

New Orleans Times Picayune:

BATON ROUGE — Gov. Kathleen Blanco kicked off a history-making special session of the Legislature Monday evening at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center with a forceful message to the federal government and state lawmakers to support her levee board and housing programs for hurricane recovery.

In what was widely seen as the sharpest speech of her beleaugured political career since Hurricane Katrina, Blanco admonished President Bush for dodging Louisiana’s requests for aid while announcing an ultimatum to the federal government to give Louisiana a larger share of oil and gas royalites from offshore drilling or face a roadblock to future exploration in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.

Iran

The Islamic Republic's News Agency:

Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said here on Tuesday that the blasphemous cartoons published on Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) by several western media was part of a global conspiracy against Islam and Muslims.