MORNING UPDATE:
Governor Granholm and the Democrats are wheeling and dealing…looking for 4-5 House Republican and 2-5 Senate Republican votes for a tax increase.
Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop will be this week’s guest on Off The Record.
Immigration deal cut between Congress and the White House…pay attention.
THE REST OF THE STORY:
The Governor and Democrats are trying to “buy off” Republican votes in the House and the Senate to push through a tax increase in the state legislature. Republicans are holding strong…while Democrats are trying to find some Republicans to allow Democrats to “walk” on a tax increase vote.
Republicans have balanced the budget without raising taxes and the governor and Democrats are “hell bent” on raising taxes in Michigan. We cannot tax ourselves out of a recession.
Watch Off The Record this weekend with Republican Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop. You can catch the recorded version on your local public television station or watch it off the web at:
http://www.wkar.org/offtherecord/
There was an announcement yesterday that a deal was cut between Congressional leaders and the White House on a “comprehensive immigration reform”. Details have been coming out all afternoon, but most are waiting to see the language.
This is an important issue and I urge you to pay attention and get all the details. Talk to our U.S. Senators and Congressman to find out what’s really in the bill.
We are a nation based on laws…so what does that mean?
Saul Anuzis
STATE STORIES
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070518/NEWS06/705180455/1008
Pressure for budget deal set to grow
State economists to meet today to forecast tax revenues
May 18, 2007
LANSING -- Talks to resolve state government's budget problems resumed Thursday as lawmakers and Gov. Jennifer Granholm tried to reach a solution before temporary layoffs or slashed services are forced by a lack of money.
The budget picture is expected to officially become bleaker today, when state economists gather to forecast tax revenues and gauge the Michigan economy.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070518/POLITICS/705180387/1022
Friday, May 18, 2007
Budget logjam tarnishes Michigan
Drawn-out bickering over finances hurts state's image, ability to attract businesses.
Mark Hornbeck and Robert Snell / The Detroit News
The stalemate over Michigan's growing budget deficit has experts and some citizens fearful that it is damaging the state's reputation and hurting the economic climate.
"I just wish they'd work something out and stop all the arguing," said William Hartley, a retired tool-and-die maker from Clarkston. "We're in trouble as a state and we really need to get it fixed."
Robert Dace-Smith, an EDS project manager from Davisburg, said elected officials in Lansing are "not getting the job done."
"The solution has to be a blend of spending cuts and raising revenue," Smith said.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070518/OPINION03/705180343/1022
Friday, May 18, 2007
Daniel Howes: Budget battle pits past vs. future
The game of budgetary chicken playing out in Lansing -- Will they or won't they shut down state government? And if they do, will it matter? -- isn't just about petty partisan politics.
It's the manifestation of warring visions on how to guide Michigan through the painful transition from a fat, familiar and auto-centric 20th century economy to a flatter, leaner 21st century one. That's why it's so painful, and why the pressure bearing down on schools, local governments and taxpayers isn't likely to ease anytime soon.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070518/OPINION03/705180304/1022/POLITICS
Friday, May 18, 2007
Frank Beckmann
State leaders want tax hikes before implementing reforms
While our state political leaders continue their game of chicken, residents are being left in the dark about how deep they'll have to dig in their pockets to continue supporting big government.
Even if the Democrats -- led by Gov. Jennifer Granholm and House Speaker Andy Dillon -- and the Republicans -- led by Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop -- agree on a 2007 budget without a tax increase, it will be a temporary reprieve for overtaxed Michiganians.
Later today, the state revenue estimate for 2008 promises to show the current level of state spending can't be supported by existing tax revenues.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070518/OPINION01/705180338/1069
Stop avoiding budget decisions
May 18, 2007
Sadly, there's little reason to hope that today's conference to set final state budget numbers will end the terrible fiscal stalemate in Lansing.
The group that has taken the most action, the Republican majority in the state Senate, has achieved its version of a balanced budget largely by shoving millions of dollars of this year's costs into next year's budget, and by raiding almost every state fund that isn't nailed down constitutionally, to the tune of about a half-billion dollars (ranging from $5.3 million that had been set aside as a match for a new Soo lock to $294 million from the 21st Century Jobs Fund). For all their crowing about not raising taxes, they have taken no major steps to bring the budget into structural balance, so that income matches outgo. To the contrary, they have created worse problems for the next fiscal year, setting the state up for steeper cuts or a higher tax than if they had bitten the bullet now.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070517/NEWS06/70517059/1008/NEWS06
Survey: Capitol insiders not pleased with state's leaders
May 17, 2007
LANSING — Fed up with what’s going on at the state Capitol?
Well, maybe not as much as the people who work there everyday.
A survey of Capitol insiders — legislators, top government employees and lobbyists — released Thursday, found that Gov. Jennifer Granholm is doing a lousy job and legislative leaders fare better only by comparison.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070518/OPINION03/705180307/1008/OPINION01
Friday, May 18, 2007
Mark Gaffney: Labor Voices
Economy requires shared sacrifice
CEOs, top 10 percent of Americans profit, while the rest of us suffer
Michigan's union workers are on the front lines of America's changing economy. But they shouldn't be the only ones making adjustments.
In some cases, the shifting economy has resulted in entire companies relocating to Mexico, even though they were profitable (like Greenville's Electrolux). In some cases, this has meant new job opportunities and industries (like the aircraft manufacturer Prestige Aircraft in Jackson). We will next worry about the workers and retirees at Chrysler, which was sold to a private equity firm, as that automaker accelerates its adjustments.
Some say that a good way to adjust to the economy is for workers to receive less income and have worse pension and health care benefits. That is the position of many Republicans in our state Legislature on state and educational employees.
http://www.mlive.com/columns/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1179413198295340.xml&coll=2
As Chrysler struggles, workers pay the price
Thursday, May 17, 2007
The sale of Chrysler Corp. to Cerberus Capital Management demonstrates the regenerative capacity of capitalism. But without the buffer of government and labor, that process can devastate the lives of people who lack the resources of those who negotiated the purchase. This transaction, and others like it, call for greater protections for Americans caught up in the "creative destruction'' of economic globalization.
The German automaker Daimler should never have bought mass-market Chrysler in 1998. It knew that the American auto giant was saddled with enormous health-care and pension costs for its employees and retirees. Realizing its mistake, Daimler will pay Cerberus about $680 million to unload Chrysler and concentrate on building trucks and luxury cars in its home country.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070518/OPINION01/705180301/1008
Friday, May 18, 2007
Opinion: Carbon caps will accomplish what Marx failed to do
Michael R. LeGault
According to a poll cited in the Economist, only 7 percent of Americans say the environment or global warming should be the government's priority. Now contrast this with the way in which global warming rules the media and, increasingly, legislative agendas.
What this illustrates is the power of nongovernmental organizations, dominated by liberals, working in concert with academic researchers (whose ridiculously doom-and-gloom forecasts make their vested interest in funding laughably transparent) to hijack representative democracy. They do this by controlling the discourse of the media and manufacturing political pressure.
http://www.mlive.com/news/bctimes/index.ssf?/base/news-9/117941499060690.xml&coll=4
EASE YOUR GAS PAINS
Thursday, May 17, 2007
By KATHLEEN POLESNAK
TIMES WRITER
Cell phone users may have an advantage when it comes to finding the cheapest gas in town this summer.
Meijer is offering a program that allows motorists to receive text messages that warn them when gas prices are predicted to rise 5 cents or more.
That way, consumers can get to a Meijer gas station and fill up before prices climb. Meijer stations will not raise prices right away to allow customers to take advantage of the lower price, Meijer spokesperson Stacie Behler said.
http://www.mlive.com/news/bctimes/index.ssf?/base/news-9/117941507960690.xml&coll=4
Markets around the world hold U.S. gas prices hostage
Thursday, May 17, 2007
By JEFF KART
TIMES WRITER
Look at a map: The price of gas in Michigan is affected by events that happen in other states, and half a world away.
Repairs and maintenance at large refineries in Indiana and Toledo have caused a surge in prices this year, experts say. Heightened tensions in the Middle East and Nigeria, moves by Venezuela to increase government control of oil production and the 2007 hurricane season all could cause more price increases.
The good news - if there is any - is that a gallon of regular grade gas probably won't climb to $4 this summer, as some have predicted, said Jeffrey Pillon, a manager for the Michigan Public Service Commission in Lansing, who helped prepare a recent Michigan Energy Appraisal.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070518/OPINION01/705180302/1008
Friday, May 18, 2007
Opinion: Preserve land assets to help economy
Bill Rustem
In the debate over Michigan's future, too many are getting lost in the language of short-term fixes, gimmicks and boutique programs. The Big Picture has gone missing. Michigan needs pervasive reform.
Our children, and their children, deserve it.
The blueprint is there.
It began to take shape with the final report of the Michigan Land Use Leadership Council in August of 2003. The council outlined more than 160 recommendations, including policy change to support sustainable, more livable communities, and to preserve open space, farmland and forestland.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070518/NEWS05/705180364/1007
In metro Detroit, immigration plan's economic effect is concern
May 18, 2007
Advocates for metro Detroit immigrants are skeptical about a compromise touted by senators Thursday, saying the immigration proposal could hamper Michigan's economy.
Some said they were cautiously optimistic about parts of the plan, which would affect an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States, about 150,000 of them in Michigan. But others said the proposal would establish an unequal system that fails to address the economic demands for low-skill labor.
http://www.mlive.com/news/chronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-11/1179416713163700.xml&coll=8
Migrant shortage hurting farmers
Thursday, May 17, 2007
By Federico Martinez
fmartinez@muskegonchronicle.com
Farmers in West Michigan are being forced to destroy thousands of dollars in asparagus crops this spring because there's nobody to pick them.
Local growers worry it's an indication of what could become a yearlong migrant worker shortage that could put some of them out of business and cause grocery prices to skyrocket.
"I've already had to mow 7 acres of asparagus myself," said Rick Sible, an Oceana County farmer whose decision cost him thousands of dollars. "I lost that crop because it had passed its point of quality for harvesting."
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070518/OPINION01/705180337/1069
Stem cell research could boost Michigan economy
May 18, 2007
My husband and I were always meant to be the parents of our daughters, Rosemary and Rita Mei.
But in the course of becoming a family through adoption, we -- like 10% of couples in the U.S. -- underwent treatment for infertility. For most couples that undergo in vitro fertilization (IVF), more embryos are created than are used in the treatment. Yet, under Michigan law, those 8-celled clusters cannot be used in life-saving medical research. It is lawful to freeze them in perpetuity or to destroy them, but not to put them to good use developing treatments for diseases such as diabetes, cancer and Alzheimer's disease.
http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-11/1179416730163700.xml&coll=8
GOP national powerhouse throws hat in state ring
Thursday, May 17, 2007
By Steve Gunn
sgunn@muskegonchronicle.com
Holly Hughes of White River Township has become an influential figure in the Republican Party over the past few years.
That's the state and national Republican Party, by the way. Not just the local GOP.
She's Michigan's Republican national committeewoman, one of only 100 members of the Republican National Committee. Membership on that committee brings power and prestige.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070518/POLITICS/705180364/1022
Friday, May 18, 2007
Cox: State lax on prescription cost help
Attorney general finds wide price disparities, calls for more online data for seniors, the uninsured.
Charlie Cain / Detroit News Lansing Bureau
LANSING -- Attorney General Mike Cox, armed with results of a new survey, charged Thursday that the state is doing a lackluster job of helping senior citizens and Michigan's 1.1 million uninsured residents get prescription drugs at the lowest possible prices.
Cox's investigators discovered the price of a specific drug can vary widely in the state -- and the price difference can be more than $100 for a drug in the same city.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070518/NEWS06/705180334/1008
Drug prices vary wildly by store, Cox survey finds
He requests more info on Web site
May 18, 2007
Prices for commonly prescribed drugs can vary by 100% or more from pharmacy to pharmacy in some Michigan communities, but consumers often don't know that because the state's drug-pricing information Web site is inadequate, Attorney General Mike Cox said Thursday.
Cox said the site doesn't report prices for many common prescription drugs and is confusing and harder to use than similar sites in other states.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-36/1179410760186590.xml&coll=6
Cox puts focus on drug pricing
Thursday, May 17, 2007
By Pat Shellenbarger
The Grand Rapids Press
At one Grand Rapids pharmacy, a month's supply of the acid reflux drug Prevacid was $185 last week. Nine miles away, another pharmacy was selling it for $82 less.
That same week, a month's supply of Avandia, a drug for treating diabetes, was $78.61 cheaper at one Grand Rapids-area pharmacy than at three others nearby.
Those are typical of the price variations investigators for Attorney General Mike Cox found in a survey of 20 Grand Rapids-area pharmacies, part of a larger survey of 200 pharmacies statewide.
http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/news-23/117941537680440.xml&coll=7
State urged to list more drug prices
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Gazette News Service
LANSING -- After a survey of 200 Michigan pharmacies revealed wide disparity in prices charged for some drugs, Attorney General Mike Cox today called on the state Department of Community Health to follow the lead of other states and help consumers find the best deals.
Specifically, he urged Community Health to increase the number of drugs listed on its Web site, www.michigandrugprices.com, allowing consumers to shop for the lowest prices.
Prices for some drugs surveyed in the Kalamazoo area varied by as much as $75 for one prescription. For example, Ambien could be purchased at one local pharmacy for $174.99 and at another for $98.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070518/OPINION01/705180310/1008
Friday, May 18, 2007
Delay MSU medical school vote until all facts gathered
The Detroit News
Michigan State University has no legitimate reason to encroach on Wayne State University's long-established medical school in Detroit. The MSU Board of Trustees should reject a scheduled vote today to locate a satellite campus of its osteopathic college in Detroit.
There are many reasons to oppose the plan that would put an eventual 200 MSU medical students at the Detroit Medical Center, but chief among them is politics. DMC Chief Executive Mike Duggan is pulling in political favors and manipulating Michigan State for his own advantage.
http://www.mlive.com/news/citpat/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1179410927186650.xml&coll=3
School votes pricier: Reform the reform?
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Just when we thought nobody in Lansing cared what was happening in little ol' Jackson: The Legislature has noted the local impact of a 2004 state school-election reform. That's good, for what happened in the Jackson School Board race is so regressive that one almost prefers to look the other way. That, however, wouldn't get the problem fixed.
Last week's election catapulted Dr. David Halsey into another term on the Jackson School Board. Nothing remarkable about that, for the doctor is one of the finest school board members ever to serve the JPS constituency. He richly deserves another term, even though the monetary reward is zilch and the pains enormous.
But it isn't the good doctor's public service that is at issue here -- it is the confluence of an ebbing sense of interest in school elections combined with the rising cost of elections. Consider:
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070518/OPINION01/705180306/1008
Friday, May 18, 2007
Detroit's kids deserve better school options
Debate on Kilpatrick charter idea should focus on needs of students
The Detroit News
This week Detroit has been buzzing about Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's announcement that he is seeking to open 25 charter schools to enhance the city's educational offerings. For all the talk, however, little conversation has focused on where it belongs: Detroit's children.
University Preparatory Academy, a Detroit school run by former Michigan Commerce Department Director Doug Ross, provides an example of what a successful charter can do. It has a low dropout rate, and most of its graduating students have been accepted for post-secondary training. It has done this with students whose families have all of the problems faced by students in the city's regular public schools.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070518/NEWS01/705180419/1003
City council vote blocks settlement
Law department sought to pay off 2 police officers in slander lawsuit
May 18, 2007
The traffic stop that made the phrase "Do you know who the (expletive) I am?" part of metro Detroit's lexicon keeps coming back -- even when the City of Detroit tries to make it go away.
The city's Law Department wants to settle for $25,000 a lawsuit filed by two Detroit police officers who allege Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings slandered them after the officers pulled over the mayor's chief of staff, Christine Beatty, for speeding three years ago and accused her of hurling the profane retort.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070518/NEWS01/705180372/1003
Kilpatrick won't be heading to Hawaii
Media set to follow him at conference
May 18, 2007
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick abruptly canceled Thursday his trip to a public pension conference in Hawaii after he learned that media organizations planned to follow him to Honolulu.
The Free Press reported earlier this month that 13 people from two City of Detroit public pension plans had planned to attend the weeklong conference, along with dozens of people from other public pension plans around Michigan. The event begins today.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070518/NEWS06/705180382/1008/NEWS06
Miller is losing patience on Iraq
May 18, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Add U.S. Rep. Candice Miller to the chorus of Republican voices in Congress saying significant progress needs to be shown in Iraq by the fall.
Failing that, the Harrison Township congresswoman said this week, she would be among those looking to require Iraqis to hit benchmarks or face the consequences -- up to and including a redeployment of U.S. troops.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070518/NEWS06/705180373/1008
Levin in the crosshairs
His Iraq war funding vote spurs radio ad by activists
May 18, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Carl Levin is no longer the darling of the antiwar folks. He is their target.
MoveOn.org started a series of radio spots Thursday in Detroit, Lansing and Washington, D.C., chastising Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a Democratic senator from Detroit, for voting against a measure to stop funding for the Iraq war beginning April 1.
Dems want presidential hopefuls to seize manufacturing agenda
5/17/2007, 5:58 p.m. EDT
By KEN THOMAS
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Michigan Democrats outlined a broad agenda on Thursday that would attempt to raise the status of manufacturing issues in Congress and among their party's presidential candidates.
Wary that the 2008 presidential field may not pay enough attention to manufacturing, Sens. Carl Levin, Debbie Stabenow, Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Michigan's congressional Democrats want action on several fronts affecting domestic automakers and manufacturers who form the backbone of the state's struggling economy.
"We are determined that we are going to get manufacturing issues into the presidential campaign as well as fight for them in Congress," Levin said of the plan, called the "American Manufacturing Initiative."
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070518/BUSINESS01/705180379/1014
Legislators unveil plans to assist manufacturers
May 18, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Michigan's Democratic members of Congress and Gov. Jennifer Granholm unveiled several proposals Thursday aimed at providing more federal help for manufacturers, including a few ideas aimed to defuse calls for higher fuel economy standards from automakers.
The Democrats said they would push Democratic presidential candidates to take a position on their Advanced Manufacturing Initiative, which includes ideas such as tax credits for biofuels, more government investment in research and tougher stands by federal officials in international trade, such as currency manipulation.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070518/POLITICS/705180344/1022
Friday, May 18, 2007
Michigan Democrats push manufacturing plan
Tax policy, fuel standard strategies aimed at influencing presidential candidates on state's economic needs.
Gordon Trowbridge / Detroit News Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- Michigan Democrats on Thursday unveiled what they called a comprehensive strategy for rebuilding U.S. manufacturing, a series of proposals aimed at Congress and the party's presidential candidates.
The plan, which touches on issues ranging from health care to tax policy to auto fuel-economy standards, includes proposals already in pending legislation. It has the support of Gov. Jennifer Granholm, both U.S. senators and all six Michigan Democrats in the U.S. House.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070518/NEWS07/705180366/1009
How to be heard
May 18, 2007
Senate
• Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.; 202-224-6221 ; 269 Russell, Washington, DC 20510; e-mail to senator@levin.senate.gov.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.; 202-224-4822 ; 133 Hart, Washington, DC 20510; senator@stabenow.senate.gov.
• Other senators may be reached by name through the Capitol switchboard, 202-224-3121 , or by mail, in care of the senator, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC 20510.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070518/COL04/705180331/1007/NEWS05
Supporting our troops to the grave
May 18, 2007
You'd have to shake hands with an awful lot of politicians before you found one as thoughtful, experienced and respected by colleagues in both parties as Carl Levin.
When the senior senator from Michigan talks about Iraq, serious people on all sides of the debate listen, which is why critics of the war have been so disappointed by Levin's failure to make more effective use of his bully pulpit and frustrated by his continuing efforts to stake out a middle ground between Republican hawks and Democrats who support a firm deadline for the de-funding of our military misadventure in Iraq.
http://www.mlive.com/news/saginawnews/index.ssf?/base/news-22/1179409822132660.xml&coll=9
Town salutes troops
Thursday, May 17, 2007
LaNIA COLEMAN
THE SAGINAW NEWS
The wind and bleachers were cold but the hearts were warm in St. Charles, where about 700 residents turned out to honor the community's men and women serving in the armed forces.
Sherri Simerson and Linda Parson, whose sons serve in the U.S. Marine Corps and returned in April from a tour in Iraq, orchestrated the event to honor 18 St. Charles High School graduates now in the military.
The ceremonies, entitled "Freedom Is Not Free," included bagpipers, an honor guard, comments from politicians and a roll-call of the enlisted. The crowd also recognized former soldiers and Marines from across the generations.
http://www.mlive.com/news/flintjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-43/1179411639238170.xml&coll=5
Grand Blanc soldier dies of illness in Iraq
GRAND BLANC
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Thursday, May 17, 2007
By Marjory Raymer
mraymer@flintjournal.com
A Michigan National Guard soldier from Grand Blanc died in Iraq after suddenly falling ill.
Sgt. Thomas G. Wright, 38, of Grand Blanc died Sunday while in flight to Germany for treatment, said Master Sgt. Denice Rankin, a public affairs specialist for the Michigan National Guard. Initial reports indicated he might have suffered an aneurysm, but the cause of death has not yet been officially determined.
Wright was deployed to Iraq with the Army National Guard's 46th Military Police Company out of Kingsford and Cheboygan, Rankin said.
NATIONAL STORIES
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/17/AR2007051702134.html
Dobson Won't Back Giuliani
By Politics
Friday, May 18, 2007; Page A12
James Dobson, the prominent Christian conservative who leads Focus on the Family, said yesterday that he could not vote for former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani.
Writing in an online column, Dobson said "my conscience and my moral convictions" convinced him that he cannot support Giuliani, whom he described as an "unapologetic" supporter of abortion rights.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/politics/primarysource/2007/05/romney_leads_in.html
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Romney leads in second NH poll
For the second week in a row, Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is leading in a poll of New Hampshire Republicans.
Romney leads the new Zogby poll with 35 percent, solidly ahead of John McCain and Rudy Giuliani who were tied at 19 percent.
The poll sampled 500 likely voters and had a margin of error of 4.5 percent.
A poll last week by Survey USA had showed a similar lead for Romney in New Hampshire.
http://news.bostonherald.com/politics/view.bg?articleid=1001618
Romney professes pride in Mormon faith despite questions
By Associated Press
Thursday, May 17, 2007 - Updated: 02:43 PM EST
BOSTON - Despite skirting inquiries about his Mormon faith during the first Bible Belt debate, Republican Mitt Romney said Wednesday he will not shrink from any future questions "because I’m real pleased with my faith."
The former Massachusetts governor, addressing reporters after his campaign signed up over 16,000 volunteers in less than 24 hours, said he is proud to be a person of faith and draws strength from his religion. If elected, he would become the first Mormon president.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20070517-9999-1n17hunter.html
Candidate keeps focus on security
By Finlay Lewis
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
May 17, 2007
COLUMBIA, S.C. – There was a rare edge in Duncan Hunter's voice as he parried the final question from the reporter for WTKK talk radio in Boston.
“If you were governor of California, would you pardon Paris Hilton?” Michael Graham asked as he thrust his microphone ever closer to the weary Alpine Republican.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=110010089
The Man Who Wasn't There
Fred Thompson isn't yet running, but he's running a great campaign.
Friday, May 18, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT
Having watched the second Republican debate the other night, it's clear to me the subject today is Fred Thompson, the man who wasn't there. While the other candidates bang away earnestly in a frozen format, Thompson continues to sneak up from the creek and steal their underwear--boxers, briefs and temple garments.
He is running a great campaign. It's just not a declared campaign. It's a guerrilla campaign whose informality is meant to obscure his intent. It has been going on for months and is aimed at the major pleasure zones of the Republican brain. In a series of pointed columns, commentaries and podcasts, Mr. Thompson has been talking about things conservatives actually talk about. Shouldn't homeowners have the right to own a gun? Isn't it bad that colleges don't teach military history? How about that Sarkozy--good news, isn't it? Did you see Tenet on Russert? His book sounds shallow, tell-all-y.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/17/AR2007051702594.html
Can Old Loyalties Trump Racial Solidarity?
Top 3 Democrats Tied Strongly to Black Voters
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 18, 2007; Page A12
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Displayed prominently on the wall of state Sen. Robert Ford's legislative office is a picture of Hillary Rodham Clinton delivering a speech for her husband's 1992 presidential campaign. It became an image that Ford could not shake as every major 2008 Democratic presidential candidate came calling in search of his endorsement.
John Edwards reminded Ford of the role he played in the former North Carolina senator's campaign just four years ago. Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.) stressed his vast experience. Ford dined with New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson -- "super résumé," Ford observed -- and met with Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (Conn.). And like many Democrats here and across the country, he has marveled at the excitement surrounding Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's potentially historic candidacy.
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/edwardss-memorial-day-plans-rile-some-vets-2007-05-17.html
Edwards’s Memorial Day plans rile some vets
May 18, 2007
Former Sen. John Edwards’ (D-N.C.) call for Americans to “get vocal” and “get active” in opposing the Iraq war on Memorial Day has some veterans groups livid.
Edwards’s campaign has circulated an e-mail from supportthetroopsendthewar.com, an anti-Iraq war campaign within a
campaign that suggests 10 things Americans should do on Memorial Day.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CONGRESS_BUDGET?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
May 17, 10:48 PM EDT
Congress approves $2.9 trillion budget
By ANDREW TAYLOR
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Majority Democrats passed an important test Thursday with approval of a $2.9 trillion budget plan that promises big spending increases for party priorities such as education and health care.
The budget blueprint sets a course to produce a small surplus in five years by assuming that many of President Bush's tax cuts would expire. Putting the budget framework in place also sets up veto confrontations with Bush over increases for domestic programs.
The nonbinding measure for the budget year that begins Oct. 1 does not go to Bush for his signature or veto. Rather, it sets parameters for Congress to follow when writing tax and spending legislation later this year.
The House passed the measure by a 214-209 vote without a single Republican voting for it. The Senate quickly followed on a 52-40 vote; moderate Republicans Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine joined with Democrats.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/17/AR2007051701466.html
Congress passes $2.9 trillion 2008 budget
By Richard Cowan
Reuters
Thursday, May 17, 2007; 7:40 PM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress on Thursday approved a $2.9 trillion fiscal 2008 budget that funds President George W. Bush's huge defense buildup while also adding money for Democrats' domestic priorities.
The budget, written by Democrats who control both chambers of Congress, received no backing from House Republicans, while only two moderate Republicans in the Senate supported it.
Accord offers path to legal immigration
Bipartisan bill targets work, security issues
By Susan Milligan and Michael Kranish, Globe Staff | May 18, 2007
WASHINGTON -- A bipartisan group of senators and President Bush agreed yesterday to a potentially historic deal on an immigration bill that would give 12 million undocumented residents the chance to become legal Americans while beefing up border security and cracking down on employers who hire illegal workers.
The measure would also lift an immigration backlog currently stretching up to 22 years, which has delayed the applications of an estimated 4 million people seeking to become legal permanent immigrants -- including thousands of high-skilled workers in the biotech and high-tech industries in Massachusetts. There are an estimated 200,000 illegal immigrants in Massachusetts.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070518/NATION/705180351/1022/POLITICS
Friday, May 18, 2007
Dems, GOP reach immigration deal
Bill offers undocumented workers legal path
Jonathan Weisman / Washington Post
WASHINGTON -- A bipartisan group of senators reached a delicate compromise Thursday on what could be the biggest overhaul of immigration law in more than 40 years.
The measure, backed by the Bush administration, offers the nation's 12 million undocumented workers a route to legal status but would also bolster border patrols and enhanced enforcement of rules for hiring aliens.
In addition, the agreement shifts immigration preferences away from the extended families of citizens toward more skilled and educated workers.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/17/AR2007051702190.html
Breakthrough on Immigration
A bipartisan bill could mean a lasting fix for a broken system -- if Congress works out the kinks.
Friday, May 18, 2007; Page A22
THE BIPARTISAN deal on immigration announced in the Senate yesterday is a breakthrough: It probably represents the best hope in decades to fix this country's non-functioning immigration system. Most important, it would allow millions of illegal immigrants already here to put themselves on the right side of the law and on a path toward eventual permanent residence. But like most rough drafts, this one needs work. It's critical that in addressing one set of immigration problems, the legislation doesn't create a new set.
Crafted with critical guidance from the Bush administration, the 380-page bill includes much to cheer about, not least the ideological range of its sponsors, from Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) to Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.). But their alliance also highlights the bill's central political trade-off -- legalization for 12 million immigrants already here in return for second-class status for hundreds of thousands of future low-skilled workers the U.S. economy needs each year.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IMMIGRATION_CONGRESS?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
May 18, 5:25 AM EDT
Immigration deal faces tough road
By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A bipartisan immigration deal that would grant legal status to millions of people in the country unlawfully is drawing criticism from across the political spectrum.
The bargain reached between key Democratic and Republican senators and the White House faces an uncertain future in the Senate, which is set to begin debating it Monday.
"I don't know if the immigration legislation is going to bear fruit and we're going to be able to pass it," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who harbored "serious concerns" about the deal.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/kstrasselpw/?id=110010094
Ethanol's Bitter Taste
Congress is choking on corn-based fuel.
BY KIMBERLEY A. STRASSEL
Friday, May 18, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT
It was a scant two years ago that Georgia's Saxby Chambliss voted with 73 other giddy senators for an energy bill that required the nation to use 7.5 billion gallons of ethanol. Georgia's farmers loved corn-based ethanol; Georgia's agri-businesses loved corn-based ethanol; and all that meant that then-Agriculture Committee Chairman Chambliss loved corn-based ethanol, too.
Earlier this year, Mr. Chambliss introduced a bill calling for even greater ethanol use, though with one striking difference: The bill caps the amount of that fuel that can come from corn. Turns out Georgia's chicken farmers hate corn-based ethanol; Georgia's pork producers hate corn-based ethanol; Georgia's dairy industry hates corn-based ethanol; Georgia's food producers hate corn-based ethanol; Georgia's hunters hate corn-based ethanol. And all that means Mr. Chambliss has had to find a new biofuels religion.
May 17, 9:50 PM EDT
House ponders reining in mortgage giants
By MARCY GORDON
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House debated legislation Thursday that would tighten federal oversight of the two largest buyers and guarantors of home mortgages, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The bill, expected to be put to a vote on Tuesday, is the product of an earlier compromise between majority Democrats and the Bush administration. It also has attracted support from a number of House Republicans.
But the bill was reshaped in a way that lessens the power of the new federal regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over their massive mortgage holdings, compared with an earlier version that moved through the House. The mortgage portfolios of the two government-sponsored companies now are worth a combined $1.5 trillion, and the administration has insisted that the new regulator should have the discretion and authority to reduce them.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070518/POLITICS/705180349/1022
Friday, May 18, 2007
Wolfowitz quits World Bank
He'll step down at the end of June, ending controversy over girlfriend's promotion and large pay increase.
Steven R. Weisman / New York Times
WASHINGTON -- Paul D. Wolfowitz, ending a furor over favoritism that blew up into a global fight over American leadership, announced his resignation as president of the World Bank on Thursday evening after the bank's board accepted his claim that his mistakes at the bank were made in good faith.
The decision came four days after a bank probe concluded that he had violated his contract by breaking ethical and governance rules in arranging the generous pay and promotion package for Shaha Ali Riza, his companion, in 2005.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/17/AR2007051702376.html
For Washington Insider, Job Was an Uneasy Fit
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 18, 2007; Page A01
As he prepared to assume the World Bank presidency in the spring of 2005, Paul D. Wolfowitz reached out to the bank's skeptical senior managers. In informal meetings, he took copious notes and asked respectful questions. He knew they had doubts about him, Wolfowitz said, not least because of his role in designing the Iraq war. But he told them that he was committed to the bank's goal of reducing world poverty, that he would learn from them and rely on their guidance.
According to several attendees, they were won over by his humility. "I went back and reported to my staff that I didn't see any horns," recalled one senior official. "He was personable, charming, intelligent, and said all the right things. None of which he lived up to."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/17/AR2007051700216.html
Ending Battle, Wolfowitz Resigns From World Bank
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 18, 2007; Page A01
World Bank President Paul D. Wolfowitz resigned yesterday, effective June 30, yielding to demands from governments around the world that he leave to end the ethics controversy that has consumed the institution.
Wolfowitz's resignation, negotiated in recent days with the bank's executive board, closed the leadership crisis that has essentially paralyzed the institution for almost two months. It preempted what had been a growing likelihood that the board would reprimand or fire him after a committee report found that he broke ethics rules in awarding a substantial raise to his girlfriend.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010095
World Bank Justice
Wolfowitz's resignation offers a window into a corrupt institution.
Friday, May 18, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT
So after weeks of nasty leaks and media smears, the World Bank's board of executive directors yesterday cleared President Paul Wolfowitz of ethical misconduct for following the board's own advice on how to handle a conflict of interest involving his girlfriend. And Mr. Wolfowitz in turn will resign from the bank at the end of June. Run that by us again?
We've said from the beginning that the charges against Mr. Wolfowitz were bogus, and that the effort to unseat him amounted to a political grudge by those who opposed his role in the Bush Administration and a bureaucratic vendetta by those who opposed his anti-corruption agenda at the bank. That view was vindicated by yesterday's statement, which showed how little the merits of the case against Mr. Wolfowitz had to do with the final result.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BIO_BOX_WOLFOWITZ?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
May 18, 3:34 AM EDT
Bio box: A brief look at Paul Wolfowitz
NAME (AP) -- Paul Wolfowitz.
AGE-BIRTH DATE - 63; Dec. 22, 1943.
EDUCATION - Bachelor's in mathematics, Cornell University, 1965; Ph.D., political science, University of Chicago, 1972.
EXPERIENCE - World Bank president, 2005-present; deputy secretary of defense, 2001-2005; dean, School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, 1994-2001; undersecretary of defense for policy, 1989-93; ambassador to Indonesia, 1986-1989; assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, 1982-1986; headed State Department's policy planning staff, 1981-82; deputy assistant secretary of defense for regional programs, 1977-80; with U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, 1973-77; professor, Yale University, 1970-73.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/G/GONZALES_PROSECUTORS?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
May 18, 5:27 AM EDT
Dems seek no-confidence vote on Gonzales
By LAURIE KELLMAN
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Support for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales sank further Thursday as Democrats proposed a no-confidence vote, a fifth GOP senator called for his resignation and yet another Republican predicted he won't survive a congressional investigation.
The White House shrugged off the no-confidence idea as merely symbolic, and President Bush continued to stand by his embattled friend.
By any measure, the news was not good for Gonzales.
Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer of New York and Dianne Feinstein of California said they will seek a Senate vote on a nonbinding resolution expressing what senators of both parties have said for weeks: that Gonzales has become too weakened to run the Justice Department.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070518/POLITICS/705180316/1022
Friday, May 18, 2007
Pressure grows on Gonzales; Senate Dems plan no-confidence vote
Tom Hamburger and Joe Mozingo / Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON -- After appearing to have weathered the worst of the Justice Department scandal, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales found himself under fresh assault Thursday on the heels of this week's revelations about his conduct in the Bush administration.
Gonzales suffered withering attacks from two Republican senators and a former prosecutor as Senate Democrats added pressure of their own, calling for a no-confidence vote on the attorney general's performance.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/17/AR2007051700260.html
No-Confidence Vote Sought on Gonzales
By Dan Eggen and Amy Goldstein
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, May 18, 2007; Page A03
Two leading Senate Democrats called for a vote of no confidence in Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales yesterday as political pressure for his resignation intensified in the wake of revelations about the plan to dismiss U.S. attorneys and Gonzales's role in a 2004 government crisis.
Sources yesterday identified four additional prosecutors who were considered for termination, bringing to 30 the number of prosecutors who were placed on Justice Department firing lists between February 2005 and December 2006. That accounts for about a third of the nation's 93 U.S. attorney positions. Nine were fired last year.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/17/AR2007051701400.html
Judge Told Leak Was Part of 'Policy Dispute'
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 18, 2007; Page A03
Attorneys for Vice President Cheney and top White House officials told a federal judge yesterday that they cannot be held liable for anything they disclosed to reporters about covert CIA officer Valerie Plame or her husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV.
The officials, who include senior White House adviser Karl Rove and Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, argued that the judge should dismiss a lawsuit filed by the couple that stemmed from the disclosure of Plame's identity to the media.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070518/METRO/705180372/1022/POLITICS
Friday, May 18, 2007
Nuke official's comments stir security concerns
Feds seek answers after former chief at Palisades plant told magazine he was a hired assassin.
Paul Egan and Gordon Trowbridge / The Detroit News
Federal nuclear watchdogs and members of Congress are seeking answers after a former security director at a western Michigan nuclear plant gave a bizarre series of interviews to Esquire magazine in which he claimed to be a hired assassin.
William E. Clark, who until recently was security chief at the Palisades nuclear power plant near South Haven on Lake Michigan, told the magazine for an article in its June edition that he had worked as a government assassin, killing people in Vietnam, New Orleans and Iraq.
http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/columns-3/117941567580440.xml&coll=7
What if Atta had faked a job resume?
Thursday, May 17, 2007
There's a fascinating story in the current issue of Esquire magazine, available online at esquire.com, that suggests something frightening about security at not just the Palisades nuclear power plant on the shores of Lake Michigan, but at the Department of Homeland Security itself.
The article, written by Tom Junod, is about former Palisades security chief William E. Clark, who claimed to have once been an assassin in Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa, Central America and other world hot spots. He told his prospective employers and others that he did security work for a private contractor, although he told Junod about his covert assassinations as a way of coming clean over the guilt he said he felt about murdering people.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/18/washington/18cong.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Congress and Bush Striving for Compromise on War Funds
By CARL HULSE and JEFF ZELENY
Published: May 18, 2007
WASHINGTON, May 17 — Congressional leaders and the White House began what they said they hoped were the final talks on an Iraq war spending bill on Thursday as Democrats braced for potential defections by lawmakers leery of any compromise with President Bush.
The likelihood that any final agreement will specify no withdrawal date for American troops from Iraq raised the possibility that antiwar Democrats will not support it, particularly in the House, and that the measure will need substantial Republican support to pass.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/17/AR2007051702176.html
Bush Open to Iraq Benchmarks
President Confident Deal Is Near on War Funding
By Peter Baker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 18, 2007; Page A06
President Bush signaled yesterday that he is open to legislation imposing consequences on the Iraqi government if it does not meet certain benchmarks for progress and expressed confidence that he can soon reach agreement with congressional Democrats on a war spending bill.
In response to reporters' questions, Bush twice declined to rule out penalizing the Iraqis for failing to achieve goals aimed at economic and political reconciliation, a concept advanced on Capitol Hill not just by Democrats but also by many Republicans. White House aides privately have said such accountability measures are on the table in their negotiations with Congress.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_IRAQ?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
May 18, 4:23 AM EDT
Congressional leaders to meet on Iraq
By ANNE FLAHERTY
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congressional leaders want to make clear to the White House that consequences should be imposed on Baghdad if it fails to implement political and security reforms.
In a high-stakes, closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill set for Friday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid were to tell White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten that the next war spending bill must set standards for the Iraqi government to meet.
"The American people deserve to know that the Democrats' commitment to bring this war to its responsible end has never been stronger," Reid, D-Nev., said Thursday. "And if enough of our Republican colleagues decide to join with us, even the president of the United States will have to listen."
Stakes are high on all sides of an unstable Iraq
"IRAQ'S NEIGHBORS have everything at stake here," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said recently to emphasize the link between the future of Iraq and the future of the Middle East. Yet, the region -- Egypt in particular -- needs no reminder of this stark reality.
The stakes are indeed high. Iraq's continuous slide into ethnic conflict and internal fragmentation poses enormous challenges for the region's security and stability. If left to fester, Iraq's sectarian fault lines will spill beyond its borders. The growing vacuum left by the breakdown of central authority will be filled by the rising influence of ethnic and tribally based militias. Iraq's neighbors will strive to fill that vacuum, thus increasing the propensity for regional intervention in Iraq's internal affairs, both to prevent the chaos from spreading to their own borders, and to cultivate proxies among Iraq's protagonists to increase their influence. All this will turn Iraq into a regional hub for terrorism similar to -- if not worse than -- that which prevailed in Afghanistan during the 1990s as it disintegrated into civil war in the wake of the Soviet withdrawal.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070518/OPINION01/705180305/1008
Friday, May 18, 2007
State, Congress must confront Iran's threat
Robert Cohen
The Iranian regime under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a growing threat to regional and global security and stability. Most immediately threatened is Israel, but the menace Iran poses to the Arab states, Europe and the world becomes more apparent almost daily.
What makes Iran so dangerous is the nexus of its clear ambitions to become the Middle East's dominant power, its active sponsorship of terrorist organizations, its destabilization of other governments in the region, its commitment to acquire nuclear weapons, its promotion of a harsh and repressive Islamic society for the world and its commitment to the destruction of Israel.
May 18, 2:49 AM EDT
House backs ban on F-14 parts for Iran
By SHARON THEIMER
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House took steps Thursday to make it harder for Iran to acquire parts for its aging F-14 fighter jets, voting to ban the Pentagon from selling leftover spares from its retired Tomcat fleet to anyone but museums.
Originally a separate measure called the "Stop Arming Iran Act," the ban was added to a $646 billion bill to fund the military in the budget year that starts Oct. 1. The House approved the legislation Thursday. A Senate vote is still needed.
The proposed ban comes as the Defense Department continues a voluntary review of F-14 parts to determine whether it could sell any on the surplus market without jeopardizing national security. Iran is the only country known to be trying to keep F-14s flyable.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/17/AR2007051702197.html
Rocket From Gaza
The Middle East is on the brink of another summer war.
Friday, May 18, 2007; Page A22
FROM DAMASCUS, Hamas leader Khaled Meshal yesterday hailed what he called "a historic opportunity." He was referring to the death of several members of his own Islamic movement in airstrikes by Israel. Even while engaged in bloody street fighting with the rival Palestinian Fatah movement in the Gaza Strip this week, Hamas has been firing scores of crude rockets at the Israeli town of Sderot, hoping to draw the Israeli military into a fight in Gaza that would mimic its costly invasion of Lebanon last summer and unite Palestinians behind Hamas's extremist agenda. By last night, Mr. Meshal was dangerously close to getting his wish.
The growing willingness of Arab and European states to tolerate and even aid the Hamas movement has been based on the notion that Hamas could be coaxed toward more civilized behavior and tacit recognition of Israel; that is why many supported the creation of a "unity" government of Hamas with the secular and more moderate Fatah. But Mr. Meshal and his sponsors in Syria and Iran have a very different agenda: to use force to intimidate and eventually dominate Fatah, and to wage an unending war of attrition against Israel. That's the same course that Hezbollah, another proxy of Iran and Syria, has been pursuing in Lebanon.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/17/AR2007051700192.html
At White House, Bush and Blair Focus on Iraq
Outgoing Prime Minister Predicts U.S., Britain Will Remain Steadfast Allies
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 17, 2007; 4:48 PM
President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair said today they have no regrets about their decision to go to war in Iraq despite the damage the four-year-old conflict has done to their popularity, and they offered assurances that the United States and Britain would remain steadfast allies in confronting terrorism and other global issues after Blair leaves office next month.
Blair, making his last visit to Washington as prime minister before his resignation takes effect June 27, cited "real and genuine signs of progress" in Iraq after joining Bush in the White House situation room to participate in a video conference with U.S. and British military commanders and ambassadors in Baghdad.
May 18, 3:30 AM EDT
Bush, Blair look ahead to uncertain times
By ANNE GEARAN
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush hung out with his best political partner in the world the other night, hosting departing British Prime Minister Tony Blair for a rare White House sleepover and a farewell chat out on the Truman Balcony.
It was hard to imagine such a scene at the start of Bush's presidency, hard to foresee that two men of such vastly different politics, background and bearing would become the other's indispensable supporter.
It may be harder still to imagine that Bush will find the same got-your-back kinship with Britain's next prime minister.
"Will I miss working with Tony Blair? You bet I will. Absolutely," Bush said at an elegiac news conference Thursday, the two leaders' Washington swan song before Blair leaves office next month. "Can I work with the next guy? Of course. "
May 18, 3:20 AM EDT
Summary: Allies face uncertain times
ODD COUPLE: President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have become friends and allies in spite of vastly different politics, backgrounds and bearings.
PRICE TO PAY: For Blair, public disapproval of his unwavering support of the Iraq war probably stepped up his departure as prime minister. Even Bush acknowledges that Blair's loyalty to him might be partly to blame.
NEW FACE: Blair's longtime political rival and probable successor, British Treasury Secretary Gordon Brown, might seek to distance Britain from the U.S., especially over the war.
