Saturday 12/10/2005 DAILY NEWS DIGEST
http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1134209792150600.xml&coll=2 – State’s congressional delegation split on money for Medicaid.
http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1134209841150600.xml&coll=2 – Sen. Sanders files request for Ethics Commission to dismiss complaint.
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051210/NEWS/512100324/1001 - Three candidates qualify for late Rep. Venable’s seat.
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051210/OPINION01/512090390/1012/OPINION - Editorial commentary on report which states that no one knows how many boards or commissions exist for state government, not who sits on such entities.
FROM THE ANNISTON STAR:
Bush ratings boosted by rising support from men, whites, Catholics
By Will Lester
Associated Press
12-10-2005
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WASHINGTON — President Bush’s improved standing with whites, men, Catholics and other core supporters has been a key factor in pushing his job approval rating up to 42 percent. That’s the highest level since summer.
Shifting into campaign mode to reverse his slide in public opinion polls, Bush has boosted his support among key constituency groups — particularly in the Northeast and West — on his handling of Iraq and the economy, an AP-Ipsos poll found.
“Now it’s not a one-sided debate,” said Republican pollster Ed Goeas, citing Bush’s recent speeches on the health of the economy and the high stakes in Iraq. “You have a message getting out there in a much more positive way.”
Bush improved his job approval rating from 37 percent in November to 42 percent now, though his standing with the public remains relatively low. Fifty-seven percent still disapprove, down from 61.
Bush spent much of the year pushing for a Social Security plan that went nowhere, and he was put on the defensive in September and October after the slow government response to Hurricane Katrina.
Those factors combined with Iraq and the price of gasoline hitting $3 a gallon left the president with the lowest public support of his presidency from September through November.
Now, gas prices have eased, and Bush has been barnstorming the country to tout a stronger economy and claim progress in Iraq.
A recent report noted that the nation added 215,000 jobs in November, and Bush declared on Monday that “the best days are yet to come for the American economy.”
On Iraq, he’s halfway through a series of four speeches outlining — in the words of a huge banner behind him at one event — the administration’s “Plan for Victory” in Iraq. He has been claiming new strength for both Iraq’s troops and economy, while acknowledging difficulties caused by continuing violence.
The most important goal of the Iraq speeches is to shore up intensity of support with his Republican base, said Gary Jacobson, a political scientist at the University of California-San Diego. “If he restores the strong support of Republicans, he can ride out the rest of the term and keep Republican politicians on his side as well,” Jacobson said.
Bush’s job approval among men has climbed from 39 percent in November to 47 percent now and among whites from 40 percent to 47 percent, according to the AP-Ipsos poll.
Catholics’ approval went from 32 percent to 41 percent. In the Northeast, Bush’s support grew from 27 to 41 percent, and in the West from 34 to 42 percent.
Overall, approval of Bush’s handling of the economy was up to 42 percent in December from 37 percent last month, according to the poll of 1,002 adults taken Dec. 5-7 by Ipsos, an international polling firm. The survey had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
The poll found approval for Bush’s handling of Iraq also was up, from 37 percent last month to 41 percent now.
Those disapproving totaled 55 percent on the economy, 58 percent on Iraq, both down slightly from November.
“I think he’s doing what he has to do,” said Charl-Deane Almond, a Republican from Bishop, Calif. “I appreciate him standing strong with all the pressure he’s under.”
Still, many have mixed feelings.
Said Jonathan Schuler, an independent from Georgetown, a small city north of Austin, Texas: “If we stay in Iraq too much longer, it will be another Vietnam. If we pull out, the terrorists will look at it as a victory.”
The people who disapprove of Bush’s performance cite Iraq most often as the leading reason, AP-Ipsos polling found in the fall.
The administration can win support from the public by emphasizing the possibility of success, said political scientist Christopher Gelpi of Duke University.
Gelpi and his colleague and research partner at Duke, Peter Feaver, have concluded from their research that the public is more likely to tolerate some casualties and deaths if people can see that a military mission will be successful. As a special adviser on the National Security Council, Feaver is helping shape administration strategy on winning public support for the war.
While it’s important for the president to talk about victory, Gelpi said, “words without deeds on the ground will ring pretty hollow.”
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Arctic drilling divide threatens GOP budget plans
By Andrew Taylor
Associated Press
12-10-2005
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WASHINGTON — A seemingly hopeless divide within the Republican Party over oil drilling in a pristine wildlife refuge in Alaska is threatening to block unrelated budget cuts that are a central pillar of the GOP’s plans for this year.
The battle pits about two dozen pro-environment and newly empowered House Republicans against veteran GOP proponents of drilling who say the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge may hold up to $500 billion worth of oil vital to the nation’s energy needs. Neither side is budging.
“The Senate won’t take anything that doesn’t have some sort of program for ANWR in it, and the House right now won’t take anything that does,” said House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton, R-Texas.
Year after year, Republican leaders and energy industry supporters like Barton could ignore the two to three dozen House Republicans who opposed drilling in the Alaska refugee because their “no” votes were offset by an equal number of “yes” votes from oil-state Democrats.
But virtually every Democrat in Congress opposes the budget bill because of its cuts in popular social programs, so Republican leaders in the House don’t have that critical support from across the aisle to carry the vote on Alaska drilling.
The impasse threatens plans to deliver to its GOP political base by Christmas about $45 billion in spending cuts over the next five years. The base is uneasy with its party’s performance on spending and budget deficits. Passage of the budget bill is also an important step before Congress can extend expiring tax cuts.
Numerous differences on other policy issues like Medicaid and welfare also are hanging up a final agreement on budget cuts, but Alaska drilling remains the biggest obstacle. It wasn’t supposed to be that way when the budget process began in February.
Even though a majority in both the House and Senate support drilling in the refuge, filibuster threats by drilling opponents in the Senate have always blocked efforts to pass it as part of broader energy legislation. The filibuster threat means it effectively takes 60 votes in the 100-member Senate to pass ANWR drilling under normal rules.
To clear that hurdle this year, Senate advocates of drilling, especially Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, and Energy Committee Chairman Pete Domenici, R-N.M., put the issue on the sweeping budget measure, which cannot be filibustered.
The Arctic drilling plan is eligible for the budget because it would bring the government about $2.5 billion in revenues through oil leases through 2010, say official congressional scorekeepers. Leasing supporters say the revenues could be as high as $5 billion in that time because of high oil prices.
While use of a filibuster-proof budget bill is the only way to get the Arctic drilling plan through the Senate, it gives House GOP opponents of drilling a decisive advantage. The defection of just 14 Republicans can scuttle the entire budget bill if every Democrat votes against it. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., felt he had no choice but to strip drilling out of the bill last month after 25 Republicans signed a letter demanding it.
That further emboldened moderate Republicans. Now that Republican leaders are hoping to reinsert the ANWR provision into the final bill, the GOP opponents of ANWR are holding firm.
“We’re assuming that ANWR will be out of the bill,” said Rep. Nancy Johnson, R-Conn.
In a longshot bid to keep the drilling provision alive, Republicans are seeking out House Democrats to see if there are ways to persuade them to support the broader budget bill. The top targets are the 30 or so Democrats who support ANWR drilling as a stand-alone measure, as well as Gulf Coast lawmakers desperate for financial help for their constituents.
But there’s no indication the Republicans are making headway with House Democrats, none of whom voted for the budget plan the first time around last month. They oppose the bill for cuts to Medicaid, student loan subsidies and food stamps, among other provisions. And they complain that the budget cut bill, when coupled with companion tax bills, actually leads to an increase in the deficit.
“I can’t trade Medicaid cuts for being able to open up ANWR,” said Rep. Gene Green, D-Texas, an oil industry supporter.
Some Democrats, however, haven’t shut to the door to such overtures. Reps. Charles Melancon of Louisiana and Gene Taylor of Mississippi, for example, are demanding immediate relief for their hurricane-ravaged constituents rather than the longer-term aid being offered so far.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the GOP plan to lure Democratic votes isn’t working. She said several lawmakers have “come to me and said, ‘They’ve approached me. I want you to know I won’t have anything to do with it.”‘
