May 10, 2007 – Capitol Hill Blue

House funds Iraq war on the installment plan

May 10, 2007

Bush at Pentagon Thursday (AP)

The Democratic-controlled House voted Thursday night to pay for military operations in Iraq on an installment plan, defying President Bush's threat of a second straight veto in a fierce test of wills over the unpopular war.

The 221-205 vote was largely along party lines and sent the measure to a cool reception in the Senate, where Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is seeking a compromise with the White House and Republicans.

Under growing political pressure from Republicans, Bush coupled his veto threat with a sign of flexibility. Visiting the Pentagon, he said he was willing to sign a military money bill that includes political and military goals for the Iraqi government.

Gonzales grilled on Capitol Hill

May 10, 2007

Gonzales testifies (AP)

A confident Attorney General Alberto Gonzales endured another congressional grilling on the botched firings of federal prosecutors Thursday, seeming secure enough to call it a "somewhat liberating" experience.

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee fired tough questions at him â€” as their Senate counterparts had last month. But Gonzales seemed to weather the interrogation better this time around, and he didn't hear any more calls for his resignation.

Bush agrees to ‘negotiate’ with Democrats on Iraq war funding

May 10, 2007

Bush meets with press (AP)

President Bush, under growing political pressure, agreed Thursday to negotiate with Congress on a war-spending bill that sets benchmarks for progress in Iraq.

The turnabout in Bush's position came as Republicans expressed anxieties about the war and the House was expected to pass legislation that would cut off funding for U.S. troops as early as July.

Bush said he would veto the measure. "We reject that idea. It won't work," the president said, speaking to reporters at the Pentagon after a briefing on Iraq and Afghanistan.

A fake ‘come to Jesus’ meeting with Bush

May 10, 2007

According to a carefully-orchestrated campaign of planted news leaks by the Representatives who attended the meeting, a group of 11 "moderate" Republicans confronted President George W. Bush in a "come to Jesus" meeting Tuesday over his failed Iraq war.

They claim they told the President his credibility with the American people is "gone" when it comes to the Iraq war and that Republicans will bail on him if the war does not show "significant progress" by September 1.

Yeah, right.

Doolittle says feds intimidated him, wife

May 10, 2007

Rep. Doolittle (AP)

California Rep. John Doolittle, under scrutiny in the Jack Abramoff congressional corruption case, charged Wednesday that the government tried to strong-arm his wife to get him to admit to committing a crime.

When he wouldn't, FBI agents searched his home to intimidate and pressure him and his wife, Doolittle said.

Harry Reid’s competing interests

May 10, 2007

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, a gold miner's son from the top gold-producing state in the nation, is confronting competing political interests as House Democrats prepare to rewrite an antiquated hard-rock mining law.

Ex-generals use TV ads to attack Bush’s war policy

May 10, 2007

Two retired Army major generals with experience in Iraq will appear in television commercials critical of President Bush's handling of the war, with the spots targeted at key Republicans in the House and Senate.

Democrats shift focus in attorney firings probe

May 10, 2007

AG Gonzales (AP)

Democrats are shifting their attention on the botched firings of eight federal prosecutors from Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' fitness to head the Justice Department to the White House role in the dismissals.

Another showdown over Iraq war funding

May 10, 2007

With moderate Republicans telling President George W. Bush he has lost the trust of the American people and faces a massive defection within GOP ranks over his failed Iraq war, the stage is set today for another showdown on Capitol Hill over funding of the war.

Bush is threatening another veto if the bill includes any attempts to set timetables or restrictions on the war.

Republicans tell Bush Americans no longer trust him

May 10, 2007

In a blunt face-to-face meeting in the residential area of the White House this week, moderate House Republicans told President George W. Bush he no longer has the trust of them or the American people.