“If I open the newspaper tomorrow and I learn that Obama resigned, I wouldn’t be surprised.”
— Dick Morris, quoted by Newsmax.
Clinton Described His Chance to Get Osama Bin Laden
Hours before the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, former President Bill Clinton told an audience in Australia about his missed chance to kill attack mastermind Osama bin Laden, ABC News reports.
Said Clinton: “I’m just saying, you know, if I were Osama bin Laden … He’s a very smart guy. I spent a lot of time thinking about him. And I nearly got him once. I nearly got him. And I could have killed him, but I would have had to destroy a little town called Kandahar in Afghanistan and kill 300 innocent women and children, and then I would have been no better than him.”
Sky News has the audio.
Skinny Dipping Veep
“It’s the Joe Biden you didn’t know — and might not want to see. Secret Service agents dread being assigned to protect the vice president, in part because Biden’s a big fan of skinny dipping, according to a new tell-all book,” the New York Daily News reports.
“In The First Family Detail, author Robert Kessler quotes unnamed Secret Service agents dishing about the supposedly ‘hidden lives’ of Presidents and the other important people they protect.”
How Ted Cruz Became a Power in the House
“Careful not to be viewed as orchestrating action in the House, even though he holds regular ‘fellowship’ meetings with members,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) “listened quietly and nodded along as his guests laid out their concerns and discussed possible demands for Boehner,” the Washington Post reports.
“He agreed that Boehner was distracted and said they should stick to their principles. The freshman senator also reminded them to be skeptical of promises from House leaders, particularly of ‘show votes’ — legislative action designed to placate conservatives that carry little, if any, weight.”
“That quiet assurance was enough to persuade the conservatives to effectively topple Boehner’s plan, at least on Thursday, by balking when he said he would hold a largely symbolic standalone vote on Obama’s program.”
Cuomo’s Back Room Style Challenged
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) “is a skilled back-room operator, renowned for pressuring allies and foes behind the scenes to achieve results that show him in the best possible light,” the New York Times reports.
“But in Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, he has encountered an adversary who seems eager for the spotlight and is challenging the very way the governor does business.”
Cantor Will Resign from Congress
“Less than two months after his stunning primary upset and just hours after stepping down as House majority leader, Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) said Thursday that he will resign his seat in the House of Representatives effective Aug. 18,” the Richmond Times Dispatch reports.
“Cantor said he has asked Gov. Terry McAuliffe to call a special election for his district that coincides with the general election on Nov. 4. By having a special election in November, the winner would take office immediately, rather than in January with the next Congress.”
Big Majority Wants to Keep Obamacare
A new Kaiser Family Foundation poll finds a strong majority of the public continues to prefer that Congress work on improving the Affordable Care Act (60 percent) rather than working to repeal and replace it with something else (35 percent), shares that have been consistent over the last several months.
Abercrombie Trails Badly in Hawaii
A new Civil Beat poll in Hawaii finds David Ige (D) leading Gov. Neil Abercrombie (D) in the Democratic primary for governor by double-digits, 51% to 41%.
Bonus Quote of the Day
“In order for Washington to work better, and for Republicans to work better, and for Republicans to come together to defend conservative principles, we need to build relationships between both chambers and I’m working hard to do so.”
— Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), quoted by the Washington Post, on his efforts to derail the border bill that failed in the House of Representatives.
Sessions Helped Tank Border Bill
“Some Republicans frustrated over the last-minute collapse of support for a border bill have been blaming Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. But it turns out they may have the wrong Republican senator in their sights,” the Washington Examiner reports.
“A number of sources on Capitol Hill say lobbying by Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions helped sway that state’s House delegation against the bill, leading to the collapse… Aides said that Sessions’ behind-the-scenes and public opposition to the package played an outsize role in its failure.”
Said one staffer: “If you think this had more to do with Sessions than Cruz, I could say absolutely, there’s no doubt about it.”
House GOP Delays Recess
“House Republicans plan to delay their August recess to stay in Washington until they have enough votes to pass a bill responding to the border crisis,” The Hill reports.
“GOP leaders pulled legislation from the schedule Thursday after it became clear the votes weren’t there to pass a $659 million supplemental funding bill. But just as it appeared the conference would leave town for a five-week recess having done nothing to respond to the crisis, Republicans held a closed-door conference meeting and emerged staying they would extend their workweek to try to get something done.”
House GOP Leaders Pull Border Bill
“House GOP leaders have postponed a vote on the border supplemental — a sign they don’t yet have the votes to pass it,” Roll Call reports.
“The $659 million bill intended to deal with the crisis of child migrants coming across the border would have been followed by a vote on separate legislation prohibiting President Barack Obama from granting deportation relief and work permits to any more illegal immigrants.”
The Hill: “The decision is another defeat for House GOP leaders, who have repeatedly failed to bring their members in line on tough votes.”
Washington Post: “The pulling of the bill marked an embarrassing failure in the first real test of the new leadership team that takes office Thursday following Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor’s resignation as majority leader.”
Hagan Slightly Up in North Carolina
A new Gravis Marketing survey in North Carolina finds Sen. Kay Hagan (D) holds a 3-point margin over challenger Thom Tillis (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 44% to 41%, with 15% still undecided.
CIA Admits Spying on Senate Committee
“An internal investigation by the Central Intelligence Agency has found that its officers improperly penetrated a computer network used by the Senate Intelligence Committee in preparing its report on the C.I.A.’s detention and interrogation program,” the New York Times reports.
Washington Post: “The admission from the CIA was in sharp contrast to the defiant position that Brennan had taken when the dispute first surfaced publicly in March. At the time, Brennan warned that lawmakers would regret accusing the agency of wrongdoing.”
Congress Continues Its Streak
Pew Research: “As of Wednesday the current Congress had enacted 142 laws, the fewest of any Congress in the past two decades over an equivalent timespan. And only 108 of those enactments were substantive pieces of legislation, under our deliberately broad criteria (no post-office renamings, anniversary commemorations or other purely ceremonial laws). That’s two fewer than the previous Congress — itself not generally considered a model of productivity — had managed by this point in 2012.”
On Wonk Wire
Obama, Clinton Both on Martha’s Vineyard Next Month
Boston Globe: “It’s not a huge island, but there’s always room for a lot of big names on Martha’s Vineyard. Two weeks from now, two of the very biggest names in Democratic politics — President Obama and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton — are set to be there at the same time.”
Heritage Action Issues Call to Arms
Wall Street Journal: “Heritage Action, the political arm of the conservative Heritage Foundation, spent last year’s August recess banging the drum for Congress to defund the 2010 health law, barnstorming the country to fuel conservatives’ discontent with GOP leaders in Washington. The resulting standoff briefly shuttered the government.”
“This year, the group is issuing a broader call-to-arms, challenging conservatives to renew their commitment to an agenda that champions a more-robust foreign policy and elevates marriage and religious liberty, as well as the same free-market economic populism that characterized its earlier initiatives.”
