Two sources close to the Bush family have told National Journal that George W. Bush quietly underwent back surgery several months ago to deal with a nagging disc problem.
Just dropped · Trial Balloon · Ep. 189
Navigating the Nonsense
Trial Balloon · Ep. 189: Navigating the Nonsense
Blair Won’t Give Advice to Obama on Post-Presidency
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who left his post in 2007 at age 54, refused in a USA Today interview to offer advice on life after politics to President Obama, who will leave the White House in 2017 also at a relatively young age, 55.
Said Blair: “That would be presumptuous. He is, you know, a huge global figure… someone of enormous energy and character and ability, and I’m sure he’ll find something to keep himself occupied.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“Acting idiotically is no violation of the law. Considering the recent and threatened spate of indictments and arrests of New York public figures, Weiner’s two-year-and-more old acts are a wiggle on an elephant.”
— Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf, quoted by the Washington Post, on the possibility of a comeback by former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY).
Pryor Reports Big Cash Haul
Endangered Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) “raised nearly $2 million in the first quarter of this year, a financial show of strength his campaign hopes sends a message to state and national Republicans still looking for a candidate to take him on next year,” Politico reports.
He now “has $3.4 million in the bank. His first-quarter posting puts him ahead of some of his fellow Democrats up in 2014 and is an impressive figure from a small-state senator not in the leadership or atop a major committee.”
Lawmaker Links Islamic Prayer to Terrorism
In an email exchange with a constituent, North Carolina state Rep. Michele Presnell (R) was asked if she was comfortable with a prayer to Allah before a legislative meeting, the Raleigh News and Observer reports.
Her response: “No, I do not condone terrorism.”
Interestingly, Presnell is a co-sponsor of a resolution asserting that North Carolina can establish a state religion.
A Grand Bargain is Still Possible
Joe Klein sees “the tiniest sliver of a possibility that something might get done” on a deficit reduction deal.
“There are those on the left who will object that the deficit issue is overblown and not even a priority among voters. They are right. But we have reached the point where some sort of deal is necessary to restore the public’s, the business community’s and the world’s faith that the U.S. government can, occasionally, take significant action. I predict–tepidly, with no great confidence–that the Congress will finally decide it is time to act.”
Will Gun Control Die in the House?
The Week: “The Manchin-Toomey deal will be added to gun-control legislation that will get its first big test on Thursday, when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) brings the bill to the floor for debate. But even if the GOP effort to block debate fizzles, as expected, and at least 60 senators agree to a final vote, the bill would still have to pass in the Republican-controlled House for it to become law.”
King Feels Bypassed on Immigration Reform
Immigration reform critic Rep. Steve King (R-IA) was concerned when he saw immigration on the agenda for this week’s GOP conference meeting, The Hill reports.
Said King: “Up on our agenda came immigration… leadership is going to bring immigration, according to the agenda, sometime to the floor. How do we know we’re going to do immigration when we haven’t talked about it yet? How come don’t I know this, because I’m on the Judiciary committee? How come all these meetings on immigration are going on and I’m not being invited to them?”
5 House Rematches to Watch
Roll Call looks ahead to the midterm elections and sizes up five potential rematches.
Obama Approval Drops to Pre-Campaign Levels
First Read: “Despite majorities backing the broad outlines of his legislative priorities on immigration and guns, President Obama confronts a pessimistic public and declining poll numbers. Only 31% of Americans believe the country is headed in the right direction – a decline of 10 points since Dec. 2012. His overall job-approval rating stands at 47%, which is down three points since February and which represents the first time he’s been below 50% since just before the 2012 election. In addition, 47% approve of the president’s economic handling (up 3 points from February), and 46% approve of his handling of foreign policy (down 6 from Dec. 2012).”
McConnell Audio Not the Result of Bugging Operation
Although Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has said the release of audio of a private meeting in his office is reminiscent of Nixon-era dirty tricks, Mother Jones, which first published the recording, says “there’s no evidence that the audio was the result, as the McConnell campaign has insisted, of a Watergate-style bugging operation.”
Cheney Issues Warning on North Korea
Wearing a cowboy hat, former Vice President Dick Cheney gave Republican leaders a dire warning on the ongoing crisis in North Korea, CNN reports.
Said Cheney: “We’re in deep doo doo.”
However, the former veep “didn’t give any specific policy recommendations or critiques of how the
Obama administration is handling the situation in North Korea.”
How Angry Democrats Help Obama
John Dickerson: “The Obama strategy relies on theater. There is nothing substantively new about Obama’s budget plan. He has offered versions of the same plan privately to Republican leaders, but now he’s trying to go around those leaders. One requirement for building trust with Republican senators is putting these offers on paper. This is meant to show individual senators that he is making good on the promises he has made in private conversations, but it also offers them the cover they need with their constituents. If senators are going to flirt with tax increases, they have to show their voters that they purchased something in return. Now they can point to the president’s public effort on entitlements. But wait, how do we know that Obama is really making a sacrifice? Just look at how upset his supporters are.”
Quote of the Day
“To me sex is primarily purposed to produce people. Sex that doesn’t produce people is deviate. That doesn’t mean it’s a problem, it just means it’s not doing its primary purpose.”
— Montana state Rep. Dave Hagstrom (R), quoted by KXLH-TV, saying he will vote no on decriminalizing gay sex in his state.
More See Personal Impact of Sequester
A new CNN poll finds 42% now say that the $85 billion in across-the-board cuts referred to as the sequester are impacting them personally. That’s up from 35% who said the same in March.
Gun Deal is Good Politics for Toomey
“When Democrats needed a partner to strike a deal with on a gun background check bill,” Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) “made a politically savvy move that could pay dividends both in future talks with Democrats and back home in Pennsylvania,” Roll Call reports.
Toomey “was swept into the Senate as part the tea party wave of 2010, tacking to the right on social issues to secure victory. But since arriving in the Senate, the Pennsylvania Republican — who sources say always has been more interested in fiscal issues — has emerged periodically to try to stake out bipartisan ground, first as the front man for targeted revenue increases as part of 2011’s supercommittee and again Wednesday, when he announced an agreement with three colleagues to close the gun show loophole and expand background checks to Internet gun sales.”
The Hill: “Toomey’s decision represented a dramatic step for gun control,
especially because he has an A rating from the NRA and formerly headed
the conservative Club for Growth. It also revived the issue, which had
lost considerable steam over the last month.”
Broad Support for Immigration Reform
A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds most Americans support “creating a pathway to citizenship for immigrants who are working in this country illegally — and one with a shorter timeline than that contemplated by Congress.”
Key findings: “Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed said they favor giving citizenship to those who came here illegally and now hold jobs. Support jumped to 76% for a plan that required immigrants to pay fines, back taxes and pass a security check, among other measures, to gain citizenship. Bipartisan legislation now being written in the Senate could open a pathway to citizenship with similar requirements.”
In addition, 51% say illegal immigrants with jobs should gain citizenship after five years with an additional 18% backed immediate citizenship. The plan being discussed in Congress has a 10 year time frame.
Is There a Thaw in Washington?
Washington Post: “For the first time in a while, members
of the two parties — at least some of them — appear to be talking about
getting things done, even without the deadline of a manufactured crisis
looming.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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