NATIONAL SECURITY
Bush Resumes Quest For Unchecked Powers

In August, Congress capitulated to pressure from the Bush administration and passed the Protect America Act, which temporarily revised the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) by expanding the administration's surveillance powers while gutting congressional and judicial oversight. The law, which contained a sunset provision, is set to expire on Feb. 1. Last fall, Congress began the process of re-working the legislation, aiming to maintain the needed updates to the FISA law while correcting "the most glaring deficiencies of the Protect America Act." At the same time, the White House insisted that it be given "the power to grant legal immunity to telecommunications companies" that violate privacy laws by cooperating with the administration's warrantless eavesdropping program, a provision that seriously worries civil liberties advocates. In November, the House passed the RESTORE Act, which did not include immunity. But the Senate was unable to reconcile legislation passed by the Senate Intelligence Committee that contained immunity with a Senate Judiciary bill that did not. Facing a filibuster threat from Sens. Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Russ Feingold (D-WI), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) withdrew the FISA legislation from consideration before the winter break, planning to return to it this month. Yesterday, the Senate returned to the issue, again facing differences over "whether to grant legal immunity to telephone companies."

AMNESTY FOR POTENTIAL CRIMES: In a speech to the conservative Heritage Foundation yesterday, Vice President Dick Cheney argued that the administration's push for retroactive immunity is based on the "important principle" that "those who assist the government in tracking terrorists should not be punished with lawsuits." In reality though, the immunity "would reward those who knowingly broke the law and would undermine the critical role played by service providers in ensuring that the government presents the required documentation before being given access to intercepted communications." Additionally, as Feingold pointed out, "existing law already immunizes telephone companies that respond in good faith to a government request, as long as that request meets certain clearly spelled-out statutory requirements." "It's not as if these companies don't have lawyers to tell them what's legal and what's not," he wrote on the site DailyKos.com. If Congress does allow retroactive immunity, it will not only encourage a potential repetition of the illegal eavesdropping that took place after 9/11, but it would also protect the administration itself from facing repercussions for ordering the warrantless program by forcing dismissals of pending lawsuits that could reveal the truth of what took place.

FEARMONGERING FOR IMMUNITY: With the expiration of the temporary surveillance bill looming, Reid sought a temporary extension this week in order to avoid "political gamesmanship" while completing the bill, but Senate conservatives and the White House objected and went on the attack. "To stall legislation needed to help our intelligence community prevent attacks and protect American lives is not only irresponsible, it's also dangerous," said Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO), the ranking Republican on the Intelligence Committee. Without the immediate passage of permanent legislation, "terrorists" will soon "be free to make phone calls without fear of being surveilled by U.S. intelligence agencies," threatened White House spokesman Tony Fratto last week. "With the day of reckoning so close at hand, we're reminding Congress that they must act now," said Cheney in his speech yesterday. "Liability protection, retroactive to 9/11, is the right thing to do. It's the right way to help us prevent another 9/11 down the road," he added.

MORE TO WORRY ABOUT THAN IMMUNITY: The RESTORE Act passed by the House in November ably balanced national security with civil liberties by giving "the government the powers it says it needs to intercept terrorist communications without issuing a fishing license to spy on innocent Americans." But the Senate Intelligence bill, which the White House is pushing as the only bill it will accept, does not provide the proper protections for the privacy of Americans. In the bill, the government is allowed "to acquire communications between foreigners and Americans inside the United States, without a court order" as long as the foreigner is outside the country and "the purpose is to obtain foreign intelligence information," a term with "an extremely broad definition." In the entire process of reforming FISA, the administration has shown outright contempt for oversight by the legislative and judicial branches. The Senate Judiciary bill gives the secret FISA court "authority to assess the government’s compliance with its wiretapping procedures, to place limits on the use of information that was acquired through unlawful procedures, and to enforce its own orders." The Senate Intelligence bill does not provide any such authority. If the Judiciary bill is shot down by the full Senate, senators are expected to offer amendments to try to improve the oversight measures of the Intelligence Committee bill.

Under the Radar

ADMINISTRATION -- BUSH RE-NOMINATES TORTURE MEMO AUTHOR TO TOP DOJ POST: In "a move that was seen as a snub to Senate Democrats," President Bush yesterday re-nominated Steven Bradbury to be head of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel. Last fall, The New York Times revealed that in 2005, Bradbury signed off on a secret Justice Department torture memo that endorsed "the harshest interrogation techniques ever used by the Central Intelligence Agency," allowing waterboarding and other torture techniques. Bradbury's memos, which are still secret, have been described "as an effort by the Bush administration to circumvent laws prohibiting torture and to undermine a public legal opinion issued by the Justice Department in 2004 that declared torture to be 'abhorrent.'" Bradbury's nomination will likely come up when Attorney General Michael Mukasey testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee next week. During his own nomination hearings last fall, Mukasey promised that he would "review" the Bush administration's torture policy and decide on its legality. As of yesterday, he said he was still considering the question.

IRAQ -- CBO PREDICTS RISE IN BUDGET DEFICIT, REPORTS SKYROCKETING IRAQ WAR COSTS: The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a report yesterday on the U.S. budget and economic outlook. The CBO projects the 2008 fiscal year budget deficit to rise to $219 billion, up from $163 billion in 2007. Yet the report added that "'funding that is likely to be needed to finance military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan could add $30 billion to outlays this year," making its total budget deficit projection for 2008 at $250 billion. CBO also stated that "funding for U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and other activities in the war on terrorism expanded significantly in 2007," from $120 billion in 2006 to $171 billion in 2007. President Bush "has requested $193 billion for war-related purposes in 2008, of which $88 billion has been appropriated thus far." Congressional Democrats reportedly predict that the budget deficit could increase to as much as $350 billion. 

ENVIRONMENT -- EPA'S DENIAL OF CALIFORNIA WAIVER ON GREENHOUSE GASES FACES SCRUTINY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Stephen Johnson went against the advice of agency staff when he rejected a waiver requested by California last year to institute more stringent greenhouse gas regulations. Yesterday, Sen. Barbara Boxer released excerpts of a PowerPoint presentation made by EPA staff to Johnson before he rejected California's waiver. Included in the slides are conclusions that California continues to have compelling and extraordinary conditions in general" that are vulnerable to climate change conditions and the EPA is to lose an almost certain lawsuit by California. California, along with 15 other states, filed suit on Jan. 2 against the EPA to have the waiver rejection overturned. Meanwhile, two congressional committees have opened investigations into how the decision was made. Boxer's Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a hearing on the issue today, at which Johnson is testifying.

Think Fast

Americans United for Change plans to spend $8.5 million in an effort to "make sure President Bush's public approval doesn't improve as his days in the White House come to an end." The bulk of the money will be spent on advertising that keeps the focus on the Bush administration's failures.

 A new Harris Poll finds that Americans are unhappy with the current state of the union, a few days before President Bush gives his own State of the Union address on Monday. Eighty-one percent of Americans believe "the current state of the country is fair or poor" and 66 percent say the Iraq war is "going poorly."

A group of nearly 200 "climate experts, scientists, and mayors" will deliver a "State of Climate" assessment today, ahead of President Bush's State of the Union speech. "[T]oday our nation stands virtually alone in the world community in refusing to accept the need for decisive action," they report. "We regret to report that the state of the nation's climate policy is poor."

"I am a Republican, and at times I'm embarrassed by the lack of cooperation that this president and his appointees have had with the legislative branch," said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) in a hearing yesterday. "There is a seething resentment by members of Congress who are Republicans by the fact that this administration has not even cooperated with us."

American-backed Sunni militias "are being hit with a wave of assassinations and bomb attacks, threatening a fragile linchpin of the military's strategy to pacify the nation." American officials warn that the "recent onslaught is jeopardizing" security gains that have been made. 

After meeting with military officials, Rep. Ike Skelton (D-MO) opened an Armed Services Committee hearing yesterday stating, "We currently risk a strategic failure in Afghanistan."

"Bipartisan unity" on the House investigation into the destruction of the CIA's torture tapes has been "shredded" by "squabbling and dissension." House Permanent Select Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) and Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) "are at odds over witness lists, cooperating with the Senate and the very direction of the investigation itself."

Writing in the Wall Street Journal today, former President Bill Clinton and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) advocate "helping the 'unbanked' enter the financial mainstream by opening checking and savings accounts." Americans spend $8 billion annually "at check-cashing outlets, payday lenders and pawnshops on basic financial services" that most can get from checking accounts.

A McKinsey report finds, "at an oil price of $70 a barrel, the six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council would earn a cumulative $6.2 trillion by 2020, or more than triple the amount they earned from 1993 through 2006. Decisions by Gulf leaders on how to use this wealth will have global repercussions for decades"

And finally: Striking writers yesterday performed a mock debate on Capitol Hill for members of Congress and the media. The forum was moderated by former White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers. Representing the Writers Guild of America cause were writers from The Daily Show, and on the network executive side were Colbert Report writers. While lawmakers raised "serious issues," "they also couldn't resist doing a little stand-up."

Good News

"After decades of inattention to the possible psychiatric side effects of experimental medicines, the Food and Drug Administration is now requiring drug makers to study closely whether patients become suicidal during clinical trials."

State Watch

MISSOURI:  "Missouri's political landscape has been scrambled by Gov. Matt Blunt's (R) surprise resignation."

MINNESOTA: Transgender conservative announces bid for state House.

INDIANA: State Senate rejects amendment that  would have "clarified whether contraceptives are among the drugs that pharmacists could refuse to dispense."

Blog Watch

THINK PROGRESS: Fox News's John Gibson mocks "weirdo" Heath Ledger's death: "He found out how to quit you."

HUFFINGTON POST: Advertisers drop conservative radio host Michael Savage over his hateful remarks.

TOWLEROAD: In an online video, former Vice President Al Gore endorses same-sex marriage.

Daily Grill

"The retired judge, confirmed as attorney-general earlier this month, has given 'high priority' to a review of confidential U.S. techniques."
-- Reuters, 11/27/07

VERSUS

"I said I would look at the program. Look at the letters. And give my answers. I haven't yet figured out precisely when and precisely how. I understand that the time is coming."
-- Attorney General Mike Mukasey, 1/23/08