Today’s edition of quick hits.
* AP: “A Senate committee approved a $122 billion measure Thursday financing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but also defies President Bush by calling on him to pull combat troops out of Iraq by next spring. The bill, approved by a voice vote, is similar to one the House began debating Thursday. Both measures have drawn veto threats from the White House, which has said Congress must allow more time for the U.S. troop increase in Iraq to work. Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee had hoped to delete the withdrawal language. But facing likely defeat, they decided to postpone that effort until the full Senate takes up the spending measure, as early as Monday.”
* The Politico’s Ben Smith was the first to report that John Edwards was going to suspend his presidential campaign today, and his report was repeated far and wide. I know Smith to be a solid reporter, but this is a huge embarrassment to him. To his credit, he wrote an item today talking about what happened.
* The Justice Department is recommending a reduction in Jack Abramoff’s sentence? Hmm. (thanks to G.D. for the tip)
* In related news, Harry Reid wonders if the U.S. Attorney in the Abramoff case is, to borrow the White House term, a “Bushie.”
* WaPo: “Reports of a rising death rate and rooms spattered with blood, urine and feces at the Armed Forces Retirement Home prompted the Pentagon yesterday to begin investigating conditions at the veterans facility in Northwest Washington. The Government Accountability Office warned the Pentagon this week that residents of the home ‘may be at risk’ in light of allegations of severe health-care problems. Residents have been admitted to Walter Reed Army Medical Center with ‘the most serious type of pressure sores’ and, in one case, with maggots in a wound, according to a GAO letter sent to the Defense Department.”
* On a related note, a review of 1,400 veterans hospitals has turned up more than 1,000 reports of substandard conditions.
* Gingrich commented on the 1984/Hillary YouTube ad today, criticizing the modern attack-dog style of American politics … which incidentally, he helped invent.
* Congratulations to the FDA for figuring out, several years later than it should have, that scientific medical advisors shouldn’t be paid by the pharmaceutical industry.
* If you haven’t read Sidney Blumenthal’s piece on the purge scandal, you should; it’s excellent. It covers the whole thing, and highlights Karl Rove.
* Poor Bob Novak still isn’t convinced that Valerie Plame was a covert CIA operative. (Give it up, Bob, you’re embarrassing yourself.)
* How can the U.S. get funds to Iraqi businesses, without putting those businesses at risk for reprisals? Set up fake raids.
* NBC, News Corp. gang up against YouTube. Color me skeptical.
* Here’s a CEO setting an excellent example: “Turning his back on a potentially lucrative payday, Delta Air Lines CEO Gerald Grinstein said Monday that he is refusing any stock, stock options or cash when the carrier emerges from bankruptcy…. [Grinstein] wants Delta instead to invest what he would have gotten in post-bankruptcy bonuses, to be used for scholarships and emergency hardship assistance for Delta employees, families and retirees. Under a post-bankruptcy compensation plan unveiled Monday, Grinstein could have been expected to net about $10 million, including such bonuses, over about three years.” Very cool. (thanks to D.H. for the tip)
* And finally, The Politico reports that George P. Bush, the president’s nephew, “has been accepted in the Navy Reserve as an intelligence officer and has begun the process of being commissioned for eight years of service…. The commitment involves two weeks of annual training. He can volunteer for active duty or be deployed after he finishes his intelligence certification, which takes about two years.” Steve M. asks, “Show of hands: Who thinks he’s going to volunteer for active duty?”
Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.