Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Rep. Jack Murtha (D-Pa.) is back with a new Iraq bill that would mandate U.S. troop withdrawal begin in two months, following a vote in September. As Murtha sees it, the plan would take about a year to complete. “This is big time,” Murtha told reporters, explaining why he thinks he can pick up some GOP support this time. “When you get to September, this is history. This is when we’re going to have a real confrontation with the president trying to work things out.”
* On a related note, the House voted today to ban permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq: “This bill states that it is the policy of the United States not to establish any military installation or base for the purpose of providing a permanent stationing of United States Armed Forces in Iraq. It also states that it is the policy of the United States not to exercise U.S. control of the oil resources of Iraq. The measure bars the use of any funds provided by any law from being used to carry out any policy that contradicts these statements of policy.”
* And speaking of the Speaker, Nancy Pelosi explained that today’s contempt vote was necessary to help restore some checks and balances to the federal government. She’s right.
* On the Culture of Corruption beat, the WSJ reported today that Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) and Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) are both “under criminal investigation in the Justice Department’s widening inquiry into alleged influence-peddling and self-dealing in Congress.” The WSJ added, “The two lawmakers are among the highest-ranking members of either party to come under scrutiny in the wave of public-corruption probes that has swept Washington in the past three years.”
* Apparently, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) is interested in reviewing confirmation-hearing testimony from Supreme Court Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito “to determine if their reversal of several long-standing opinions conflicts with promises they made to senators to win confirmation.” I guess that’s a noble exercise, but what’s Specter going to do if the two misled the Judiciary Committee during their hearings?
* Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards would rather attend the College Democrats’ national convention in South Carolina this weekend than the DLC’s national convention in DC. I find that kind of amusing.
* Bush and Maliki have video conferences every other week, and according to the White House, the two occasionally “talk about their faith in God.” I’m not sure what to make of this.
* Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee made a valiant effort at spin today when voting against the contempt measures, arguing that a congressional court defeat would “make the presidency in America, a much stronger, imperial office.” That’s clever, but unpersuasive.
* Tom DeLay, who unfortunately has a column at The Politico, blasts the “failures” of the Democratic Congress in his latest installment. Wouldn’t you know it — DeLay’s piece is littered with falsehoods. Give his strong reputation, who would have guessed?
* Way back in March, Bush admitted that Alberto Gonzales “has some work to do” up on Capitol Hill: “[A]nytime anybody goes up to Capitol Hill, they’ve got to make sure they fully understand the facts, and how they characterize the issue to members of Congress. And the fact that both Republicans and Democrats feel like that there was not straightforward communication troubles me, and it troubles the Attorney General, so he took action. And he needs to continue to take action.” So, Mr. President, has Alberto continued to take action?
* Another legal setback for the Bush administration: “A federal judge in California ruled Tuesday against the federal government’s attempts to stop investigations in five states of President Bush’s domestic spying program. U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn Walker last winter was assigned to hear arguments in the federal government’s attempt to stop Maine regulators from forcing Verizon to say whether it provided customer call records to the government without a warrant. Similar cases in Missouri, New Jersey, Connecticut and Vermont were combined with the Maine case.”
* And finally, the latest Washington Post poll found Bush’s disapproval rating reaching 65%, just one point shy of the record set by Nixon shortly before he resigned in disgrace. Asked to analyze Bush’s problems, Frank Donatelli, Reagan’s White House political director, said, “A lot of the commentary that comes out of the Internet world is very harsh. That has a tendency to reinforce people’s opinions and harden people’s opinions.” Jonathan Chait responded, “Look, 52 percent of the public strongly disapproves of Bush’s performance. They’re not all reading DailyKos.”
Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.