Aide at Labor Found Budget's Weaknesses, So Democrats Don't Have To
Federal agencies are putting the final touches on the administration's fiscal 2008 budget, due out Monday, checking the numbers and preparing to do battle with the Democrats over priorities and programs.
So David James, an aide to Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, sent an e-mail Wednesday to various Labor and White House officials titled "DOL Budget Highlights and Low-Lights for . . . Budget Roll-Out."
  In Vice President Cheney's world, the president said, the half glass is always full. Or something like that. (By Susan Biddle -- The Washington Post) |
Sign Up for RSS FeedOne part of the e-mail highlighted "Vulnerabilities/Democrat Attacks." One budget proposal is to "consolidate and streamline" four training programs, the e-mail said, but "Democrats portray this as simply a cut on worker training" and oppose it.
Another proposal calls for "a reduction in the budget" for the Bureau of International Labor Affairs and having "other federal entities" take over the bureau's "grant-making function." "This will be attacked as neglecting international child labor programs," James's e-mail said.
The disability employment office "has had a large grant-making function" of late and should "focus on its core mission," he wrote. "This will be attacked as shortchanging the needs of the disabled."
The Mine Safety and Health Administration is getting fewer employees than were there in the Clinton administration. "(possible antagonistic question: is this agency getting the support it needs from the administration to protect miners?)"
Chief of staff Paul Conway sent a reply e-mail to James with a note: "David -- Please make certain the secretary is provided with a copy of this."
And a colleague here at The Post got a copy, too, just in case James forget to send one to Chao.
Bush Calls Cheney Optimistic, Not Delusional
Vice President Cheney has taken a pounding in the biased liberal media for touting the "enormous successes" in Iraq. He's been called "a little crazy," "crazy as a loon," "a compulsive liar" and "deranged."
But President Bush, who knows Cheney far better than his critics do, says nothing could be further from the truth. Cheney, in fact, is "a person reflecting a half-glass-full mentality," which translated into English means he sees the glass half-full, not half-empty. (See illustration at right.)
Ah, yes, that Dick Cheney, the quintessential optimist, a most cheerful fellow who's been known to wander about the White House whistling "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life."
Bush, making the media rounds in a State of the Union follow-up, also lamented the nastiness of the nation's capital. "And there is distrust in Washington," he told NPR's Juan Williams on Monday. "I am surprised, frankly, at the amount of distrust that exists in this town. And I'm sorry it's the case, and I'll work hard to try to elevate it." As Bush said in the same interview, "I'm not that good at pronouncing words."
Bush told Fox News's Neil Cavuto that, despite his dismal polls, "I'm going to sprint to the finish" in his final two years and that he has had one whale of a fun time being president.
"I've got too much on my mind to worry about, you know, standing in the polls or what life's going to be in 2009," he said. "This may come as a shock to you, but I have found this to be an exhilarating, joyous experience."
Even though he had to give up jogging? Almost died chewing that pretzel? Got that thumpin' a couple months ago?
Nuclear Security: Don't Need It or Don't Have It
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission ruled this week that the country's 103 nuclear power plants don't need to protect themselves from possible attacks by terrorists flying airplanes into them.
That saved plant operators billions of dollars. But it probably didn't do much to make folks living near those plants feel much safer.
Meanwhile, people who live near nuclear weapons plants are finding out that those highly trained bomb-sniffing dogs the Department of Energy uses to detect explosives and to catch intruders aren't exactly up to snuff.
In fact, "half of the canine teams we observed failed the explosive detection portion of the operational evaluations," the DOE inspector general reported this week after visiting three DOE sites.
What's more, "each of the canines we observed in suspect apprehension demonstrations failed to respond to at least one of the handler's commands," the report found, and the dogs "were not receiving the minimum number of hours of weekly training for explosives detection." The IG said the DOE canine programs should be reviewed, given that "explosives are a terrorist's weapon of choice" these days.
A Florida Republican? He'll Feel Right at Home.
Good news from the 100 block of D Street SE on Capitol Hill! This storied block was once a GOP bastion and home to six Republican House members. Four lost in November; one, Porter Goss (Fla.), went to run the CIA and was bounced from there; and the sixth was another Floridian, Mark Foley.
But Republicans still appear attracted to the neighborhood. Our colleague Mary Ann Akers reports in her blog -- http:/
Treasury and Transportation Losing Top Aides
Taking off . . . Treasury Undersecretary for International Affairs Tim Adams-- chief of staff at the agency for the first three years of the administration, policy director on the 2004 reelection campaign and in his present job since early 2005 -- is calling it quits. Too much travel -- more than a third of 2006 on the road -- and three little kids getting older every day. No departure date set yet.
Veteran GOP operative Maria Cino is leaving March 2 "after two terrific years" as deputy secretary of transportation, she announced last week in an internal memo. She said she was "pleased to have had the opportunity to be acting secretary" -- fleetingly. She is reported to be headed north to Minneapolis to manage the 2008 Republican National Convention.
