No Questions

Here's the White House response , which insists: "President Bush's Top Priority Is The Safety And Security Of The American People."

A Los Angeles Times editorial concludes: "The report card is a public relations nightmare for President Bush, who was reelected largely on the perception that he could keep Americans safer than the opposition. Bush's appointees have thus far done little to reform the nation's intelligence operations, which are still mostly failing to share information either within the federal government or with state and local agencies. No action has been taken to declassify the overall intelligence budget, meaning congressional oversight of intelligence spending is impossible, and the administration's failure to develop standards for detention and prosecution of captured terrorism suspects is destroying U.S. credibility abroad."

Stumping for Tax Cuts

John D. McKinon writes in the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) from Kernersville, N.C.: "Talking up the economy to workers at a factory here, President Bush offered glimpses of his agenda for next year, as well as an early blueprint for his party's message to voters in the 2006 elections.

"In an appearance at a Deere-Hitachi construction-equipment plant, Mr. Bush assured a crowd of about 600 that the economy is strong and getting stronger and credited his policies and the efforts of workers themselves. He called on Congress to maintain the economy's recent momentum by extending his signature tax cuts and passing White House proposals to improve health care and pensions. . . .

"While the economy has been humming along by many objective measures, Mr. Bush's approval ratings on the issue have languished.

"One reason is spillover from concerns about the Iraq war. But White House aides believe another big reason is the reality that many front-line workers aren't fully participating in the economy's gains, because of rising health-care costs and high energy prices, as well as continued dislocations among old-line manufacturers.

"Mr. Bush's speech here carefully took aim at those concerns."

Edwin Chen writes in the Los Angeles Times: "In seeking credit for the economy's performance, however, Bush faces something of a balancing act: Because the recent gains in the economy do not apply across the board, an overly rosy portrayal might give the impression that he is out of touch."

Michael A. Fletcher and Jonathan Weisman writes in The Washington Post: "Intensifying his efforts to focus more public attention on the economy, President Bush on Monday renewed his demand that Congress extend tax cuts on investment dividends and capital gains, saying they are vital to keeping the nation's economy growing.

"Since 2001, Bush has been able to practically dictate tax policy to Congress. Tax cuts have passed each of the past five years, totaling $1.8 trillion over 10 years. But a tax-cutting call that was once readily heeded on Capitol Hill is now facing stiff resistance from lawmakers of both parties, who maintain that efforts to rein in the deficit cannot rely solely on cuts to programs for the poor."

Elisabeth Bumiller writes in the New York Times: "In his remarks in Kernersville, Mr. Bush again laid blame on 'too many politicians back in Washington who preach fiscal discipline while voting against spending cuts.'

"The remark drew strong criticism from Representative Steny H. Hoyer, Democrat of Maryland, who said in a statement that the president was chastising ' "Washington" for creating record deficits and debt and allowing spending to run out of control' while 'conveniently ignoring that he and his party have had total control of our nation's capital for the last five years.' . . .

"Mr. Bush's speech to the Deere-Hitachi workers received friendly applause, but some in the audience said afterward that the president had chosen to present his message of economic cheer at one of North Carolina's big success stories, and not at one of the state's hard-hit textile mills or furniture manufacturers.

" 'It's not a Deere-Hitachi economy everywhere,' said Bryan Watson, 39, a welder at the plant. 'I'd like to see everybody doing this well.' "

Deb Riechmann writes for the Associated Press: "President Bush said Monday that American companies must honor promises to their retired workers, and he urged Congress to pass tough legislation so retirees don't see their pension checks slashed."

Kenneth R. Bazinet writes in the New York Daily News: "Hoping to divert attention from the cycle of death in Iraq, President Bush seized yesterday upon good economic news and pushed for more tax cuts despite the cost of fighting two wars."

William Douglas and Kevin G. Hall write for Knight Ridder Newspapers: "Every president claims credit when the economy is prosperous, but independent experts long have agreed that presidents have little influence over short-term economic conditions.

"However, several warned Monday that Bush's drive to make his income-tax cuts permanent could injure the economy in the future."

Here is the text of Bush's speech.

Here's an Associated Press photo of Bush, wearing safety glasses and work gloves, tightening a hose under the watchful eye of his "safety manager" on the factory floor, Jesse Bland.

The Winston-Salem Journal has audio of Bland coaching the president on how to tighten a hose. "Leaks would be very dangerous," Bland says.

Wesley Young writes in the Winston-Salem Journal about how Kirby Hartsell became an anecdote in Bush's speech.

"Hartsell said that his superiors told him last week that 'an important VIP' might be coming to the plant and that 'they were looking for a family with two or three kids who had benefited from the tax relief.' . . .

"The Hartsells got a chance to meet with Bush shortly before he went out to speak.

" 'It was real brief,' Hartsell said. 'We introduced the kids and took photos. He asked us about the $2,200 in tax relief, if that was accurate.'

"Before meeting the president, the Hartsells had to be vetted by all the governmental security agencies. They even had to show tax returns."

And Winston-Salem Journal columnist Scott Sexton notes that much has changed since the last president visited the tiny town.

"The first time a sitting president visited Kernersville, he came without entourage. No phalanx of Secret Service agents. No attendant media horde. No photo opportunities and certainly no aides scurrying about to make sure the president's message was spun properly.

"When President Washington came to Kernersville, he didn't need a carefully arranged backdrop of photogenic factory workers, nor did he require a tightly managed audience to applaud on cue."

Live Online

I'll be Live Online tomorrow at 1 p.m. EST.

Docu-drama

White House Briefing reader Randy Britton of Grantham, N.H., e-mails me that he followed my instructions in yesterday's column and found the hidden evidence in the PDF of the White House's Iraq strategy document that its author was political scientist Peter Feaver.

But Britton spotted something else as well: "You cite the 'properties' of the document to get to the true author, but did you notice that the title wasn't the same in the properties section?

"It says 'Our National Strategy for SUPPORTING Iraq.' Not 'VICTORY in Iraq'. . . .

"So, my question to you is, was this originally supposed to [have] the far-too-wimpy title of 'Our National Strategy for Supporting Iraq?'

"If so, who changed it to 'Victory?' Dr. Feaver? Maybe Dr. Feaver didn't really write the document, he just RENAMED it to the Victory thing."

Cheney and Delay

Just hours after a Texas judge upheld money-laundering charges that dashed his hopes of reclaiming his House majority leader post, Tom Delay got a major assist nonetheless.

Kristen Mack writes in the Houston Chronicle: "Vice President Dick Cheney came to Houston Monday to raise money for embattled U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, proving the Sugar Land Republican still has powerful allies and can call on help when needed.

"This is the vice president's first appearance on DeLay's behalf. As the high-dollar private event took place inside the Westin Oaks Hotel in the Galleria, protesters voiced their displeasure outside. . . .

" 'Cheney expressed deep friendship for Mr. DeLay,' said Houston City Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs. 'He wanted everyone to know he valued the support Mr. DeLay has shown to the president and vice president in both the good times and difficult times. He's not a fair-weather friend.' . . .

"For $4,200, donors attended a VIP reception, took photographs with Cheney and received recognition at the event. For $2,100, attendees rubbed elbows and took photos with DeLay. Regular tickets, just to have a seat at the table, cost $500 per person.

"At least one protester infiltrated the event. Diane Wilson of the progressive women's group Code Pink said she paid only $50.

" 'I guess they needed people inside,' she said. 'You can get in pretty cheap. I didn't want to give too much.'

"She briefly disrupted Cheney's speech and rolled out a banner that reads: 'Corrupt greed kills from Bhopal to Baghdad.' "

Plame Watch

Richard B. Schmitt writes in the Los Angeles Times: "Valerie Plame, the diplomat's wife whose secret resume was exposed in a newspaper column that eventually led to the indictment of Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, is leaving the CIA on Friday, people familiar with her plans said.

"Plame, 42, worked undercover for the CIA tracking weapons proliferation but saw her clandestine career imperiled after she was identified as an agency operative in the summer of 2003 in a syndicated column by Robert Novak.

"Friends said the mother of 5-year-old twins wanted to spend more time with her family, and that although she agreed to be photographed last year with her husband for an article about the case in Vanity Fair magazine, she had no plans to speak out."

Woodstein Speaks

Raja Mishra writes in the Boston Globe: "The Watergate-era reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein offered a spirited defense yesterday of anonymous journalistic sources, at a Harvard forum that explored the parallels between the Nixon administration they covered as young reporters and the current Bush presidency. . . .

"But much of yesterday's discussion of more than 90 minutes, including audience questions, focused on coverage of the Bush administration's decision to go to war in Iraq.

"Here, Bernstein was much more openly critical of Bush, while Woodward said his books, which he described as 'neutral,' offered a sufficiently detailed glimpse into the White House without being overly didactic.

"But Bernstein, a contributing editor for Vanity Fair magazine, said the Bush administration's penchant for secrecy resembles the presidency that the two reporters helped topple more than three decades ago. He suggested that the Bush administration's scrutiny in the CIA leak case also was similar to the problems faced by Nixon as the Watergate scandal unraveled.

" 'I think it is, in a little different way, happening again,' Bernstein said."

Twins Watch

Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts write in The Washington Post that the First Twins were spotted "dining at Dino in Cleveland Park Saturday night."

Just last week, the New York Post spotted Barbara Bush "snapping up a pair of Beja Boots for $300 at the Terra Plana shop on Elizabeth Street."

But wait. According to a recent Associated Press story about their dad getting summoned for jury duty in Crawford, State District Judge Ralph Strother told reporters that "one of Bush's twin daughters, Barbara, received a jury summons for his court a month ago. Someone called to reschedule her jury service, saying she would be out of the country for the next six months, the judge said."

Out of the county , maybe.