The Undoing Begins

"Even economists who hesitate to accuse the White House of playing games say the claims of good news on the budget are unfortunate because they make people unjustifiably sanguine about the government's current fiscal health. . . .

" 'Our problem is our large long-term deficit, and the sooner we deal with that the better,' said Comptroller General David M. Walker.

"Walker, who is head of Congress' Government Accountability Office, warned of 'a false sense of security. We're in much worse shape fiscally today than we were a few years ago.' "

Here is the text of Bush's speech this morning.

New Treasury Secretary

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Here's the transcript of Bush's swearing in of his new treasury secretary, Henry Paulson.

Edmund L. Andrews writes in the New York Times: "Mr. Bush, who wooed Mr. Paulson from his post as chairman of Goldman Sachs, said on Monday that the former executive would have a central role in setting the agenda and implied that the Treasury Department would regain some of the power it lost to White House advisers during Mr. Bush's first term."

Snow on Preemption

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I wrote in yesterday's column about how Bush has abandoned his doctrine of preemption.

At yesterday's briefing , spokesman Snow made truly gymnastic attempts to assert that, in fact, nothing significant has changed.

"[P]reemption is not merely a military doctrine, it's also a diplomatic doctrine. And in this case, we are engaging in preemption at the diplomatic level by working as aggressively and assertively as we can with our allies to get the government in Pyongyang simply to abide by its past promises."

Snow also, as is increasingly his habit, demanded that a reporter answer her own question rather than answer it himself.

" Q . . . Is there a plan to move these detainees or do anything else with them, other than keep them in a holding pattern while Congress is deliberating?

" MR. SNOW: Where would you move them?

" Q I don't know; I don't know what your plan is."

Flowers and Chocolate

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Foster Klug writes for the Associated Press: "The White House belittled former President Clinton's policy of direct engagement with North Korea on Monday, saying efforts to shower North Korean leader Kim Jong Il 'with flowers and chocolates' failed."

Liberal blogger Kevin Drum writes: "But perhaps some facts are in order here." He refers readers to a 2004 Washington Monthly article by Fred Kaplan .

Cheney Watch

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Cheney flew in and out of the Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Michigan yesterday on his way to headline a $1,000-a-plate Republican fundraiser at the Troy, Mich., Marriot.

To make it an official trip, he stopped at the base to deliver a quick speech , where he once again asserted the Cheney Doctrine.

Said Cheney: "Terrorist attacks are not caused by the use of strength. They are invited by the perception of weakness."

The Book on Gonzales

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New York Times book critic Michiko Kakutani today reviews "The President's Counselor" by reporter Bill Minutaglio, the first book-length exploration of Alberto Gonzales.

Minutaglio writes that Gonzales had no background whatsoever in many of the controversial areas in which he ended up as the legal architect of record.

So was he just a front man? Kakutani writes: "This volume sheds little new light on the degree to which Mr. Gonzales actually initiated legal strategies emanating from the White House -- or simply helped carry out ideas that originated with Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff and longtime legal adviser David Addington, or with John Yoo, then an influential figure in the Justice Department's elite Office of Legal Counsel. . . .

"What did Mr. Bush see in Mr. Gonzales? Besides being 'abjectly loyal to Bush,' Mr. Minutaglio says, Mr. Gonzales 'had been identified and singled out' by the Bush political network 'because he was Hispanic.' "

Hard Guy to Hide

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Carla Marinucci writes in the San Francisco Chronicle: "Call it election-year politics, or GOP nervousness, or a desire to get distance from an unpopular president -- but, in a highly unusual move, Republican California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger attended a fancy White House dinner Monday and his office wouldn't acknowledge it.

"The White House dinner gala honored the governor's mother-in-law, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and celebrated her work as founder of the Special Olympics, an organization that promotes physical fitness for children and adults with developmental disabilities, a program Schwarzenegger has ardently supported."

According to the pool reports, Schwarzenegger was indeed there last night -- but not at the same table as his wife.

Poll Watch

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Joseph Carroll reports for Gallup: "President George W. Bush's job approval rating has edged up slightly higher in Gallup's latest poll, and is now at 40% for the first since early February. The July 6-9 poll finds 40% of Americans approving and 55% disapproving of the job Bush is doing as president. After averaging 42% approval in January and early February, Bush's ratings began to decline in mid-February, ultimately dropping to his administration's low point of 31% in early May. Since that time, Bush's approval ratings have shown a slow, gradual improvement."

The Bouncing Barnes

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But is an approval rating of 40 percent really worth celebrating? It is if you're Fred Barnes , conservative pundit and author of "Rebel-in-Chief: Inside the Bold and Controversial Presidency of George W. Bush."

Barnes writes in the Weekly Standard with what appears to be the new -- but not exactly reality-based -- White House line: "There's joy at the White House again and less anxiety among Republicans in Congress. The excesses of the press and Supreme Court are bringing Bush and rebellious conservatives closer together. Iraq is better off. The American economy is humming. The White House has made no harmful missteps. And the president's job approval rating is rising. . . .

"At worst, Bush has bottomed out. At best, he's on his way to renewed popularity. 'We've stopped our fall and begun to gain back ground,' a White House official says. . . .

"If all goes well--which it often doesn't in politics--even the media might be forced to give Bush a measure of respect. At his press conference in Chicago last week, the press seemed oblivious to his partial recovery."

Cartoon Watch

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Here's Ann Telnaes on Laura Bush.