935 Iraq Falsehoods

"One of the issues that many of our folks are facing now are these sub-prime mortgages. I just wonder how many people, when they bought a sub-prime mortgage, knew what they were getting into."

Andrew Leonard writes for Salon that Bush "might be focusing his efforts on the wrong sector of the populace.

"Did the mortgage brokers who fell over themselves in their haste to sell those subprime mortgages to people who could not afford them know what they were getting into?

"Did the banks that packaged up those mortgages into collateralized debt obligations that they then sold like hotcakes across the globe know what they were getting into?

"Did the ratings agencies who gave those CDOs AAA ratings know what they were getting into?

"Did the hedge funds and other institutional investors who bought shares in the collateralized debt obligations linked to subprime mortgage securities know what they were getting into?

"Did Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke, when he told us that the subprime contagion was 'contained' know what he was getting into?"

Bush and the Unborn

The Associated Press reports: "President Bush on Tuesday voiced support for anti-abortion demonstrators attending this year's 'March for Life' rally marking the anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision."

Bush "hosted about 200 of the demonstrators in the East Room for coffee and doughnuts."

From his remarks: "[T]he fingers and toes and beating hearts that we can see on an unborn child's ultrasound come with something that we cannot see: a soul. . . .

"As you give voice to the voiceless I ask you to take comfort from this: The hearts of the American people are good. (Applause.) Their minds are open to persuasion. And our history shows that a cause rooted in human dignity and appealing to the best instincts of the American people cannot fail. So take heart."

Iraq Watch

Remember that new law about ex-Baathists that Bush has been citing as a sign of political reconciliation in Baghdad?

Amit R. Paley and Joshua Partlow write in The Washington Post from Baghdad: "More than a dozen Iraqi lawmakers, U.S. officials and former Baathists here and in exile expressed concern in interviews that the law could set off a new purge of ex-Baathists, the opposite of U.S. hopes for the legislation."

North Korea Watch

Helene Cooper writes in the New York Times: "Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in a rare public rebuke, has upbraided a White House envoy who criticized United States diplomacy toward North Korea that is aimed at coaxing the North Koreans to give up their nuclear weapons.

"Ms. Rice said the official, Jay Lefkowitz, President Bush's special envoy on North Korean human rights, was not speaking for the administration when he told an audience at the American Enterprise Institute last week that the United States 'should consider a new approach to North Korea' because the current approach was unlikely to resolve the issue before the end of Mr. Bush's term in a year."

Afghanistan Watch

Richard Holbrooke writes in a Washington Post op-ed: "'I'm a spray man myself,' President Bush told government leaders and American counter-narcotics officials during his 2006 trip to Afghanistan. He said it again when President Hamid Karzai visited Camp David in August. Bush meant, of course, that he favors aerial eradication of poppy fields in Afghanistan, which supplies over 90 percent of the world's heroin. His remarks -- which, despite their flippant nature, were definitely not meant as a joke -- are part of the story behind the spectacularly unsuccessful U.S. counter-narcotics program in Afghanistan. . . .

"[E]ven without aerial eradication, the program, which costs around $1 billion a year, may be the single most ineffective program in the history of American foreign policy. It's not just a waste of money. It actually strengthens the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as criminal elements within Afghanistan."

Bush v. Whales

Kenneth R. Weiss writes in the Los Angeles Times: "The California Coastal Commission argued in federal court Tuesday that President Bush violated the U.S. Constitution by trying to overturn a court order that restricted the Navy's use of a type of sonar linked to the deaths of marine mammals.

"The commission's attorneys said Bush's move to exempt the Navy sonar training exercises in Southern California waters from federal law violated the Constitution's separation-of-powers doctrine.

"'The notion that the president can act like some medieval autocrat and impose the law as he sees it violates the fundamental basis of the American Constitution,' said Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, whose staff lawyers represent the commission. 'There are three branches of government. Each of the branches has to be respected.'"

Delayed Contempt

John Bresnahan write in the Politico: "House Democrats will postpone votes on criminal contempt citations against White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers, while congressional leaders work with President Bush on a bipartisan stimulus package to fend off an economic downturn, according to party leaders and leadership aides.

"Senior Democrats have decided that holding a controversial vote on the contempt citations, which have already been approved by the House Judiciary Committee as part of its investigation into the firing of nine U.S. attorneys, would 'step on their message' of bipartisan unity in the midst of the stimulus package talks."

Mukasey Watch

Evan Perez writes in the Wall Street Journal about how new Attorney General Michael Mukasey sees his job: "'On the one hand, I'm nominated by the president,' Mr. Mukasey said in an interview aboard a jet en route to Mexico City last week. 'On the other hand, the oath is to protect and defend the Constitution. And so that's my job on a day-to-day basis.'"

Perez writes: "Mr. Mukasey's portfolio includes some of the White House's most controversial policies, including the legal underpinnings of wiretapping, interrogation methods and gun laws. As a result, it is an open question how far he can carry his independent streak, given the sensitivity of these matters. . . .

"A big test will come next week when he goes before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which narrowly approved his confirmation in November. Democrats and Republicans alike said at the time they expected more complete answers after he was briefed on the Bush administration's antiterror strategies. . . .

"Asked last week whether he was prepared to answer senators' questions on waterboarding, Mr. Mukasey responded: 'When? At this point in time?' . . .

"Reminded that he hadn't answered the question, Mr. Mukasey said: 'Yes, I've been read into the program, but that's part of a process. I said I would look at the program. Look at the letters. And give my answers. I haven't yet figured out precisely when and precisely how. I understand that the time is coming.'"

Perez notes that Mukasey's aides "are enforcing his orders to restrict contact with the White House. Administration officials had worked closely with the department under [Alberto] Gonzales, including directing details of the attorney general's speeches."

Impeachment (Non) Watch

Rep. Tammy Baldwin explains, in a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel op-ed, her decision to join a small bands of colleagues in calling for impeachment hearings: "The abuses of this administration demand a formal response. Congressional oversight is a fundamental part of our constitutionally-proscribed system of checks and balances.

"I had hoped that Congress could begin to repair the damage that has been done to our democracy, our Constitution and our standing in the world, so that censure or impeachment could be averted. Unfortunately, this administration not only fails to accept responsibility for its misdeeds, but it also blocks attempts to right the wrongs and address the tragic consequences of those misdeeds. We have seen the American people's will thwarted by the exercise of veto power. We have seen subpoenas ignored. We have seen signing statements used to circumvent the law of the land.

"If we fail to take action to either impeach or repair the damage, then the next president will 'inherit' unchecked powers. Unchecked powers are unacceptable no matter who is president."

Schedule Change

Tabassum Zakaria writes for Reuters: "President George W. Bush postponed an event on Wednesday to promote an advertising campaign on preventing prescription drug abuse after actor Heath Ledger's death from a possible drug overdose, the White House said.

"'We felt it would be better not to hold the event today given the tragedy of yesterday's passing of the beloved actor,' White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

"'We did not want anyone to think we were trying to link into that story in any way,' she said."

Inexplicable? I Can Explain It

In a story headlined "An Inexplicable Jump in Americans' Long-Term Optimism," Lydia Saad reports for Gallup: "Gallup's annual Mood of the Nation survey, conducted Jan. 4-6, 2008, finds a striking increase since January 2007 in Americans' belief that the country will be better off five years from now than it is today. Americans are typically upbeat on this measure, but today's level of optimism is the highest in four years."

Cartoon Watch

Rex Babin on Bush the repairman.