What White House Staffers Make

"The weak support among House Republicans was remarkable given the president's position, and suggested an emerging split between Mr. Bush, who is nearing the end of his term, and lawmakers in the House, who are all up for re-election in November.

"Republicans said they would not support a bill that puts taxpayer money at risk while potentially bailing out irresponsible borrowers and greedy lenders."

Ben Pershing blogs for washingtonpost.com that Bush's decision to rescind his veto threat pulled the rug out from under House and Senate Republicans, "to the chagrin of congressional conservatives who had planned to use the veto threat as a roadblock against the otherwise unstoppable political momentum building behind quick passage of the housing measure. . . .

"[W]ith the president an unpopular lame duck and congressional Republicans nervous about November, don't expect the two sides of Pennsylvania Avenue to patch things up anytime soon."

Indeed, later in the day, Pershing writes, the House "voted overwhelmingly to approve a bill that would transfer $8 billion from the general Treasury to shore up a deficit in the Highway Trust Fund. Bush has threatened to veto the measure, but the House brushed his objections aside today in approving it, 387-37. A whopping 159 Republicans joined every Democrat in voting 'aye.'"

Martin Kady II writes for Politico: "On at least four votes over the past month -- Medicare, housing, the GI Bill and the Farm Bill -- Republican leaders haven't even bothered whipping members to toe the party line or back President Bush's veto threats. Instead, a GOP leadership aide says leaders have told vulnerable senators that it's all right to 'get well' with voters by siding with Democrats on anything but energy and national security. . . .

"Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) openly discussed how Vice President Cheney had personally asked him about his Medicare vote. Chambliss said he told the vice president that he needed to back his local doctors and senior citizens.

"'I said, "Dick, I'm beyond that,"' Chambliss said."

Ed Henry reports for CNN that Bush's veto recision "came at an awkward moment. Coincidentally, a tape emerged Tuesday of the president briefly joking about the housing crisis at a Republican fund-raiser last week."

See yesterday's column for more on that.

Added Henry: "Now, when I asked whether this tape had any effect on this decision about the veto, White House spokesman Tony Fratto told me -- and I want to quote -- 'This is about the most laughable connection I can ever imagine a news organization making.'"

Rove's Denial

Eric Lichtblau writes in the New York Times: "Karl Rove, the former senior political adviser to President Bush, denied Wednesday that he had anything to do with the Justice Department's bribery prosecution of former Gov. Don Siegelman of Alabama, a Democrat. House Democrats have subpoenaed Mr. Rove for information about Mr. Siegelman's case and other matters, but Mr. Rove has refused to comply. Instead, he responded in writing on Wednesday to a list of 12 questions posed by House Republicans, saying he 'never communicated, either directly or indirectly' with the Justice Department or officials in Alabama about the case. He also denied the accusations of a Republican lawyer in Alabama, Jill Simpson, who has linked him to the Siegelman prosecution. Democrats said they will continue to seek his sworn testimony."