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Don't want to miss out on the latest buzz in politics? Start each day at wonk central: The Post Politics Hour. Join in each weekday morning at 11 a.m. as a member of The Washington Post's team of White House and Congressional reporters answers questions about the latest in buzz in Washington and The Post's coverage of political news.

Washington Post Congressional reporter Charles Babington was online Wednesday, Jan. 18, at 11 a.m. ET to discuss the latest news in politics.

The transcript follows.

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Charles Babington: Congressional Republicans and Democrats falling all over each other to introduce clean-lobbying bills? The White House popping off at Al Gore, John Kerry and Hillary Clinton all on the same day? Why, a political reporter's cup runneth over.

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Knoxville, Tenn.: Last week during the Alito hearing MSNBC for the first day of hearings had NO Democrats on to give commentary only Republicans apparently were allowed on the air. Then Monday night on CNN when reviewing Al Gore's comments they have Bob Barr and Frank Gaffney on to discuss his speech and even though Barr is in agreement with Gore on this issue why have CNN and MSNBC apparently banned any "real" LIBERAL democrats from the discussions only talking to DLC democrats who won't directly challenge the White House but networks are still using right wing pundits from the far right?

Charles Babington: I think those questions are best directed at MSNBC and CNN.

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Brooklyn, N.Y.: Good morning Charles-

I love the smell of hypocrisy in the morning! Have any of the news articles regarding Hillary Clinton's plantation kerfuffle noted Newt Gingrich's own plantation comment. He said "Since they think it is their job to run the plantation, it shocks them that I'm actually willing to lead the slave rebellion." -Washington Post, 10/20/94]

This episode reminds me of all the outrageous things that Cheney said about the Democrats, especially during the last campaign. Cheney didn't even hesitate once to apologize and stood his ground as should Hillary.

Charles Babington: That's an interesting 11-year-old quote from Gingrich. I'm sure it will find its way into stories regarding Sen. Clinton's comments.

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Astoria, N.Y.: How can it be illegal for California to allow medical marijuana (sp?), but not illegal for Oregon to prescribe prescription drugs to assist suicide? I know I am oversimplifying and I realize there are fundamental differences, but personally, I support states' rights and I thought conservatives were supposed to support states' rights as well. In both cases, it should have been a simple issue of states' rights and both should be allowed. To further this, has the Republican party really gone from states' rights to a "culture of life?" I guess the religious conservatives have taken over the party.

Charles Babington: You make interesting points, but I disagree that these are "simple" issues. The Supreme Court deals with complex constitutional questions that don't always appear logical on the surface. If you read today's stories on the Oregon assisted suicide ruling (on our Web site, for example), you'll see the actual issue before the court was not a "right to die" question but, instead, a matter of federal authority over states' uses of federally regulated drugs.

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Dunn Loring, Va.: What do you make of this morning's Zogby poll where 52 percent of respondents said that the President should be impeached if it is shown that he broke the law by spying on Americans without a court order?

Charles Babington: Well, I'm dubious about poll questions dealing with hypothetical questions, and I'm even more dubious about the notion that a Republican-controlled Congress might impeach a Republican president. Remember, there was a tremendous amount of public unhappiness with President Bill Clinton when the Monica Lewinsky affair became public. But when the (GOP-controlled) House voted to impeach him, a solid majority of Americans felt it had gone too far, and as we all know, the Senate acquitted him.

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Durham, N.C.: With Bush publicly admitting that he has ordered illegal wiretaps in violation of FISA and the Fourth Amendment, why aren't our representatives beginning an impeachment hearing? I would like to hear what constitutes 'High Crimes and Misdemeanors' if those acts as well as others he has committed don't rise to that level. what the heck is going on up there? And please, no simple answers like...It's because the Republicans control everything. They can be held accountable too. Thanks.

Charles Babington: Well, I'm sure you didn't like my previous response. But let me ask you a question: When did President Bush admit he ordered "illegal" wiretaps? He has said everything he did was legal and proper. A couple of groups yesterday filed lawsuits challenging the legality, so maybe, someday, a court will decide.

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Louisville, Ky.: Do you foresee an Alito filibuster? It seems like that'd be exactly what the Republicans and Democrats would want, both for political purposes.

Also, if Alito gets in and the Supreme Court doesn't pass on an abortion case like it did today, and when Roe vs Wade is overturned, does the Republican party have a platform anymore?

It seems like with homosexual marriages effectively banned in red states and abortion sure to follow, I don't see anything else turning bigots -- I mean "social conservatives" America out to vote.

Charles Babington: I doubt there will be a filibuster. There doesn't seem to be enough Democratic support -- and zero Republican support -- to sustain it, though I may be proven wrong.

You way "when Roe is overturned." What makes you so certain it would be, even with Alito on the court? For one thing, there are still 5 solid votes for Roe (Ginsburg, Stevens, Breyer, Souter and Kennedy), even if you assume Roberts and Alito would join Scalia and Thomas in voting against. But just to speculate a little: If Roe is eventually overturned, some conservative states are likely to outlaw abortion, just as numerous liberal states surely would not. The political repercussions, I think, would be mammoth. If roughly 70 percent of Americans want to keep abortion legal (even if many want all kinds of restrictions) as polls suggest, some serious realignments of state legislatures and congressional delegations would appear probable.

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Silver Spring, Md.: What's your prediction for the bold domestic agenda that the President will lay out in this month's State of the Union address? I am thinking that it will be a real bombshell like advocating improvements in our community college system. That's always a big one, eh?

Charles Babington: Midnight basketball and public school uniforms.

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Washington, D.C.: I know you guys hate making predictions, but tough. What do you think the odds are that Gore runs in 2008?

Charles Babington: 5 percent.

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New York, N.Y.: Dems criticized Alito for his supposed membership in an elitist Princeton club which he had listed on his resume. I think they missed the real story, which is that Alito never did belong to the club: he simply lied on his resume. The evidence (lack of records that Alito belonged to the club) bears this out, and it makes sense that Alito would have fluffed up his elitist credentials to get a job with Reagan.

What consequences would there be for Alito to have violated laws dealing with the submission of a falsified resume?

Charles Babington: How would you prove Alito was not a member of the group, and that he deliberately lied? The Senate Judiciary Committee questioned him for three days, with many questions dealing with the Princeton group. I'd be astonished if it raised its head again in any meaningful way.

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Good Front Page Story...:

That was an excellent piece on the so-called lobbying "reform" loopholes that The Washington Post did this morning.

I especially liked the part when Congresspersons can accept travel gifts as long as it's accompanied by a campaign contribution! No wonder most Americans don't take Congress seriously.

Anyway, thank you for that piece...

Charles Babington: Thanks, I'll pass the compliment along to my colleague Jonathan Weisman, who wrote the excellent story.

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Silver Spring, Md.: I read Jeff Birnbaum's analysis on this site this morning and one thing struck me. "The only requirement would be that whenever a lobbyist pays the bill, he or she must also hand the lawmaker a campaign contribution. Then the transaction would be perfectly okay."

Sounds a lot like a bribe to me.

Charles Babington: And a kudo to Birnbaum, too.

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Durham, N.C.: A follow up to my previous question if I may? Wiretapping IS illegal unless it is approved by a court order, and in situations like the one's Bush has admitted to doing, are illegal unless approved by the FISA court...isn't it? Isn't that in part what Nixon gave us as a legacy? Is my logic faulty here?

Charles Babington: All I'm saying is that it's a connection the President does not agree on.

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Concord, N.H.: I don't think Gore will run - he has far more freedom to speak out politically as an individual.

You wrote "A couple of groups yesterday filed lawsuits challenging the legality, so maybe, someday, a court will decide."

Do you believe this is actually going to be brought to the court? Specter has called for hearings but the President doesn't seem to have much regard for what the House and Senate want from him. Will this issue be explored to any level of satisfaction by outside authorities?

Charles Babington: I have no idea how investigations of the NSA program will play out, but it sure seems likely it will take a while, and take many paths, and take many twists and turns. "Level of satisfaction?" I guess that's in the eye of each beholder.

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New York, N.Y.: Did Jack Abramoff ever donate any money to any Democrat? I'm not talking about any of his clients, I'm referring to the man himself.

On a semi-related topic, what is The Post's corrections policy?

Charles Babington: I'm not steeped in the Abramoff story, but my understanding is that he did not donate directly to Democrats, but that he instructed some of his clients to do so, and they did.... The Post's policy is to correct errors promptly.

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El Segundo, Calif.: I keep hearing conflicting reports regarding the NSA wiretapping. Did the NSA wiretap citizens making international calls, international calls coming into the U.S. or both? Please clarify, if possible.

Charles Babington: My understanding is that the program's guidelines required that one party to the phone call be in the United States, but there were some instances in which both parties apparently were in the U.S.

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Potomac, Md.: Now that Roberts has dissented with Scalia and Thomas in 6-3 ruling, do you think Democrats can argue that Alito is a bigger threat than he appears? After all, Roberts was seen as a non-ideologue but his alignment in the assisted suicide case could be Democratic grist for the mill.

Charles Babington: The assumption all along was that John Roberts would largely mirror William Rehnquist, the conservative he replaced. The reason that Alito is a much bigger deal is that he will replace Justice O'Connor, a swing voted who sided with the 6-person majority in the Oregon case.

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Egg Harbor, N.J.: Nixon used wiretaps for personal vendettas. Bush uses NSA data mining to determine the identities behind phone numbers and emails gathered from terrorists captured in Pakistan. Let people draw their own conclusion.

Charles Babington: Thanks for writing from Egg Harbor.

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Ontario, Calif.: Charles,

Speaking of the Dems' criticism of Alito for his membership in an elitist Princeton club, is it true that the essay from which Senator Kennedy repeatedly quoted was a parody?

Thanks.

Charles Babington: I read the essay. It certainly had its humorous, smart-alecky lines. But it did not strike me as a parody.

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Rochester, N.Y.: You write: "Remember, there was a tremendous amount of public unhappiness with President Bill Clinton when the Monica Lewinsky affair became public."

And yet there was never a poll that showed that more than 40% of the public supported impeachment of Clinton. Now there have been two polls showing that 50% or more of Americans would support impeaching Bush over wiretapping and possibly lying us into Iraq.

How is that not newsworthy?

Charles Babington: Rochester gets the last word of the chat. Thanks for the good questions and comments. Tune in every weekday at 11 Eastern time. See you in two weeks.

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