2/7/08 

President Bush To Visit Tornado-Damaged Areas In Tennessee, And Express Support To Those Affected By The Storms.  "President Bush will visit Tennessee on Friday to comfort victims of the devastating string of tornadoes that ripped through that state, the White House said Wednesday. … White House deputy press secretary Scott Stanzel said Tennessee was hit particularly hard. 'So the president is going there to express his support for the people who have been impacted by these devastating storms,' he said. … Earlier Wednesday, Bush said he called the governors of Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee and assured them the administration stood ready to help and to deal with any emergency requests. He also tried to assure those affected by the tornadoes that the rest of the country is praying for them. 'Loss of life, loss of property – prayers can help and so can the government,' Bush said. 'I do want the people in those states to know the American people are standing with them.'"("Bush To Visit Tennessee After Tornadoes," The Associated Press, 2/6/08)

President Bush To Call On Senate To Hold Votes On The Nearly 200 Presidential Nominees Waiting To Be Confirmed.  "A half-dozen government and independent agencies could grind to a halt because the process of filling vacancies has been caught in political head winds. … Two important bipartisan agencies have thinned ranks. The Securities and Exchange Commission, which has oversight of financial markets, is down to three Republican members, and the Federal Election Commission, which enforces campaign-finance laws, has dropped to two. Both usually have five. The Federal Reserve has three nominees pending. … President Bush plans to gather with many of the nominees this morning before television cameras to decry tactics used by Senate Democrats to stall the nominations. 'It's outrageous that they have to wait this way because of these kinds of delays that the Senate causes,' White House spokesman Tony Fratto said."  (Kara Scannell , Amy Schatz and Damian Paletta, "Bush Presses Senate On Vacancies," The Wall Street Journal, 2/7/08)

The Wall Street JournalSays "Democrats Are … Using These [Presidential] Nominees As Leverage To Dictate Executive Branch Policy And Score Election-Year Political Points." "Though it's sometimes hard to tell, the Bush Administration has another year left and a government to run in the interim. Is it too much to ask the Senate to do its job of advice and consent, and allow up-or-down votes on the more than 180 vacancies in the executive branch that remain in a state of suspended nomination?  Apparently so. Of the stalled appointees, most aren't even controversial in the usual Beltway sense. They wait for jobs in such caldrons of partisanship as the President's Council of Economic Advisers, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Census Bureau. Also waiting are four Defense Assistant Secretaries, an Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security and an Undersecretary of Commerce. There are also 28 pending nominees to federal judgeships, including key appellate courts. … Democrats are also using these nominees as leverage to dictate executive branch policy and score election-year political points. … Mr. Bush will address these delays today. Democrats might think about the precedent they are setting for the next President."(Editorial, "208 Vacancies," The Wall Street Journal, 2/7/08)

President Bush Participates In Ceremonial Swearing In Of Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer. "President Bush swore in a new Agriculture secretary Wednesday and warned that he would veto any farm bill that would raise taxes or did not include changes in some farm programs.  Former North Dakota governor Ed Schafer is taking charge at the agency in the midst of contentious negotiations on a $286 billion bill passed by both the House and Senate.  In veto threats issued last year, administration officials argued that the bill spends too much money and raises taxes.  'Ed is going to work with members of both parties on a bill that spends the people's money wisely, doesn't raise taxes, reforms and tightens subsidy payments – a farm bill that will benefit the entire economy,' Bush said." ("Bush Warns Of Possible Veto Of Farm Bill," USA TODAY, 2/7/08)

Secretary Of State Condoleezza Rice And U.K. Foreign Minister David Miliband Visit Afghanistan.  "Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband flew to the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar in southern Afghanistan on Thursday for a firsthand look at the front lines of the NATO-led fight against Afghan insurgents. … Rice and Miliband arrived in Afghanistan on their unannounced visit earlier Thursday in Kabul, carrying a joint message of support and prodding to Afghan officials as the U.S. continued a drive to recruit more NATO troops. … 'The Afghan government has responsibilities, too,' Rice told reporters. 'This is a two-way street, and I think everybody has to step back and concern ourselves with the Taliban.' Said Miliband: 'We've got responsibilities that we're determined to live up to and obligations that we're determined to live up to and ditto for the Agfhan authorities. That's something we want to follow through and at the heart of both our strategies is the belief this has to be done with the Afghan government and in fact led by the Afghan government, with our support.'" (Anne Gearan, "Rice Visits Former Taliban Stronghold," The Associated Press, 2/7/08)

Attorney General Michael Mukasey Says "Retroactive Application Of These New Lower Guidelines" To Reduce Prison Sentences For Crack Cocaine Offenders "Will Pose Significant Safety Threats."  "The Bush administration wants Congress to thwart a plan to give thousands of federal crack cocaine offenders a chance to marginally reduce prison sentences that are a hundred times more severe than those meted out for powder cocaine offenses.  In a statement prepared for his scheduled appearance before the House Judiciary Committee today, Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey said that unless Congress acts, '1,600 convicted crack dealers, many of them violent gang members, will be eligible for immediate release into communities nationwide' under a decision by the U.S. Sentencing Commission.  'Retroactive application of these new lower guidelines will pose significant public safety risks . . .' Mukasey said in the statement. 'Many of these offenders are among the most serious and violent offenders in the federal system and their early release . . . would produce tragic, but predictable results.' … 'In calling for action, I emphasize that we are not asking this committee to prolong the sentences of those offenders who pose the least threat to their communities, such as first-time, non-violent offenders.'" (Darryl Fears, "Crack-Sentencing Reductions Decried," The Washington Post, 2/7/08)

Administration Proposes Changes To Agricultural Guest-Worker Program. "The Bush administration proposed changes yesterday to a little-used agricultural guest-worker program that would provide incentives for farmers to hire foreigners legally.  The proposed changes include a system for calculating how foreign workers are paid and centralizing the application process under the federal government. … The proposed rules do not require congressional action and can take effect after a 45-day public comment period.  About 75,000 foreign workers participated in the H-2A visa program last year. Meanwhile, 600,000 to 800,000 undocumented laborers worked on U.S. farms illegally, the Labor Department estimates.  Perhaps the most significant change to the visa program would be a new method for figuring wages for foreign farmworkers. … The changes would also require employers to file visa applications with the Labor Department, eliminating the role of state agencies.  The proposed changes would increase the number of days a farmer is required to spend recruiting U.S. workers for jobs before filling them with foreigners, to 75 days from 45."(Alejandro Lazo, "Changes Planned In Visa Program For Farm Workers," The Washington Post, 2/7/08)

Senate Rejects Democratic Expansion To Bipartisan Economic Growth Package."Senate Republicans yesterday blocked a Democrat-sponsored bill for a $40 billion expansion of the compromise economic-stimulus plan to which the House and President Bush agreed last month. … The various measures in the Senate bill would have boosted the two-year price tag for the House-passed plan from $161 billion to $205 billion.  Republicans objected to the slew of add-ons, which they said decorated the bill like a 'Christmas tree,' including $100 million to pay a lawsuit settlement to coal companies and tax credits for renewable energy initiatives. … 'We didn't block this proposal,' Mr. McConnell told reporters after the vote. 'We said there is a better way to go.'  Under the House plan, most workers get a tax rebate check for $600 and married couples get $1,200, with payments phased out for taxpayers earning more than $75,000 a year and couples making $150,000. Businesses receive tax breaks for investing in new plants and equipment. … President Bush urged the Democrat-led Congress to speed the legislation to his desk so the Internal Revenue Service can start issuing checks. At this time, consumers would not receive the rebates until at least May." (S.A. Miller, "GOP Kills Senate Stimulus Bill," The Washington Times, 2/7/08)

U.S.Shifts Focus In Iraq To Providing Training And Tools For Iraqi Citizens. "In a Jan. 30 quarterly report to Congress, Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen calls 2008 a 'year of transfer' in Iraq.  The report says the United States has spent about 90% of a fund created by Congress in 2003 for public-works projects, such as electrical generating stations and health clinics. … The U.S. State, Defense and Treasury departments are funding training programs for officials at Iraqi ministries. Those projects are meant to teach Iraqis how to plan and implement budgets, buy goods and services and manage employees. The U.S. Agency for International Development began a three-year program in 2006 that provides U.S. advisers to 10 Iraqi government ministries. … At the local level, 24 'provincial reconstruction teams' of U.S. military and civilian experts are working to improve Iraqi municipal and provincial governments' abilities to provide services such as education, sanitation and security." (Matt Kelley, "U.S. Rebuilding Aid In Iraq Winding Down," USA TODAY, 2/6/08)

Worker Productivity Increased In Final Quarter of 2007."Worker productivity in the U.S. grew at a 1.8% annual rate in the final quarter of 2007, a faster-than-expected pace that was still sharply slower than in the previous quarter.  The slowdown in nonfarm business productivity partly reflected the slim 0.6% growth in the nation's gross domestic product in the October-through-December quarter. … During the fourth quarter, productivity, or output per hour of work, was up 2.6% from a year earlier, the Labor Department said." ("Productivity Increased Faster Than Expected in 4th Quarter," The Wall Street Journal, 2/7/08)