by Frank James
A quick guided tour of some of the morning’s most important or interesting, or both, Washington-related stories.
The Pentagon plans to ship supplies to U.S. troops in Iraq through Jordan and Kuwait in the event that Turkey denies the U.S. access to transshipment routes More Top Picks Best Airbrush Kits For Models
Some states have so many schools that are failing under the standards of the No Child Left Behind law that school and state officials are overwhelmed and can’t possibly shutter all the schools and make all the other wholesale changes the law requires.
President Bush’s choice to serve as Attorney General, Michael Mukasey, could get a relative pass from the Senate Judiciary Committee if he acknowledges his predecessor’s mistakes and promises to work with Congress or he could get a harsh grilling if he takes a more combative approach in defending administration policies like warrantless surveillance and the treatment of terrorist suspects. Verizon, the telecommunications giant, told congressional investigators it provided the phone records of hundreds of customers to federal authorities since 2005 without a warrant.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the housing slump is likely to slow the economy significantly but in a speech in New York he gave little indication of what the central bank is likely to do on interest rates when its board meets in two weeks.
With leadership from Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, the nation’s largest banks have banded together to create a new liquidity fund to inject money into the capital markets in an attempt to keep the credit crunch from getting significantly worse.
Three of the top presidential candidates, Republicans Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani and Democrat Sen. Barack Obama, a Democrat, spent more money than they raised during the year’s third quarter, while Sen. Hillary Clinton raised $35 million overall, topping all candidates.
Sen. Hillary Clinton for the first time received the support of 50 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents in a Gallup poll and had more enthusiastic supporters than any other major candidate.
The number of Republican House members choosing retirement instead of re-election is up to 16 compared with two Democrats who are leaving to seek higher office as many Republicans, unused to being in the minority, call it quits and increases the pressure on Republicans as they try not to lose further ground in Congress.