On NBC's "Meet
the Press" Jan. 29, Frist said, "I would have probably
put more troops in [Iraq] if the decision had been up to me."
He said the White House is not cooperating with Hurricane Katrina
investigations by Congress. As for the Bush budget, he said: "We
are spending too much in Washington, D.C." He suggested his
and the White House's position in the Terri Schiavo case was wrong.
On NBC's "Today" program the next day, when asked about
the administration's National Guard policy, Frist replied: "I
am opposed to cutting the Guard myself."
Frist as majority
leader has vigorously supported the president's programs. Frist
would not be in the post if Bush had not withdrawn support from
Sen. Trent Lott as majority leader after the 2002 elections.
GREENSPAN'S GOOF
Former Federal Reserve
Chairman Alan Greenspan's appearance, for a $250,000 honorarium,
at a Lehman Brothers secret dinner in Manhattan last Tuesday created
dismay among his former colleagues at the Fed.
Published reports
indicated that Greenspan alerted Lehman partners and clients that
the markets are underestimating future Fed interest rate increases.
Such hints would violate the central bank's rules. Fed sources
also say Greenspan broke from past practice by chairing the last
meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee after his departure
date had been announced.
Greenspan's alleged
comments were leaked to the news media by a Lehman Brothers official
who was not invited to dinner.
REPUBLICAN MCCAIN
Key supporters
of Sen. John McCain's prospective bid for the 2008 Republican
presidential nomination were delighted by his outburst
against Sen. Barack Obama, the rising Democratic superstar.
McCain accused Obama
of "self-interested partisan posturing" in the campaign
to control lobbyists. McCain strategists rejoiced that this overrides
complaints in Republican circles that he has been too chummy with
Democrats.
The downside of McCain's
outburst, say his supporters, is that it strengthens the perception
that he may be too hot-tempered to serve as president.
REPUBLICANS FOR LIEBERMAN
Two prominent Republican
lobbyists, Craig Fuller and H.P. Goldfield, hosted a fund-raising
dinner Thursday evening at Goldfield's Washington home for Democratic
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, seeking re-election in Connecticut this
year.
Fuller was President
Ronald Reagan's Cabinet secretary and later Vice President George
H.W. Bush's chief of staff. Goldfield, a Reagan White House aide
and later assistant secretary of Commerce, was a fund-raiser in
the two Bush-Quayle campaigns.
While Lieberman is
a major voice for lobbyist reform, three of his dinner's five
hosts were registered lobbyists. Fuller represents the National
Association of Chain Drug Stores. Goldfield lobbies for Airbus
and for energy companies (ConcocoPhillips, Dynegy International
and Gulfsands Petroleum). Co-host C. Michael Gilliland, a partner
in the Hogan & Hartson law firm, represents a variety of clients.
CONGRESSWOMAN VS.
TEAMSTERS
Chuck Harple, national
political director of the Teamsters, asserts that freshman Rep.
Melissa Bean was not telling the truth in her latest TV interview
when she denied pledging to him that she would oppose the Central
American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).
Jeff Berkowitz, interviewing
Bean Jan. 29 on Chicago public access, asked about this column
published that day quoting an unnamed Teamsters official as saying
Bean had broke a hard promise to oppose the trade pact. "I
have no idea what you're talking about," she replied.
Berkowitz then said
Harple had told him what the unnamed source had told me. She replied:
"I'd have to talk to Chuck. I don't know what he's referencing.
I don't recall any conversation like that with him." When
I contacted Harple, he agreed to be identified as my original
source as well as Berkowitz's. "I stand by what I said,"
he told me, adding that "in a representative government,
telling the truth is of the greatest importance."
