Democratic leaders in the Senate said yesterday that a phased redeployment of troops within four to six months “would be their top priority when the new Congress convenes in January, even before an investigation of the conduct of the war.”
President Bush will not relent in his defense of John Bolton, his nominee for U.N. ambassador. White House aides Josh Bolten and Dan Bartlett said they will not back down from pursuing Senate approval, despite the fact that Bush lacks the 60 votes necessary to force a Senate vote.
Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has endorsed Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) as the next House Majority Leader, “stepping into a contentious intraparty fight between Murtha and her current deputy, Maryland’s Steny H. Hoyer.” House Democrats meet Thursday to choose the Majority Leader.
Meanwhile, Robert Novak predicts the GOP will “reelect some or all” of its current leadership, including John Boehner (R-OH) as Minority Leader and Roy Blunt (R-MO) as Minority Whip. Novak said sticking with the same leadership team was “an act of supreme irrationality.”
“Insurgent activity in Afghanistan has risen fourfold this year, and militants now launch more than 600 attacks a month, a rising wave of violence that has resulted in more than 3,700 deaths in 2006,” according to a new report.
“Members of both parties in Congress have all but written off” passing lame-duck legislation that would have authorized President Bush’s warrantless domestic surveillance legislation.
“The United States last year provided nearly half of the weapons sold to militaries in the developing world, as major arms sales to the most unstable regions – many already engaged in conflict – grew to the highest level in eight years.”
Two new energy studies “are likely to hasten efforts to increase production incentives next year” for renewable fuels. A Rand study found renewables could easily account for 25 percent of the U.S.’s energy use by 2025, while a National Academy of Sciences study predicted “wood chips may become a plentiful source of ethanol and electricity for industrial nations.”
And finally: President Bush likes Will Ferrell’s Bush impersonation — but the warm feelings aren’t mutual. Ferrell says he has twice turned down invitations from Bush to perform. “In both cases, I especially did not want to do the inevitable photo op afterwards where we are all holding hands. That would have been a gesture of support.”
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