ThinkFast: May 5, 2008

In remarks broadcast on Israeli television today, Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, dismissed any near future war with Iran, saying that because of U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, “it would be a very significant challenge for the United States right now to get into a third conflict in that part of the world.”

Militants from Hezbollah “have been training Iraqi militia fighters at a camp near Tehran, according to American interrogation reports that the United States has supplied to the Iraqi government.” The evidence, which was “provided by four Shiite militia members who were captured in Iraq late last year and questioned separately,” indicates that Iran is attempting to “train the fighters in unobtrusive ways.”

On Fox News Sunday, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean told host Chris Wallace, “There are some things in the [Fox] news department that have really been shockingly biased and I think that’s wrong and I just say so right up front.”

Though “the nation’s financial markets have rallied since early March” and stocks are up, the pain to the economy could just be starting. The Wall Street Journal reports that celebration over the resurgence in the markets “may be premature” because it is “common in a crisis for markets to hit bottom long before the economy does.”

Warren Buffett, the world’s richest person, yesterday said, “The U.S. is in recession as I define it. I would define that as a situation where people are doing less well than they were three months, six months or eight months earlier and most businesses find themselves in that position too.” In March, Buffett had also said that the country was in a recession “from a common sense standpoint.”

“State welfare rolls, which declined for more than a decade after a 1996 overhaul of the nation’s cash-assistance program, are beginning to rise, due in part to the struggling economy.” Welfare rolls rose about 0.6 percent in the first half of 2007, with 27 states reporting increases.

$0.15: The amount the national average price for regular gasoline rose in the past two weeks, according to a new survey. “The average price of self-serve regular gasoline on Friday was $3.62 a gallon,” up from $3.47 two weeks ago.

Auto industry lobbyists are engaging in a “state by state battle” to “dissuade lawmakers from following California’s move to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions.” “No state should set national policy,” said Dave McCurdy, president of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, whose members include General Motors, Ford, and Toyota.

And finally: On Saturday, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino returned to her alma mater, Colorado State University, to deliver the commencement address. While there, she graciously posed for photographs and signed autographs, sometimes writing, “you go girl!” During her speech, she said, “I’ve learned so much. I study every night as if I’m going to have a final every day for the rest of my time at the White House. If I mess up, I’m just not going to flunk; I could start a war.”