memeorandum: Bush Directive Increases Sway on Regulation (Robert Pear/New York Times)

10:40 AM ET, January 30, 2007

Top Items:

Bush Directive Increases Sway on Regulation — President Bush has signed a directive that gives the White House much greater control over the rules and policy statements that the government develops to protect public health, safety, the environment, civil rights and privacy.

Slate:

Dispatches From the Scooter Libby Trial — I wanted to raise my hand and ask, "Your Honor, may I approach the bench?" — I was at the Scooter Libby trial to cover it, and all of a sudden, I found myself in the middle of the case. In his testimony today, former White House press secretary …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, JustOneMinute, Suburban Guerrilla and Wizbang

Neil A. Lewis / New York Times:
Ex-Bush Aide, in Testimony, Disputes Libby

Discussion: JustOneMinute, White Collar Crime Prof Blog, Wizbang and Media is a Plural

Michael Isikoff / Newsweek:
A Damning Witness — Former White House spokesman Ari Fleischer took …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Gun Toting Liberal ™, The Carpetbagger Report, CorrenteWire, Angry Bear and skippy the bush kangaroo

Booman Tribune:
Did Ari Fleischer Commit Perjury Today?

Discussion: David Corn, Larisa Alexandrovna's …, Firedoglake, The Corner and Needlenose

Marc Santora / New York Times:

Missteps by Iraqi Forces in Battle Raise Questions — Iraqi forces were surprised and nearly overwhelmed by the ferocity of an obscure renegade militia in a weekend battle near the holy city of Najaf and needed far more help from American forces than previously disclosed, American and Iraqi officials said Monday.

Discussion: Informed Comment, State of the Day, Los Angeles Times, The American Street and Rising Hegemon

Michael Abramowitz / Washington Post:
Iraqi Forces Showing Initiative, Bush Says

Discussion: Needlenose

Terence Hunt / Associated Press:
Bush warns Iran against action in Iraq

Discussion: Gun Toting Liberal ™ and The Jawa Report

Khaled Abu Toameh / Jerusalem Post:

We're very proud, bomber's family declares — The mother of Muhammad Faisal Saksak, the 21-year-old suicide bomber who carried out Monday's attack in Eilat, said she was aware of her son's plan to blow himself up and that she had wished him "good luck." — Dozens of Palestinians …

Discussion: Hyscience, Jules Crittenden and The Moderate Voice

Greg Myre / New York Times:

Suicide Attack Is First in Israel in 9 Months — After nine months without a suicide bombing in Israel, a Palestinian walked from Egypt across the open desert border, hitched a ride from a wary Israeli motorist and then blew himself up on Monday inside a bakery in the Red Sea resort town of Eilat, Israeli officials said.

Discussion: Washington Post, Matthew Yglesias and PoliBlog (TM)

Ibrahim Barzak / Associated Press: Cease-fire starts taking hold in Gaza

Anthony Shadid / Washington Post:

With Iran Ascendant, U.S. Is Seen at Fault — DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Kuwait rarely rebuffs its ally, the United States, partly out of gratitude for the 1991 Persian Gulf War. But in October it reneged on a pledge to send three military observers to an American-led naval exercise in the Gulf …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The American Street and Rising Hegemon

Steven R. Weisman / New York Times:
Europe Resists U.S. Push to Curb Iran Ties

Discussion: Daniel W. Drezner and It Shines For All

William Branigin / Washington Post:
Bush Warns Iran Against Action in Iraq

Discussion: LiberalOasis, Matthew Yglesias and toohotfortnr

Ali Ansari / Guardian:

Only the US hawks can save the Iranian president now — Ahmadinejad is failing to deliver for the poor and losing support, but he could yet survive because of the international threat — The honeymoon is over. Iran's controversial president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has finally come unstuck.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, The Moderate Voice, The Belmont Club, The Reaction, BrothersJudd Blog and Blue Crab Boulevard

Jules Crittenden:
The Large Pistachio Nuts of Iranian Foreign Policy

Discussion: Riehl World View and Atlantic Free Press

Maura Reynolds / Los Angeles Times:

The 'Democrat majority' is still the talk of the capital — WASHINGTON — Will President Bush put the "-ic" back in "Democratic"? — That was the hot topic around Washington on Monday after the president was asked why, during his State of the Union address last week, he referred to Congress' new "Democrat majority."

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias

Michael Abramowitz / Washington Post: Bush Says Missing '-ic' Was an Oversight

Richard Marosi / Los Angeles Times:

Unfilled tunnels a weak link at border — Key points are plugged in U.S. and Mexico, but smugglers may still try to reuse the passages — SAN DIEGO — Seven of the largest tunnels discovered under the U.S.-Mexico border in recent years have yet to be filled in, authorities said …

Discussion: PoliBlog (TM), Captain's Quarters and ImmigrationProf Blog

Andrea Shalal-Esa / Reuters:

U.S. missile defense maturing, latest test a success — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Within a year, the U.S. missile defense system should be able to guard against enemy attacks, while testing new technologies, the deputy director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said on Monday.

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Baker agrees reluctantly to testify on Iraq — James A. Baker III, the co-chairman of the Iraq Study Group, has ended weeks of resistance and today will testify before Congress on the war, avoiding a split with his fellow co-chairman, former Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-Ind.).

Discussion: The Caucus, FP Passport and Washington Post

Matt Browner Hamlin / The Right's Field:

Romney's New Approach? Honesty — Via Soren Dayton, we learn that Mitt Romney has finally admitted that he used to be pro-choice. … Dayton is right to note that Romney is trying to defuse his past support for abortion. But if you look closely at what Romney is saying …

Discussion: Hotline On Call and Cliff Schecter

Louis Uchitelle / New York Times:

A Global Balancing Act — Dani Rodrik, a trade economist at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, received his introduction to the idiosyncrasies of globalization while growing up in Turkey. — His father made ballpoint pens, protected by high tariffs from less expensive imports.

Discussion: Beat the Press

Washington Post:

Soldier's Death Strengthens Senators' Antiwar Resolve — Kerry, Dodd Demand Stronger Challenge to Bush — Just before Christmas, an Army captain named Brian Freeman cornered Sens. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) and John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) at a Baghdad helicopter landing zone.

Mike Dorning / Chicago Tribune:

Obama rips U.S. effort after Katrina — Not a White House priority, senator says — NEW ORLEANS — Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama blasted the Bush administration Monday for the slow pace of Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts, saying reconstruction no longer seems to be a White House priority.