<><>2008/CONGRESS<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Congress Passes Annual Fix To Alternative Minimum Tax

By David Rogers
Wall Street Journal
December 20, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Year-end legislation to protect millions of middle-class taxpayers from the alternative minimum tax cleared Congress but not before Democrats had to give up their hope of covering the cost with offsetting tax increases or loophole closings…

Congress Averts Higher Tax Bill for Middle Class

By David M. Herszenhorn
New York Times
December 20, 2007

The alternative minimum tax has ensnared a growing number of middle-class Americans in recent years because the 1969 law was not indexed to inflation…

House Votes to Raise Safety-Agency Funding

By M.P. McQueen
Wall Street Journal
December 20, 2007

The House unanimously approved a landmark bill to increase funding for the beleaguered Consumer Product Safety Commission, strengthen its enforcement powers, step up testing of products and reduce lead limits in children's toys…

Threat of filibusters frustrates Democrats

By Ken Dilanian
USA Today
December 20, 2007

WASHINGTON — Halfway into the 110th Congress, the Senate is on pace to shatter the record of bills blocked by the threat of filibuster, illustrating the extent to which the narrow Democratic majority has been stymied by a tradition that arose decades after the Constitution was written…

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THE FIELD

Obama and Clinton Touch On International Matters

By Patrick Healy
New York Times
December 20, 2007

Hillary Rodham Clinton said nearly all American troops in Iraq could be withdrawn “certainly within a year” if she were elected, and Barack Obama called for banning toy imports from China…

Clinton Advisers Point to Edwards Threat

By Anne E. Kornblut
Washington Post
December 20, 2007

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa -- Clinton advisers have been pushing the notion that former senator John Edwards poses a growing threat in the Iowa caucuses, suggesting their internal data show something of a mini-surge for the North Carolinian. Obama advisers have countered that it makes for a convenient storyline -- and is evidence the Clinton campaign is threatened by a two-way race with Sen. Barack Obama…

Clinton and her allies move from attacks to jabs at Obama

By Peter Nicholas
Los Angeles Times
December 20, 2007

She and her surrogates suggest nominating the Illinois senator would be a gamble, inviting Republican attacks…

CLINTON

In Charity and Politics, Clinton Donors Overlap

By Don Van Natta Jr., Jo Becker and Mike McIntire
New York Times
December 20, 2007

An examination of the William J. Clinton Foundation shows how its fund-raising has fostered potential conflict…

Candidate Clinton goes public with her private faith

By Linda Feldmann
Christian Science Monitor
December 20, 2007

She doesn't cede religious turf to conservatives but dismays some liberals…

EDWARDS

Edwards’s Somber Holiday Message

By Ariel Alexovich
New York Times
December 19, 2007

The TV spot John Edwards will broadcast over Christmas is the most austere of the 2008 candidates…

KUCINCH

Kucinich's Brother Found Dead

Associated Press
December 19, 2007

CLEVELAND -- The youngest brother of Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich was found dead at his home Wednesday…

OBAMA

Obama’s Vote in Illinois Was Often Just ‘Present’

By Raymond Hernandez and Christopher Drew
New York Times
December 20, 2007

Barack Obama voted “present” nearly 130 times as a state senator, sometimes sidestepping sensitive issues…

Obama: Stop Chinese Toy Imports

By Michael Falcone
New York Times
December 19, 2007

With the holiday shopping season upon us, the presidential candidate took a tough stance on an issue that has consumers worried…

Obama's Pocketbook Politics in N.H.

By Alec MacGillis
Washington Post
December 20, 2007

CONCORD, N.H. -- As the focus of the presidential campaign has moved from foreign policy to pocketbook issues in recent weeks, it has offered the spectacle of candidates doing their best to appear genuine in showing understanding for the plights of voters who know full well that the candidates are in…

RICHARDSON

Richardson TV ad opens fire

By Scott Martelle and Maria L. La Ganga
Los Angeles Times
December 20, 2007

The New Mexico governor, hoping to shake up the Democratic presidential race in Iowa and New Hampshire, bluntly takes on his rivals over the Iraq war…

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THE FIELD

Ahead of Iowa, Republican Race Is Wide Open

By John Harwood
Wall Street Journal
December 20, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Two weeks before the Iowa caucus, the race for president, while tightening among Democrats, is wide open on the Republican side, highlighting the unusual fluidity of the first campaign for the White House in over a half-century that doesn't include an incumbent president or vice president…

Surging Huckabee Takes Lead in Iowa Over Romney

By Jon Cohen and Chris Cillizza
Washington Post
December 20, 2007

The race before Iowa's Republican caucuses has narrowed to a two-person contest between former governors Mike Huckabee of Arkansas and Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, with Huckabee now perched atop the field, propelled by a big jump in support among religious women…

GIULIANI

Giuliani Has Decided to Zag While the Other Candidates Zig

By Michael Cooper and Marjorie Connelly
New York Times
December 20, 2007

While rivals stump in Iowa and New Hampshire, Rudolph W. Giuliani is campaigning in Florida, California, Illinois and other later-voting states…

Falling polls lead Giuliani to alter plans

By Robin Abcarian
Los Angeles Times
December 20, 2007

He drops his win-Florida strategy and tough-guy image to focus on New Hampshire and his sunnier side…

Giuliani faces 9/11 backlash

By Stephen Braun
Los Angeles Times
December 20, 2007

Some New York firefighters who lost sons in the attack plan to take on the former mayor in GOP primary states…

PAUL

Ron Paul supporters: Do NOT read this. Please!

Los Angeles Times Top of the Ticket
December 19, 2007

New New Hampshire poll results for both parties show leaders' support grows while the nobodies fade…

ROMNEY

Romney’s Holiday Party Draws a Crowd

By Michael Luo
New York Times
December 19, 2007

A big crowd gathers for the Republican candidate in Iowa…

As Voting Nears, Romney Shifts Political Narrative

By Michael Luo
New York Times
December 20, 2007

Mitt Romney’s campaign is focusing on his business acumen, a shift away from an ideological frame…

TANCREDO

Tancredo to Drop Out of GOP Race

Associated Press
December 20, 2007 12:02 a.m.

DENVER -- Republican Rep. Tom Tancredo, whose forceful opposition to illegal immigration vaulted him to national prominence, plans to announce he is abandoning his long-shot bid for the presidency, a person close to Mr. Tancredo said Wednesday…

THOMPSON

Thompson Picks Up the Pace Across Iowa

By Cate Doty
New York Times
December 20, 2007

Fred D. Thompson is making a last-ditch effort to finish third in the Iowa caucuses, even as he tries to dispel talk that he lacks energy on the trail…

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Economy rivals security as top concern for voters

By Peter Wallsten
Los Angeles Times
December 20, 2007

The rise of new issues has given underdogs a boost and left frontrunners scrambling to change their tactics…

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CIA to Release Tape-Destruction Documents

Associated Press
December 20, 2007

WASHINGTON -- The CIA said Wednesday it would begin handing over documents to Congress about the destruction of videotapings showing the harsh interrogation of two terror suspects after the House Intelligence Committee threatened to subpoena two agency officials…

Satellite-Surveillance Plan Aims to Mollify Critics

By Siobhan Gorman
Wall Street Journal
December 20, 2007

WASHINGTON -- After delaying a domestic satellite-surveillance program for more than two months, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff expects to finalize a new charter for it this week, a move that attempts to quell civil-liberties concerns and get the program back on track…

<><>OTHER NEWS AND VIEWS<><><><><><><><><><><><>

E.P.A. Says 17 States Can’t Set Emission Rules for Cars

By John M. Broder and Felicity Barringer
New York Times
December 20, 2007

The E.P.A. said the proposed California rules were made moot by the energy bill signed into law by President Bush on Wednesday…

Iraqi Refugees Return, and Are Stranded

By Cara Buckley
New York Times
December 20, 2007

The government’s inability to manage a reverse exodus has left the most vulnerable in an uneasy limbo…