A post by Peter Slutsky

Clinton Is Whipped

This is an interesting story, written by a reporter who I really like at the New York Daily News.

After it was revealed that President Clinton surprised Hillary with his involvement in the Dubai ports deal, Sen. Clinton’s camp is using a new tactic: Hillary will have ‘final say’ over what President Clinton says and does.

The former President agreed to give his wife a veto to avoid his habit of making controversial headlines that could hurt her chances of returning to the White House, multiple sources told the Daily News.

Bill knows what’s at stake and he knows how election campaigns are run:

“He knows it’s Hillary’s time now,” said an adviser close to both Clintons who expects to play a key role in her likely 2008 presidential campaign.

Hillary Clinton’s handlers are keeping a close rein on the former President’s schedule to try to prevent another embarrassing screwup like their competing roles in the Dubai ports deal.

While she was blasting the Bush administration for allowing Dubai to run six of the country’s ports, he was advising Dubai on how to sell the deal.

“Hillary has final say,” said the adviser, and the ex-President’s staff has been warned not to do or say anything without running it by the senator’s handlers.

“That was true in the White House during the [2000] Senate campaign,” recalled another longtime aide who stayed close to the ex-President after he left office. “If he said the sky was blue and she said the sky was purple, then the sky was purple.”

Bill and Hillary

A post by Peter Slutsky

Bush Hits New Low - 36%

Just when the White House thought it couldn’t get worse, a new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll has been released showing Bush’s approval at 36%.

Bush’s failed leadership is beginning to catch up with him…From…

-Abysmal leadership in Iraq, Afghanistan and the war on terror
-Illegal domestic wiretapping
-Failed Dubai port deal
-Hurricane Katrina
-Incredible national debt
-White House staffers arrested
-Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff
-Millions of Americans without health insurance
-Lack of border security

The list goes on.

Key poll findings:

Was going to Iraq a mistake?
57% - yes
42% - no

How is Iraq going?
60% - badly
38% - well

Does Bush have a clear plan for Iraq?
67% - no
32% - yes

Did Bush mislead public on WMD?
51% - yes
46% - no

Only 38 percent said they believe the nearly 3-year-old war was going well for the United States, down from 46 percent in January, while 60 percent said they believed the war was going poorly. And 57 percent said they believe the March 2003 invasion of Iraq was a mistake, near September’s record high of 59 percent in the same poll.

Nearly half of those polled said they believe Democrats would do a better job of managing the war.

A post by Joshua Skaroff

UAE Hands Off to US ‘entity’

Sen. John Warner (R-VA) has just announced on the Senate floor that DP World, the UAE firm that was set to take over control of several US ports, has agreed to turn over all ports operation to an American “entity.”

Reading a statement from DP World on the Senate floor, Warner, a Virginia Republican, said the reason is “to preserve” the strong relationship between the UAE and United States.

The announcement comes after congressional leaders reportedly told President Bush that the deal for DP World to assume some operations at six U.S. ports appeared dead on Capitol Hill.

Whether or not this actually changes anything or is simply a paper restructuring of the deal to preserve face for Pres. Bush and Congressional Republicans remains to be seen. Daily Kos says that Sen. Chuck Schumer, the sponsor of a bill to block the deal, “is refusing to withdraw his amendment, and is urging Senators to vote against cloture” this afternoon.

It seems doubtful that Bush and the Dubai firm would give up on this deal, considering the many many business connections that exist between the two. Over at Hullaballo, guest blogger Lucian Truscott IV has an extensive post that digs into this shady relationship further.

House Cmte. Blocks Ports Deal

reports the New York Times. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) is organizing a Senate vote to also block the takeover by the UAE owned DP World.

A post by Matthew Slutsky

Ok, I Am Not Making This Up

“We wouldn’t go forward if we were concerned about the security of the United States of America.”

-George W. Bush talking about the proposed deal to sell the management of six U.S. ports to the United Arab Emirates.