Priority for The Fed: Inflation
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/03/AR200704030=
1439.html
By Robert J. Samuelson
Wednesday, April 4, 2007; Page A13
There must be times when Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke feels
like the Wizard of Oz -- someone who's supposed to be all-powerful but
who's actually just an ordinary guy. Like now.
The American economy has arrived at one of those moments when the Fed
is expected to perform miracles. Signs of a possible recession abound,
despite 4.5 percent unemployment. Housing foreclosures are rising.
Inventories of unsold new homes stand at eight months of sales, up
from six last year. Manufacturing orders are weak; business investment
dropped at an annual rate of 3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2006.
Cut interest rates, the Fed is urged.
In Fear Of Chinese Democracy
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/03/AR200704030=
1437.html
By Harold Meyerson
Wednesday, April 4, 2007; Page A13
Listen to the apostles of free trade, and you'll learn that once
consumer choice comes to authoritarian regimes, democracy is sure to
follow. Call it the Starbucks rule: Situate enough Starbucks around
Shanghai, and the Communist Party's control will crumble like dunked
biscotti.
As a theory of revolution, the Starbucks rule leaves a lot to be
desired.
Fox-in-the-Henhouse Government
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/03/AR200704030=
1576.html
By Ruth Marcus
Wednesday, April 4, 2007; Page A13
The Bush administration's House of Straw seems to be blowing apart,
buffeted by alternating gusts of scandal and incompetence.
The tornado of disastrous headlines -- a Pentagon that can't take
proper care of its wounded, a Justice Department that can't be trusted
to follow the law or tell the truth to Congress, a top White House
aide who lied to a grand jury-- has been so overpowering that the day-
to-day outrages of life in the Bush administration tend get
overlooked.
The IG Ideology
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/03/AR200704030=
1438.html
By Steve Kelman
Wednesday, April 4, 2007; Page A13
Most elected officials and journalists see inspectors general as
nonideological fraud-busters whose only cause is protecting the
taxpayer. Many therefore accept their pronouncements as truth-telling
without fear or favor.
IGs do accomplish useful work. But the IG culture -- reflected in the
topics inspectors choose for reports and the conclusions they draw --
also embodies an ideology about how public organizations should be
managed that can make it harder, not easier, for government to perform
well. Contracting, a high-visibility area in which IGs have been
extensively involved of late, offers many examples, but this culture
applies to other domains of public management as well.
Back to Baker-Hamilton
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/03/AR200704030=
1436.html
By David Ignatius
Wednesday, April 4, 2007; Page A13
Lee Hamilton, the former Indiana congressman who is a one-man
bipartisan commission, recently suggested a simple test for evaluating
political leaders. The best choice, he told a Washington gathering, is
the person who can build consensus around difficult policy issues.
By that measure, we are seeing a long list of would-be dividers but
not many leaders. The United States is losing a war in Iraq, yet
instead of uniting around a policy that could reduce the damage and
create a sustainable strategy for the future, Congress and the White
House are on a collision course over funding for the troops.
Spectacle at Guantanamo
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/03/AR200704030=
1634.html
The new legal system for holding and trying detainees produces a
predictable mess.
Wednesday, April 4, 2007; Page A12
THE SUPREME Court's decision not to consider, for now, the denial of
appeal rights for foreign prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, when combined
with the results of the first criminal case held there, vividly
demonstrates the folly of the legal scheme for detainees that Congress
hastily approved last year. David Hicks, the 31-year-old Australian
who was the first person to be brought before the special military
commissions Congress sanctioned, escaped with a plea bargain that will
free him after he serves nine more months in an Australian prison. Mr.
Hicks pleaded guilty last week to a terrorism charge; a prosecutor
described him as "an enemy" who was "trying to kill Americans."
Time for Trade
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/03/AR200704030=
1639.html
Pacts with Latin America and South Korea ought to pass this Congress.
Wednesday, April 4, 2007; Page A12
THE BUSH administration's conclusion of a free-trade agreement with
South Korea means that Congress faces a series of critical decisions
about trade policy, globalization and U.S. relations with key allies.
The South Korea agreement joins similar deals with Colombia, Peru and
Panama awaiting congressional action. Congress must also decide
whether to extend past June the presidential negotiating authority
that makes such agreements possible. The stakes are high: Free trade
with South Korea could give a substantial boost to the American
economy, while the Latin America deals could help consolidate
democracy and capitalism in the region at a time when both are under
challenge.
The good news here is that the Bush administration has been
negotiating with the Democratic leadership in Congress about a package
deal to pass the Latin America trade treaties and extend the
negotiating authority. Both sides have shown some flexibility and good
faith: In particular, the administration has made a considerable
effort to meet longstanding Democratic demands for tougher labor and
environmental standards. The key Democratic negotiator, Rep. Charles
B=2E Rangel (N.Y.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, has
sounded open to compromise.
U=2ES. Holds Suspects In War Crimes
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/03/AR200704030=
0979_pf.html
Argentine in Va. Among 3 Arrested
By Spencer S. Hsu and Nick Miroff
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, April 4, 2007; A01
Ernesto Guillermo Barreiro seemed to fit in well with his neighbors in
Virginia's placid horse country. The quiet, genteel man from Argentina
opened an art and antiques store after moving into a farmhouse last
year in The Plains.
From the FB Art Gallery & Antiques store attached to his home to a
craft shop called Pampa's Corner on nearby Main Street, Barreiro kept
a low profile, selling imported leather goods and artwork with his
wife.
Mormon Base a Mixed Blessing for Romney
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/03/AR200704030=
1737_pf.html
By Alec MacGillis
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 4, 2007; A01
It is the rare presidential candidate who comes to Idaho to raise
money, but there was Mitt Romney last month, packing more than 100
people, at up to $2,300 a head, into the Crystal Ballroom in Boise.
"Nearly every seat was filled. Just about everybody that's anybody was
there," said Grant Ipsen, a former Idaho state legislator. "I don't
think I'd ever attended another fundraiser for a federal candidate in
Idaho."
For Bush, Fighting Democrats And Doubts
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/03/AR200704030=
2027.html
By Peter Baker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 4, 2007; Page A01
He strode alone into the Rose Garden and complained that "it has now
been 57 days" since he asked Congress for more money for the Iraq war
and still has not gotten it. For President Bush, the fight over war-
spending legislation has become the only talking point -- an
opportunity, his strategists hope, to demonstrate strength and turn
the tables on a Democratic Congress that may be overreaching.
But as he answered questions yesterday before heading off for an
Easter break, Bush was confronted with another narrative, this one
about friends and voters losing faith in his leadership. He is not, he
said in response to a question, more "isolated from his own party in
Congress" than any president of the past half-century, as one
conservative columnist wrote. He has not, he said, lost his "gut-level
bond with the American public," as the chief strategist of his 2004
campaign wrote.
Albanians Rediscover God, If Not Old-Time Religion
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/03/AR200704030=
1998_pf.html
By Mary Jordan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, April 4, 2007; A01
SHKODER, Albania -- The Catholic cathedral that communists turned into
a basketball arena for two decades is now busier than ever, drawing
more than 2,000 people to a single Sunday Mass. An ornate Albanian
Orthodox church with three grand, peach-colored domes is readying for
Easter celebrations and popular midnight candlelit processions. And a
few days ago, the latest of more than 50 mosques in the area opened
with fanfare and a call to prayer.
In a country that once officially outlawed God, religion is back --
but in a different way than before the long experiment in godlessness.
Many Albanians have resumed spiritual practices with a faith
strengthened by the years of suppression. At the same time, new
practices and beliefs are being planted by a wave of foreign
missionaries and money, making this tiny Adriatic country a remarkable
example of the globalization of religion.
Political Theater and the Critic in Chief
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/03/AR200704030=
1522_pf.html
By Dana Milbank
Wednesday, April 4, 2007; A02
When President Bush gets a question he doesn't like, he often cocks
his head to one side, juts his chin out and says "Hmmm" with an air of
thoughtful consideration. And as news conferences go, yesterday's
event in the Rose Garden was a real hmmmdinger. Over the course of 40
minutes and more than a dozen questions, reporters elicited three
"hmmms" from Bush -- not to mention several "uhs" and a displeased
"yeah" or two.
Jim Rutenberg of the New York Times asked about criticism of the Iraq
war from Bush's former chief campaign strategist, who called the
president "secluded and bubbled in."
Clinton Decries Veto Threat, Urges Bush Compromise on Iraq
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/03/AR200704030=
1611.html
By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 4, 2007; Page A03
CRAWFORDSVILLE, Iowa, April 3 -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.)
stepped up her criticism of President Bush's threat to veto
legislation that sets a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops
from Iraq, saying that doing so would thwart the will of the American
people.
Clinton hedged, however, when asked whether she would support
legislation sponsored by other Democratic senators, including Majority
Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.), aimed at cutting off funding for the war
on March 31, 2008.
Unrelated Items Part of Iraq Bills Since War Began
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/03/AR200704030=
1736.html
By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 4, 2007; Page A03
To President Bush, they are "pork-barrel projects completely unrelated
to the war," items in the House and Senate war-spending bills such as
peanut storage facilities and aid to spinach farmers that insult the
seriousness of the conflict and exist only to buy votes.
But such spending has been part of Iraq funding bills since the war
began, sometimes inserted by the president himself, sometimes added by
lawmakers with bipartisan aplomb. A few of the items may have weighed
on the votes for spending bills that have now topped half a trillion
dollars, but, in almost all cases over the past four years, special-
interest funding provisions have been the fruits of congressional
opportunism by well-placed senators or House members grabbing what
they could for their constituents on the one bill that had to be
passed quickly.
House Democrats Seek to Question Gonzales Aide About Fired Prosecutors
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/03/AR200704030=
1750.html
By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 4, 2007; Page A03
House Democrats requested yesterday an interview of an aide to
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, arguing that she must tell
Congress which questions she is refusing to answer in asserting her
Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
The request for a voluntary interview with Monica M. Goodling,
Gonzales's senior counselor, signals that Democrats intend to
challenge her refusal to testify about the Justice Department's firing
of eight U.S. attorneys.
Bush Backs Richardson Trip to North Korea
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/03/AR200704030=
1879.html
N=2EM. Governor in Group Claiming War Remains
By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 4, 2007; Page A05
For a Democratic presidential candidate whose support in voter
preference polls hovers around the margin of error, the announcement
from the Bush White House yesterday was a gift: New Mexico Gov. Bill
Richardson (D) will co-head a private bipartisan delegation to North
Korea next week to retrieve the remains of U.S. troops lost during the
Korean War, receiving logistical support and technical expertise from
the U.S. government.
Richardson, whose support among Democratic voters in five public
opinion polls last week ranged from 1 to 4 percent, has staked his
presidential bid in part on his days as a global troubleshooter for
President Bill Clinton.
Pelosi Poised to Meet Syria's Assad
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/03/AR200704030=
0622.html
Speaker Tours Damascus as Bush Calls Such Visits 'Counterproductive'
By Zeina Karam
Associated Press
Wednesday, April 4, 2007; Page A09
DAMASCUS, Syria, April 3 -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi toured Damascus
on Tuesday, the highest-ranking American politician to visit Syria
since relations began to deteriorate four years ago. She was scheduled
to confer with President Bashar al-Assad and other Syrian officials on
Wednesday.
President Bush criticized the trip, saying it sends mixed signals to
the Syrian government. The United States accuses Syria of interfering
in Iraq and Lebanon and sponsoring terrorists, allegations that Syria
denies. The Bush administration has resisted calls to open direct
talks with Syria on resolving the countries' disputes.
As a House Falls in China, Rights Debate Resonates
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/03/AR200704030=
0542.html
3-Year Standoff Symbolic to Many in Era of Growth
By Edward Cody
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, April 4, 2007; Page A10
BEIJING, April 3 -- For weeks, the little house sitting stubbornly
atop an earthen pillar in the middle of a busy construction site was a
symbol of individual rights in the face of China's breakneck and often
heedless economic development.
Reporters from across China and beyond traveled to Chongqing, a
sprawling Sichuan city 900 miles southwest of Beijing, to document the
campaign by Wu Ping and her husband, Yang Wu, to get more compensation
for the small building where they had lived and run a restaurant for
years. As they repeated tirelessly into reporters' microphones, they
were the lone holdouts among the owners of 280 houses bulldozed since
2004 to make way for a shopping center -- and they vowed not to move
until they got what they wanted.
More Than a Feeling
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/04/opinion/04weds1.html
It is absurd for President Bush to suggest that critics of the war
whose children are at risk are too "emotional" to see things clearly.
It Didn't End Well Last Time
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/04/opinion/04weds2.html
Not since the Roaring Twenties have the rich been so much richer than
everyone else.
Shackles on the AIDS Program
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/04/opinion/04weds3.html
Restrictions imposed on the Bush administration's program to combat
AIDS abroad needlessly hamper a program with great potential.
Stay on Track
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/04/opinion/04weds4.html
A mass-transit renaissance will come to a grinding halt unless a
commensurate investment is made in upkeep and expansion.
What About Those Other Iraq Deadlines?
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/04/opinion/04panetta.html
By LEON E. PANETTA
Instead of dividing over the strategy on the war, the president and
the Congress should make very clear to the Iraqis that there is no
open-ended commitment to our involvement.
The Rich Are More Oblivious Than You and Me
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/04/opinion/04conniff.html
By RICHARD CONNIFF
Without power, people tend to play it safe. Given power, we would end
up living large and acting like idiots.
Opposition to Electronic Voting System Grows in France
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/04/world/europe/04france.html?ref=3Dworld
By ELAINE SCIOLINO
France's Socialists, among others, are concerned that the coming
presidential election could descend into a nightmare like last fall's
in Florida.
A New Decree From Ch=E1vez: Less Elbow-Bending
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/04/world/americas/04venez.html?ref=3Dworld
By SIMON ROMERO
A decree by President Hugo Ch=E1vez severely limiting alcohol sales in
Venezuela for much of Holy Week has generated a public outcry.
Very Young Populations Contribute to Strife, Study Concludes
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/04/world/04youth.html
By CELIA W. DUGGER
In recent decades, most civil conflicts broke out in countries with
youthful populations and autocratic rulers or weak democracies,
according to a study.
India's Edge Goes Beyond Outsourcing
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/04/business/worldbusiness/04rupee.html?ref=
=3Dasia&pagewanted=3Dall
By ANAND GIRIDHARADAS
The outsourcing of jobs to countries like India has increasingly
included the jobs of Western white-collar elites.
Pelosi, Warmly Greeted in Syria, Is Criticized by White House
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/04/world/middleeast/04pelosi.html?ref=3Dmidd=
leeast
By HASSAN M. FATTAH
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit is seen as part of an attempt to
sway Bush administration policy on Iraq and the rest of the Middle
East.
Bush Splits With Congress and States on Emissions
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/04/washington/04climate.html?ref=3Dus&pagewa=
nted=3Dall
By FELICITY BARRINGER and WILLIAM YARDLEY
States are already using the Supreme Court's decision to speed their
own efforts to regulate gas emissions.
'The New American Story'
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/03/books/03kaku.html?ref=3Dpolitics
By BILL BRADLEY
Reviewed by MICHIKO KAKUTANI
In this tart assessment of national politics today, Bill Bradley
argues for the "general interest" over the special interests.
Tussle Over Iraq Bill Reminds Many of Bitter 1995
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/04/washington/04memo.html?ref=3Dwashington
By CARL HULSE
The budget fight between President Clinton and Republicans casts a
shadow over the current impasse.
Lawmakers Who Visited Baghdad Talk of Progress, but Also Danger
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/04/washington/04trip.html?ref=3Dwashington
By JOHN M. BRODER
One Republican congressman said a brief tour of a market had given him
some hope that new military tactics were having a measurable impact on
security in the city.
In Homework Wars, Student Wins a Battle: More Time to Unwind on
Vacation
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/04/nyregion/04education.html?ref=3Deducation=
&pagewanted=3Dall
By JOSEPH BERGER
What often gets lost in the debate over how much homework children
should get is some common sense.
Russia Challenges the U.S. Monopoly on Satellite Navigation
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/04/business/worldbusiness/04gps.html?ref=3Db=
usiness&pagewanted=3Dall
By ANDREW E. KRAMER
Russia plans to launch eight navigation satellites to compete with the
Global Positioning System operated by the U.S.
One Safety Net Is Disappearing. What Will Follow?
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/04/business/04leonhardt.html?ref=3Dbusiness
By DAVID LEONHARDT
Layoffs at Circuit City last week suggest that experience isn't as
valuable as we would like to think.
Condo Conversions Switch Gears to Go Commercial
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/04/realestate/commercial/04convert.html?ref=
=3Dbusiness&pagewanted=3Dall
By LISA CHAMBERLAIN
Some developers are rethinking plans to convert aging Manhattan office
buildings into residential condominiums.
'The Invisible Wall'
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/04/books/04grim.html?ref=3Darts
By HARRY BERNSTEIN
Reviewed by WILLIAM GRIMES
Harry Bernstein's heart-wrenching memoir describes a Jewish childhood
in England marked by difference and want.
New Work From a Writer Who Died in the Holocaust
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/04/books/04nemi.html?ref=3Darts&pagewanted=
=3Dall
By ALAN RIDING
Another novel by Ir=E8ne N=E9mirovsky, whose "Suite Fran=E7aise" sold over a
million copies, has been unearthed and published to warm reviews in
France.
Voting Rights Drive 'Idol,' Not the Abuse or the Hair
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/04/arts/television/04watc.html?ref=3Darts
By ALESSANDRA STANLEY
In this season's show, viewers have the last word, not judges or the
Electoral College.
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