Politico

Progress in Iraq is still "fragile and reversible" Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. Central Command, said during the Association of the U.S. Army conference today.

But "the fragility is less" than when he testified before Congress in May, the four-star Army general said in a speech that recapped his command of U.S. forces in Iraq that wrapped up this fall.

During his latest 19-month tour in Iraq, Petraeus executed the widely reported “surge” strategy that has brought more stability to the war-torn country.

But the general said the surge was more than the 30,000 additional U.S. troops and 135,000 Iraqi forces. The U.S. military also implemented a new counterinsurgency strategy that urged low-level commanders to take initiative. And he praised advances in intelligence gathering and cooperation among intelligence agencies.

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Beefing up their policy and advocacy teams, Intel has drafted Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s chief of staff to head its Washington office.

Peter Cleveland will join the California-based technology company as vice president for global public policy and lead the company’s lobbying team, starting Nov. 3.

“Peter Cleveland brings two decades of policy, legislative, regulatory and legal experience to our Washington office,” said Intel senior vice president and general counsel Bruce Sewell. “He’s been involved in the critical policy debates affecting Intel, our industry and our nation – from patent reform and international trade to skilled immigration, tax and energy issues.”

A 17-year Hill veteran, Cleveland has worked for the Democratic senator from California for four years, two as legislative director and two as chief of staff.

And based on his ability to flatter his soon-to-be former and new employers in the same sentence, Cleveland should have no problem navigating K Street. “It’s a terrific opportunity to make the transition from a top notch senator to a first-rate California tech company,” he said.

He’ll be joining a company working to raise its Washington profile.

Since May, Intel has been running an inside-the-Beltway ad campaign, highlighting its $40 billion investment in stateside capital and research and development projects. The company has also been touting the fact that it manufacturers three-fourths of its chips domestically even though it earns 80 percent of its revenue outside the country.

He’ll be joined by Brian Huseman, a former chief of staff to Federal Trade Commission chairman Deborah Majoras, and former Homeland Security staffer Audrey Plonk, who packed her bags for Santa Clara, Calif., to work on international security policy issues.

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The draft of a new climate change bill confirms rumblings on Capitol Hill last summer that the House will take the lead on cap-and-trade legislation in the new Congress.

The legislation by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.) and Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) would amend the Clean Air Act to create an economy-wide cap on greenhouse gases and reduce emissions by 80 percent below 2005 levels by 2050.

The Senate’s major cap-and-trade bill, the Climate Security Act, stalled in the Senate this summer.

The new House proposal would cap power plants and oil producers, while requiring coal companies to use carbon capture and sequestration technology by a set date.

It also gives the Environmental Protection Agency authority to tailor emission standards for individual industries.

“The draft marks an important step in our ongoing efforts to address this increasingly serious problem,” Boucher and Dingell said in a statement.  “This puts us one step closer to our goal of crafting a bill that can be enacted quickly in the next Congress.”  

The House proposal, however, does not specify how the emission allowances would be allocated.

According to House Energy Committee aides, the draft took more than two years, 27 hearings and four white papers to produce.

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As Congress considers administration requests to sell more than $6 billion in military equipment to Taiwan, Republican presidential candidate John McCain wants to add more submarines and new fighter jets to the package.

The administration wants Taiwan to sell 330 Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC-3) missiles and 30 Apache Block III Longbow Attack helicopters. But it did not agree to sell all of the weapons Taiwan had asked for – specifically new F-16 fighter jets, McCain said in a statement.

“The package will not include submarines or new F-16 aircraft. I urge the administration to reconsider this decision, in light of its previous commitment to provide submarines and America’s previous sales of F-16s,” McCain said. “These sales – which could translate into tens of thousands of jobs here at home – would help retain America’s edge in the production of advanced weaponry and represent a positive sign in these difficult economic times.”

The United States should work to improve relations between China and Taiwan, McCain added. But “we should understand that the possibility of productive ties between Taiwan and China are enhanced, not diminished, when Taipei speaks from a position of strength.”

McCain’s statement comes just after China canceled senior level visits to the United States in response to reports of the weapons sales.

“The Chinese reaction is unfortunate and results in missed opportunities,” Pentagon spokesman Maj. Stewart Upton said in a statement. “While we are disappointed not to have these opportunities to learn more about the Chinese military’s plans and intentions, we remain ready to engage with the Chinese to build mutual trust and confidence to the degree that the Chinese are willing to work with us.”

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The bailout exposed a fact most watchdogs already knew about Congress — it ain’t the London School of Economics.

So, the president of Andrew Jackson University, a small online school based in Birmingham, is jumping into this miasma of ignorance to offer a free online course in Econ 101 to members of Congress. This after a thumbnail survey found that eight of 10 had no formal training in economics.

The press release:

To accept Andrew Jackson University’s offer, members of Congress need only to contact [school president Don] Kassner and he will oversee these special enrollments. "Hopefully, some of our congressmen and -women will take us up on this offer, and maybe some will even continue on to advanced courses," said Kassner."All ‘on the house,’ of course, and in the best interests of America," he concluded.

It’s not clear if members would be violating House rules by accepting the offer; we’re checking.

So far nobody’s signed up.

Interested members of Congress can contact Kassner at president@aju.edu.

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Democrats just aren’t shy any more about dropping the New Deal into conversations about the economic crisis.

Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) and bailout architect Barney Frank (D-Mass.), are now asking the Congressional Budget Office to place a price tag on some of the most aggressive ideas for how the government could intervene in the housing crisis.

In a letter to the CBO, Emanuel and Frank ask for a cost estimate of creating a Homeowner’s Loan Corporation similar to the one created in 1933. The headline they reference from The New York Times is "From the New Deal, a Way Out of a Mess." This new government agency would be able to refinance two million mortgages and "borrow and lend as much as $200 to $400 billion."

Among other ideas in the Democrats’ letters are New Deal-ish ideas like refinancing all existing home mortgages to 30-year fixed-rate mortgages at 5.25%. Another idea in the letter has the federal government "offer any homeowner with a mortgage an opportunity to replace 20% of the mortgage with a low-interest loan from the government."

Mind you, Frank and Emanuel aren’t actually proposing these ideas, just asking how much they cost. For now.

The full letter is posted after the jump.

Continue reading post…

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Rep. Henry Waxman opened a second day of hearings on the financial collapse Tuesday, questioning why the American International Group took executives to an exclusive resort, less than week after the federal government bailed out the struggling company.

“The federal bailout occurred on Sept. 16. Less than one week later, AIG held a week-long retreat for company executives at the exclusive St. Regis Resort in Monarch Beach, Calif.,” said Waxman in his opening statement.

“Invoices provided to the Committee show that AIG paid the resort over $440,000, including … $23,000 in spa charges.”

Three former AIG chief executive officers were scheduled to testify Tuesday before Waxman’s House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. AIG received an $85 billion bailout from the government last month.

However, former CEO Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, the company’s largest individual shareholder — canceled his appearance. Greenberg will not testify due to illness, according to Waxman.

“We will probe AIG’s executive compensation arrangements, the leadership of its top officials, and the veracity of their public statements,” Waxman said.

Rep. Chris Shays offered the opening statement for committee Republicans, again questioning why Waxman was holding hearings on AIG but not on mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

“We need to keep the toxic twins, Fannie and Freddie, at the center of this hearing,” said Shays. “We can’t wait till Halloween to unmask these two monsters of corporate finance.”

Waxman said a request to hold hearings on Fannie and Freddie would be “pursued” but did not offer any specifics. 

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Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), who has made it a point never to request earmarks for his home district, nevertheless found himself on the receiving end of an apparent prank, the AP is reporting. 

Boehner’s West Chester, Ohio office was cleared out over a suspicious package postmarked from Georgia, leaking a greasy substance, that turned out to be full of bacon. 

A note came along with the gift, but police wouldn’t share its contents. 

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A federal appeals court issued a stay in a legal fight over subpoenas issued to former White House Counsel Harriet Miers and White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten, meaning the issue will not be decided until after President Bush finished his term.

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee had sued the Bush administration in civil court in order to enforce the subpoenas, which were issued as part of the panel’s probe into the firing of nine U.S. attorneys. A lower court ruled in favor of the Judiciary Committee, but the Bush administration sought a stay in the case in order to appeal. The appeals court ruling will likely end any chance that the matter will drag on well into 2009.

Republicans hailed the ruling and accused the Democrats of trying to play the issue for political points, something that they have said throughout the committee’s investigation.

"After three Inspector General reports, the facts continue to show that there was no grand Administration conspiracy in the dismissal of several U.S. Attorneys," said Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), ranking member of the Judiciary Committee. Smith was referring to a recent IG report that found no criminal behavior by Justice Department officials over the firings, although a special prosecutor has been appointed to continue probing the matter.

Smith added:  "Rather than continue to waste the American people’s time and money, I hope that next year House Democrats put partisan politics aside and focus on a real agenda that serves the American people.”

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Lehman Brothers CEO Richard Fuld made it clear to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Monday afternoon that he did not ease into retirement when his bank declared bankruptcy last month.

“I got no golden parachute. I had no contract,” Fuld said. “I never sold my shares…because I believed in this company. I could have sold that stock, but I did not, because I firmly believed we were going to get back on the road [to solvency].” 

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