Washington Week Show - #4519
Washington Week Show - WW 4519 - "Show Open"
Hosted by Gwen Ifill, with guests Linda Greenhouse, Dan Balz, Janet Hook, David Wessel. Composite footage (unclean) with Washington Week title and text: Supreme Court judges taking photo; U.S. President George W. Bush and Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito walking together to the podium; President Bush says, "Judge Alito has served with distinction on that court for fifteen years and now has more prior judicial experience that any Supreme Court nominee in more than 70 years." U.S. Senator Bill Frist (R-TN) walking and talking with Judge Alito; U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) seen with Alito; Senator Leahy on Senate floor says, "I'm concerned that the nomination may be a needlessly provocative nomination." U.S. Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) says, "I'm always concerned about a filibuster." White House portico; Karl Rove closing door, says, “Good morning." U.S. Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) speaking, waving arm on Senate floor; Sen. Frist says, "I have to say, not with the previous Democratic leader or the current Democratic leader, have ever I been slapped in the face with such an affront to the leadership of this grand institution." Sen. Reid says, "It's a slap in the face to the American people, that this has been, that this investigation has been stymied, stopped, obstructions thrown up every step of the way." President Bush waving as he boards Marine One helicopter. Hands of Caucasian bank teller putting money in drawer. Pedestrians walking down street.
Washington Week Show - WW 4519 - "Judge Alito Nomination"
Show host Gwen Ifill opens with news of the President seeking a fresh start to the week, putting the Harriet Miers debacle and Scooter Libby case behind him. U.S. President George W. Bush shaking hands with Supreme Court nominee Judge Samuel Alito at his nomination announcement. Judge Alito says, "Federal judges have the duty to interpret the Constitution and the laws faithfully and fairly to protect the Constitutional rights of all Americans, and to do these things with care and restraint, always keeping in mind the limited role that the courts play in out Constitutional system." Ifill notes there is plenty of time until Alito's confirmation hearings.
Washington Week Show - WW 4519 - "Judge Alito Nomination"
Show host Gwen Ifll asks Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times how each side is preparing to make their pro and con arguments. Greenhouse notes that Judge Samuel Alito has an extensive paper trail and judicial record, so the burden is not entirely on the Judge to prove he is a worthy candidate. Greenhouse provides some background into Judge Alito’s professional work before Ifill steers her toward what will become inevitable questions about his stance on abortion. Greenhouse discusses an abortion case that will likely come up in the confirmation hearings, a case in which it appears that Judge Alito came out against abortion, but further extrapolation is required to clarify the circumstances and context of the case.
Washington Week Show - WW 4519 - "Judge Alito Nomination"
Janet Hook of the Los Angeles Times asks Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times just how conservative Judge Samuel Alito is. Greenhouse says Judge Alito is a known commodity among conservatives and warmly accepted. The goal is for him to be in the mold of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor who was viewed as conservative yet turned out to be more moderate in her rulings. David Wessel of the Wall Street Journal asks how Judge Alito is different from Chief Justice Roberts and how the nomination is being received in comparison to Justice Roberts. Greenhouse compares their differences, but altogether the nomination is different because the seat on the Court is different. Judge Alito, if confirmed, will occupy the middle seat but his views and opinions as well as how the Senate views him will not be known until the confirmation process get underway. Dan Balz of the Washington Post asks Greenhouse if there is any lingering effect from the Harriet Miers confirmation hearings. Greenhouse notes that the right did not like or want Miers, but they do like Judge Alito, so liberals naturally think the right is controlling the nomination process and influencing the President’s decision in this matter.
Washington Week Show - WW 4519 - "Job Approval Numbers"
Show host Gwen Ifill turns to the President’s approval numbers. U.S. President George W. Bush with officials in Argentina; President Bush says, "We're going through a very serious investigation, and I have told you before that I'm not going to discuss the investigation until it's completed. My obligation is to set an agenda and I've done that." Ifill notes that 49% of Americans approve the President’s choice of Judge Samuel Alito. Ifill asks Dan Balz of the Washington Post if that pick helps the President. Balz says there is no evidence the pick has any effect on the President’s overall standing, lists the finer points of Bush's approval ratings. Balz sees the strength of people’s strong disapproval of the President’s job going up, the President’s intangibles (character questions) being called into question, and, for the first time, a net negative approval rating with regard to handling terrorism.
Washington Week Show - WW 4519 - "Job Approval Numbers"
Show host Gwen Ifill asks Janet Hook of the Los Angeles Times whether the Democrats will use President George W. Bush's poor approval rating numbers to mount a stand against his nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Samuel Alito. Hook says that while Democrats feel more emboldened, that has not come out as the strategy yet. In fact, the key will be to see what Centrist Democrats do and they have said that there will be no filibuster of a judicial nominee unless there are extraordinary circumstances. Hook sees no reason why there would be a filibuster, though Democrats will be under pressure from their liberal base to stand against Judge Alito’s nomination.
Washington Week Show - WW 4519 - "Job Approval Numbers"
Show host Ifill asks Dan Balz of the Washington Post if Democrats are doing any better in approval ratings. Balz says Democrats are held in low regard by many Americans and their poll numbers are not markedly better than those of President George W. Bush. There seems to be a leadership vacuum or a leader the Democratic Party can rally around. Ifill asks Janet Hook of the Los Angeles Times if that is why Senate Democrats wanted to shut down the Senate until there could be a discussion regarding pre-war intelligence. Hook says that was done to ease pressure from the liberal base in order to hold the Bush administration accountable for the war. Hook details how an obscure Senate rule allowed this to happen. Republicans called it a stunt, and it was, but it worked, and it angered the Republican leadership. Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times asks Hook why Senator Bill Frist (R-TN) reacted so angrily. If he had just let the stunt play out, perhaps it would not have been so successful. Hook agrees that the Republican reaction, specifically Senator Frist, likely made this a bigger news story than it otherwise would have been.
Washington Week Show - WW 4519 - "Job Approval Numbers"
Dave Wessel of the Wall Street Journal asks Dan Balz of the Washington Post how the Bush administration can recover from the bad poll numbers. Balz says the administration knows there is no silver bullet to remedy the problem, so they will likely fight the remaining battles and attempt to relaunch the President as a compassionate conservative next year, starting with the State of the Union. However, the over-arching issue gnawing at the American people is the Iraq war and that will continue to be the problem. Show host Gwen Ifill asks, given the issues Republicans and Democrats are having with approval ratings, and the recent Senate fight, if both sides will work on shoring up their respective bases and let the moderates to “shake out on their own." Janet Hook of the Los Angles Times agrees, notes that Republicans would not have this issue if not for the Harriet Miers nomination debacle. Ifill notes that the White House’s point person on shoring up the base is Karl Rove, who is under scrutiny himself over the C.I.A. leak and Scooter Libby issue. Balz says this cloud of suspicion is still hanging around Mr. Rove and the White House, to the point where Rove’s job may be in jeopardy. There have been discussions to surround the President with new staff to aid in the revitalization of the President’s and Republican’s image.
Washington Week Show - WW 4519 - "The Economy"
Show host Gwen Ifill turns to poll numbers on public disapproval of the economy, asks Dave Wessel of the Wall Street Journal if there are any bright spots. He notes the quarterly increase in GDP, rising wages, lowering unemployment, and falling gas prices. However, in the jobs report there were less jobs created than expected and the reasons for less than expected hiring was retailer fear that consumer spending is about to decline. Mortgage rates have gone up as have interest rates in general, and this will likely happen again before the year is out. Ifill asks about the presumptive successor to the Federal Reserve Chairmanship, Ben Bernake, and if anybody has seen him since his nomination. Wessel says he has been seen greeting congressmen but not with the media’s knowledge of his scheduled stops. The question surrounding him will be what kind of economy he will inherit.
Washington Week Show - WW 4519 - "The Economy"
Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times notes that future Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernake will be inheriting quite a deficit, wonders if that will limit his options going forward. Dave Wessel of the Wall Street Journal agrees it is a problem, not for this year, but the following year and going forward. Much of that will revolve around Congress and what they pass in terms of spending. Currently, Congress is debating how much spending to cut, which will affect social programs. Whatever is cut, Wessel notes the United States will spend 3.4 trillion dollars on Medicare and Medicaid alone in the next five years, so the billions that will be cut will likely not be enough.
Washington Week Show - WW 4519 - "The Economy"
Janet Cook of the Los Angeles Times asks if there will be leadership coming from the White House on the issues of tax reform or deficit reduction. Dave Wessel of the Wall Street Journal says no and explains why the White House is not overly concerned about the deficit and is even considering more tax cuts. Dan Balz of the Washington Post asks Wessel about the future of the Tax Reform Commission’s proposal. Show host Gwen Ifill takes a jab at the plethora and popularity of "blue ribbon" commissions in Washington D.C. Wessel discusses the commission’s tax reform proposals, noting the report is well-written and gives some good suggestions that do not involve tearing up the entire tax code. He says the White House believes the report will provide great talking points and slogans going forward, but it will be hard to go past that when implementing proposal details such as eliminating tax credits and deductions popular and useful to many Americans. Furthermore, potential changes in tax law are one of the areas in the economy that the American people will pay very close attention to, thus exposing it to scrutiny and debate.
Washington Week Show - WW 4519 - "Show End"
Gwen Ifill thanks her guests, mentions that Washington Week episodes can be downloaded as podcasts, and signs off. Credits roll.