A Day In The Life of President Bush (with Photos) ~~ 11-17-07

PHOTO OF THE DAY (from yesterday's National Adoption Day at the White House)

"Good morning. In a few days, our Nation will celebrate Thanksgiving. Like millions of Americans, members of Congress will travel home for the holiday. Unfortunately, as they get to work carving their turkeys, they're leaving a lot of unfinished work back in Washington, D.C. And unless they complete this work soon, middle-class Americans will pay higher taxes and American troops will not receive the critical funding they need to fight and defeat our enemies.

Many middle-class taxpayers will face higher tax bills unless Congress acts on the Alternative Minimum Tax, or AMT. The AMT was designed to ensure that the wealthy paid their fair share of taxes. But when Congress passed the AMT decades ago, it was not indexed for inflation. As a result, the AMT's higher tax burden is creeping up on more and more middle-class families."

On Wednesday, the House passed a bill that once again has Congress directing our military commanders on how to conduct the war in Iraq as a condition for funding our troops.

We do not need members of Congress telling our commanders what to do. We need Congress listening to our military commanders and giving them what they need to win the war against extremists and radicals.

Congress knows I'll veto this bill. During this time of war, our troops deserve the full support of Congress -- and that means giving our troops the funding they need to successfully carry out their mission. I urge Congress to work quickly and send me a clean bill so we can fulfill our obligation to our brave men and women in uniform."

Former President George Bush and first lady Barbara Bush popped into the Texans' practice Friday.

~~~

On November 13th, George H.W. and Barbara Bush appeared with grand- daughter Jenna at the A Celebration of Reading Dallas fundraiser.

At literacy fundraiser, Jenna is the star Bush

Excerpt:

A constellation of best-selling authors joined Barbara and George H.W. Bush at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center on Monday night for A Celebration of Reading Dallas. But the crowd at the literacy fundraiser wanted Jenna.

George H.W. and Barbara Bush appeared with granddaughter Jenna at the A Celebration of Reading Dallas fundraiser Monday evening.

First daughter Jenna Bush was there to read from her new book, Ana's Story: A Journey of Hope.

When the younger Ms. Bush took the stage in a sleeveless red dress, there was a momentary epiphany. That face, a pleasing amalgam of her parents, is as familiar as any movie star's. But who has heard her speak?

For the record, she sounds like a Memorex version of her mother with a notable exception. Laura Bush gives the impression of a woman with things to say who restrains herself. Her daughter, Jenna, on the other hand, is youthful ebullience personified.

Each author mentioned Barbara Bush's 10-minute rule for speakers. Ms. Bush was not about to push her grandmother.

"I'm a granddaughter," Jenna explained. "And she'll definitely say to me what she wanted to say to everyone else."

With that, she read a moving chapter about an HIV-positive teen mother she met while working for UNICEF in Latin America.

As many guests wiped away tears, former President Bush said, "I used to worry about following Barbara; now I have to worry about following the grandkids."

No. 41 read a piece he wrote for FYI magazine giving 10 tips to former presidents. First, on your successor's inauguration day, get out of town. "Go directly to Marine One without passing go," he said.

Once aboard Air Force One for the last ride, enjoy it. "Lie down on the bed in the president's cabin," he said. "Seat 34E on the commercial airlines is quite different."

When walking the dog, a president should be patient with the neighbor who chides, "Why didn't you tell those Israelis and A-Rabs they don't get another dime of our taxpayers' money unless they straighten up and fly right?"

"Smile pleasantly," Mr. Bush advised.

~~~~~

Jenna Bush tells 'Ana's Story

Excerpt:

RALEIGH - Audience members gave Jenna Bush a standing ovation when she took the stage Wednesday at Meredith College and hugged a man best known around the Triangle for hosting drag bingo parties.

"I am a gay man ... [and] have been living with HIV for 14 years," John Paul Womble told the audience moments before he introduced President George W. Bush's daughter. Womble leads fundraisers for Alliance of AIDS Services Carolina, including popular monthly bingo games at the Durham Armory featuring drag queens.

"Wow!" Bush said thanking Womble for his introduction. "The fact that he had the courage to tell his story should make us feel very grateful."

Bush, 25, was in town Wednesday for a Quail Ridge bookstore event to tell "Ana's Story," which draws from Bush's experience as an intern for UNICEF in Latin America. She documented stories there of young people such as Ana living with HIV.

Despite Ana being "abused, beaten and abandoned," her life gave Bush hope. Through UNICEF, Ana is fulfilling her dream of going to school and improving her circumstances.

Ana taught Bush how to dance bachata. Ana likes to listen to Latin pop star Shakira.

"She reminded me of myself when I was her age," Bush said.

Bush's talk drew a crowd of about 400 -- Republicans, Democrats, college students and AIDS activists. Security was tight. The Secret Service banned audience members from carrying items including knitting needles, water bottles, whistles and unopened envelopes. And some people waited up to two hours to hear her speak.

~~~~~~~~

Bush No. 41 hints Bush No. 43 will settle in Dallas

At Monday's Celebration of Reading event at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, former President George H.W. Bush hinted at what most people suspected all along – that his eldest son, President George W. Bush, and his wife, Laura, will be moving to Dallas after they vacate the White House.

No. 41 read a magazine piece he wrote for FYI on tips for ex-presidents. He prefaced it by telling the Dallas audience, "Some of you might find yourself living next door to a president of the United States. If that happens, just be kinder and gentler to them."

Bush taps Chicago judge

President Bush on Thursday nominated Mark Filip, a federal judge in Chicago, to the No. 2 position in the U.S. Justice Department.

Filip, a Park Ridge native, will trade his lifetime appointment to the federal bench for a chance to serve out the remainder of Bush's term.

Though only 41, the Harvard Law School graduate has a reputation as a whiz kid. Heads turned when Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, for whom Filip clerked, appeared in Chicago to swear Filip in when he was named to the bench.

Though only 5-foot-5 and 150 pounds as a student at Maine South High School, Filip was captain of the varsity football team, for which he played defensive back, according to a profile in Chicago Lawyer magazine. Filip went to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on a lacrosse scholarship.

After that, he went to Oxford University in London, then on to Harvard.

He worked as a federal prosecutor in Chicago and then went to the Chicago branch of the prestigious Skadden, Arps law firm.

Popular with lawyers

Filip had interviewed with former U.S. Sen. Peter Fitzgerald for the U.S. attorney's job that ultimately went to Patrick Fitzgerald. But the senator asked if he would be interested in a judgeship instead.

He impressed lawyers with his performance on the bench. In a survey last year of lawyers who practice at Chicago's federal court, Filip tied for first place with former Chief Judge Charles Kocoras for the judge lawyers most want to appear before.

If Filip is confirmed as deputy attorney general, two former federal jurists will hold the two top Justice Department jobs: Newly confirmed Attorney General Michael Mukasey is a retired district judge from Manhattan.

Filip's nomination was one of five the White House announced.

Bush Blasts Senate's Judicial Review

Excerpt:

In a blistering rebuke, President Bush on Thursday said the Senate's confirmation review of his judicial nominees has too often become a "search and destroy" mission that ruins a person's reputation.

"Senate confirmation is part of the Constitution's system of checks and balances. But it was never intended to be a license to ruin the good name that a nominee has worked a lifetime to build," Bush said in excerpts of a speech he was to deliver Thursday night to The Federalist Society, a conservative group that emphasizes legal matters.

"Today, good men and women nominated to the federal bench are finding that inside the Beltway, too many interpret `advise and consent' to mean `search and destroy,' " Bush said.

Bush said the confirmation process does more than unfairly tarnish good people; it also dissuades qualified nominees from even being considered.

"Lawyers approached about being nominated will politely decline because of the ugliness, uncertainty and delay that now characterize the confirmation process," Bush said. "When people like this decline to be nominated, they miss out on a job. But America is deprived of something far more important: the service of a fair and impartial judge."

When asked to whom Bush was referring with his "search and destroy" line, White House press secretary Dana Perino said, "Just look to some of the confirmation hearings on Capitol Hill — and third party groups that help them."

Also speaking at The Federalist Society meeting, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas joined in the criticism of the confirmation process. His nomination was nearly derailed by a Democratic-controlled Senate in 1991.

*snip*

While urging separation of powers, Bush also used his speech to suggest how the Senate should do its work.

"The Senate is no longer asking the right question — whether a nominee is someone who will uphold our Constitution and laws," Bush said. "Instead, nominees are asked to guarantee specific outcomes of cases that might come before the court. If they refuse — as they should — they often find their nomination ends up in limbo instead of on the Senate floor."

It’s news that involves Pres. Bush, but my fingers are curling as I type this one. @#%&*#

~~~~

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2007/11/bush_invites_gore_to_white_hou.html

It should be interesting inside the White House on Monday, Nov. 26, when the contestants in the close-as-can-be 2000 presidential election come face to face.

The White House announced today that President Bush will host and congratulate Nobel Prize winners from the U.S. on that date.

No doubt that Bush is looking forward to meeting Leonid Hurwicz, Eric S. Maskin and Roger B. Myerson, who won the 2007 prize for economics. Two of the three medicine prize winners are also U.S. citizens.

But an inconvenient truth is that most of the public’s attention will be paid to Al Gore, the former vice president who shared the Peace Prize with a group of scientists working under the auspices of the United Nations for research into global climate change.

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