Daily Briefing: What 'Man-Handing' Means for America
•Bad numbers forBushand Republicans in newWP-ABC poll; public generally disagrees with proposed ban on filibusters, Social Security plan,Bush's handling of the economy and situation in Iraq. [ WP ]
• Reidproposes concessions to avert ban on filibusters: "There is a way to avoid the nuclear shutdown, and I'm working with my colleagues to put that plan in place." [ WP , NYT , LAT ]
•Senate Finance Committee to debate Social Security overhaul this week; private accounts not set in stone.Grassley: "I'd rather bring something up in the committee and fail than tell my grandchildren I wasn't concerned at all about their Social Security benefits." [ WP , NYT ]
• Roveis "absolutely confident"Boltonwill be confirmed; saysDeLaywill keep his job. [ USAT ]
•Lawmakers scramble to check their travel records in wake ofDeLayscandal. [ WP , USAT ]
•Special interests and inertia prove more powerful than 9/11 Commission. [ WSJ ]
• Boltonreportedly "sought to push his public assertions [on Syria] beyond the views endorsed by intelligence agencies." [ NYT ]
• Bush, Prince Abdullahtalk oil;Bush: "One thing is for certain: I need to sign an energy bill."James Zogby: "The fact thatPresident Bushconfidently took the crown prince's hand and held it all the way into the office said to Americans, 'This is my friend and I am going to walk with him.'" [ WSJ , WP , NYT , WT , USAT , USAT ]
•Recently-approved federal appellate court judge says faithful are waging "war" on secular people who threaten America's religious foundation.Justice Janice Rogers Brown: "There seems to have been no time since the Civil War that this country was so bitterly divided. It's not a shooting war, but it is a war." [ LAT ]
•Moderate Republicans expand distance fromBush.Wittmann: "Now that he's no longer going to be on the ballot, they are putting their own interest somewhat before the White House's." [ LAT ]
•Republicans concernedSpecterwill vote with Democrats on filibuster ban. [ WT ]
• BushinvitesDeLayon AF1 trip back to Washington. [ WT ]
•Trouble withBoltonillustrates "long-standing tensions among Republicans over the thrust of U.S. foreign policy." [ WP , WT ]
•Conservatives angeredFristdoesn't supportDeLay's prescription for "retaliation" against judges. [ WT ]
•Ambassador underBush-41saysBoltonhas "no diplomatic bone in his body" and is "unworthy." [ LAT ]