Daily Briefing: Fifty Different Levels
• Bushto provide details about Social Security plan in State of the Union;Snoweexpresses misgivings. [ WP , NYT , USAT ]
• McCainsays Senate Armed Services Committee will hold hearings about Pentagon's intelligence operations overseas; "turf battle" between CIA. [ WP , NYT , USAT ]
• Bushagenda puts party in vulnerable spot: "The calendar alone tells you this conservative cycle is long in the tooth. Add to that the divisions, or latent divisions, that exist with your own coalition. OnceBushis removed from the scene, and once he becomes in effect a lame duck, all those tensions are there." [ NYT ]
•Ego and ambitions of Republican leaders often outweighBush's agenda;Frist, Hastert, DeLay, Thomashave self-interests in mind, notBush's legacy. [ LAT ]
•Don't putCheneyon the couch, saysMatalin: "He has the same sense of humor thatImushas. He thinksImusis funny... It's not really strategic or complicated. Not everything we do has to work on 50 different levels." [ NYT ]
•Most thought highly of inaugural address but believe "ending tyranny" is impossible, according to CNN/USAT/Gallup poll. [ WT ]
•Administration leans onClinton, Moynihanto assert Social Security "crisis."Sperling: "Clintonnever suggested that the Social Security solvency challenge required radical restructuring." [ WP ]
•New head of FCC faces industry, government at crossroads. [ WSJ , NYT ]
•Pro-life demonstration set for today. [ WT ]