Daily Briefing: Negative Thinking

• Viveca Novak's testimony is said to be central toKarl Rove's defense. Source: "This is what caused [Patrick Fitzgerald] to hold off on charging." [ WP ]

•Interest groups and individuals are increasingly "concluding that the commingling of money and politics has gone too far"; lobbyists and lawmakers are "now facing what could be a wave of prosecutions in the courts and an uprising at the ballot box." For the first time, the "public's negative feelings exceeded its positive feelings about both political parties at the same time." [ WP ]

•Rep.Randy Cunningham(R-Calif.) resigns after pleading guilty for accepting $2.4m in bribes: "In my life, I have known great joy and great sorrow. And now I know great shame." [ WP , NYT , WSJ , LAT , USAT ]

• Bushpromotes his guest-worker program and advocates border security measures: "The American people should not have to choose between being a welcoming society and a lawful society. We can have both at the same time." Proposals face uphill battle in Congress. [ WP , NYT , WSJ , WT , NYT , USAT ]

• Cheney's office has not been forthcoming with disclosure of travel expenses. Center for Public Integrity: "[T]he public is kept largely unaware of where he and his staff are traveling, with whom they are meeting and how much it costs, even though tax dollars are covering the bill." [ WP ]

•Administration moves to hype the advances of the Iraqi Army, "a move designed to shore up domestic support for the Iraq war while setting the stage for a reduction in U.S. military troops next year." [ WSJ ]

• Alitosupported expansion of law enforcement powers as attorney in theReaganJustice Department. [ NYT , LAT ]

•Parental notification case reopens abortion issue for Supreme Court justices. [ NYT ]

• Riceplans on returning to Stanford in '08. [ USAT ]

•Closet session of the Senate was hardly unprecedented. [ WP ]