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The view from Hartford

Editor's note: Chip is airborne now from Hartford to D.C. He'll blog again when he lands.

I got lucky today, but a lot of passengers didn't.

Returning from Hartford, Conn., where I've been covering the Lieberman-Lamont primary, the security lines in the smaller terminal that United flies out of were no different than on a normal day. Not so in the main terminal that services Southwest and a few other airlines. Somewhere between 500-800 bedraggled passengers trudged through a security line three or four deep and longer than a football field.

Having said that, though, the level of cooperation was amazing. Many planned ahead, putting toiletries in checked bags, or willingly deposited them in bins for disposal. It seems like people have been through this drill before -- this is just a new variation.

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FEMA waste & abuse

What do 2,000 pairs of dog booties ($68,442) and a 63-inch plasma TV ($7,790) have in common? They were bought by FEMA employees with their government-issued credit cards. And they were never used. 

Just two examples from a long list of questionable -- in some cases bizarre -- spending uncovered in a new report by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress. It's the kind of story that normally would be a slam-dunk to make it into NBC Nightly News. But with so much news coming out of the Middle East, there just isn't room right now.

So we'll digest the report, do what we can to advance the story, and quiz FEMA and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, on what they're doing about it. And we'll be ready to do the full story -- when time permits.

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Why the immigration collapse?

Senators from both parties say that if the tentative immigration compromise that was hailed yesterday as a "huge breakthrough" came to a vote, it would pass with 65 to 70 votes. So, why did the whole deal so spectacularly fall apart today?

As is always the case, it depends on who you ask.

Ask Democrats, and they'll tell you the problem is that Republicans are so badly split on the issue. A group of determined Republican opponents offered up dozens of "poison pill" amendments, Democrats say, intended to either kill the bill outright, or drag it out long enough that they couldn't get it done before leaving for the two-week Easter/Passover recess.

Ask Republicans, and they'll tell you Democrats killed the bill. They argue that Democratic Leader Harry Reid, Nev., blocked consideration of all those Republican amendments because he WANTED to kill the bill. Why? His Republican critics say it's pure politics -- that by killing the Senate compromise, the "official" Republican position becomes the House bill. That bill cracks down on illegal immigration, turns illegal immigrants into felons and turns legions of Hispanics into Democrats (undoing all the work of President Bush and Karl Rove  to bring Hispanics into the Republican party).

Not everyone is playing the blame game. Senators John McCain, R-Ariz., and Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., the chief architects of the Senate bill, say they're determined to keep trying -- after the two-week recess, of course. But some senators say it will be months before they can return to the issue, and the closer it gets to election day the tougher it gets.

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How in debt is the U.S.?

The Senate has voted to increase the nation's debt limit by $871 billion, swelling it to just under $9 trillion -- that's $9,000,000,000,000. About $30,000 for every man, woman and child in the nation.

What's that mean? What is a debt limit? Well, it means that over the years the government has taken in $9 trillion less than it spent. And there's a federal law that says the debt can only be so much -- so as deficits mount, Congress periodically (four times in the past five years) has to vote to raise the debt ceiling.

To whom do we owe this debt? A huge portion of it is owed to foreign governments. According to the Senate Finance Committee, 96% of last year's debt was purchased (in the form of treasury bonds) by foreign countries.  One of the leaders is China.  And that has a lot of people on Capitol Hill worried.

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Dubai backs out

Sen. John Warner, R-Va., just announced on the Senate floor that Dubai Ports World is backing out of the deal to operate six major U.S. ports.  More to come... click here for the story as it develops.

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Port politics in the Senate

The Senate will hold a procedural vote on the ports deal today at 2 p.m. ET. Yesterday, while the Senate was debating the lobbying reform bill, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., launched a political sneak attack, offering an amendment to kill the ports deal. The Senate has been gridlocked ever since -- Republicans refusing to allow a vote on the amendment (because they know they'll lose) and Schumer refusing to withdraw it.

The procedural vote is an effort by Republican Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., to keep Schumer from getting a vote on his amendment. For fear of putting you, the reader, to sleep I will not explain why, but for Frist to win he has to get 67 votes -- which is probably insurmountable on this hot-button issue.

If Frist loses, as is likely, he'll probably pull the lobbying bill from the floor, and there will then commence a cat-and-mouse game in the coming days as Schumer and company try to attach their amendment to any bill that comes down the pike.

Editor's note: For the latest on the vote, click here.

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SO MANY STORIES...

This is the busiest day we've had on Capitol Hill in a long time.  The House is electing a new Majority Leader to replace Tom DeLay; intel czar John Negroponte is testifying about al Qaeda's efforts to target America; the Senate is debating a tax cut bill; the Governors of Louisiana and Mississippi are testifying on hurricane Katrina; and there's a hearing on the chaotic roll-out of the Medicare prescription drug program -- in effect now for just over a month. 

I can't cover all those stories, so the way it works is that Nightly News decides early in the day which story they want me to focus on.  And the winner is...

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Democrats eager to blast Bush

In Brian's post today he talked about the White House State of the Union briefing, and mentioned that Democrats held one of their own today. I attended that briefing -- and make no mistake about it: the Democratic leaders in Congress don't like ANYTHING about this President. They've relentlessly pounded him all week, in advance of his big speech tonight -- they call it the "pre-buttal."

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid and House Leader Nancy Pelosi didn't let up at all today, painting a picture of a Republican Party, led by President Bush, completely mired in cronyism and corruption (the Abramoff scandal), a party that answers only to corporate lobbyists and favors policies that benefit only the super-rich. Not only that, Democrats argue, but Republicans are solely responsible for the bitter, partisan tone of Washington debate.

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Sgt. Dana & Rex

I don't know if I've ever received as many e-mails from viewers as I did about a story I did in early December, on Air Force Tech Sergeant Jamie Dana and her bomb-sniffing dog, Rex (link).  Many of the e-mailers were deeply affected by the story, and everyone wanted to be kept informed about Sgt. Dana and Rex.

Here's the background: They were on a mission in Iraq last summer when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb. Rex suffered only minor injuries but Sgt. Dana almost died. A doctor who treated her told me her pulse stopped twice, she had major internal injuries, and lost a huge amount of blood. When she regained consciousness in the hospital, her first question was whether Rex had survived.

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Senate filibuster?

Editor's note: I wrote the original headline "Senate Shenanigans" on this post and have changed it in response to a couple comments. The lack of objectivity was mine, not Chip's. My apologies.

A late development on the Alito nomination Thursday in the Senate. The two Massachusetts Senators -- Kennedy and Kerry -- have decided to "filibuster" the nomination.  Now that doesn't mean they can block it, because they don't appear to have the votes.  But it does mean the Republicans will have to work a little harder to get him confirmed.  So why are Kennedy/Kerry doing it?  They say it's a matter of principle, not to mention the fact that they'll get more media attention.

So here's what you can expect to happen Monday and Tuesday, as laid out by the Senate Rules (a tome, by the way, that's only slightly thinner than a dictionary).  What's known as a "cloture vote" will occur Monday morning. Under the rules, Republicans will need 60 votes to "invoke cloture" or bring an end to debate, forcing a final up or down vote on Alito. Republicans are expected to exceed that -- all 55 Republicans will vote to end debate, joined by at least half a dozen Democrats who've said they will not filibuster Alito. My guess is other Democrats, even some who oppose Alito, will not support a filibuster.  Yes, they oppose him -- but not that much.

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