FEBRUARY SEES UNEXPECTED NATIONAL JOB LOSS OF 63,000:
This morning the Labor Department announced that the United States had lost 63,000 jobs in February, "the biggest drop since March 2003" and a follow-up to January's 22,000-job loss. Though the jobless rate fell slightly to 4.8 percent, it "reflect[ed] a shrinking labor force as some people gave up looking for work." "We're in a recession. I don't think there is any doubt about it at this point," said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at Global Insight Inc. The news followed reports yesterday that U.S. home foreclosures rose to record highs in the forth quarter, and that homeowner equity reached its lowest point since 1945. Currently, 50 percent of Americans are worried about maintaining their standard of living. Paul Krugman commented that "it's a very good guess that we will eventually be told that the second recession of the Bush administration began in December 2007 or January 2008."
NATIONAL SECURITY -- CANADA REJECTS EVIDENCE CIA OBTAINED THROUGH WATERBOARDING: The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) "quietly withdrew statements by alleged Al Qaeda leader Abu Zubaydah from public papers outlining the case against two alleged terror 'sleeper' operatives in Ottawa and Montreal" because the information gleaned from Zubaydah was a result of him being waterboarded. Newsweek reports that a dossier filed for one of the suspects once referred to information gathered by the CIA from Zubaydah linking the suspect to al Qaeda operations. However, a revised version of the dossier omits the CIA evidence and instead relies on public documents to make the link -- "the latest sign of potential international fallout from the CIA's recent confirmation that it waterboarded a handful of high-profile Al Qaeda suspects in 2002 and 2003." A CSIS spokesman said the spy agency's director "has stated publicly that torture is morally repugnant and not particularly reliable. CSIS does not knowingly use information which has been obtained through torture."
IRAQ -- PERINO: 'DON'T KNOW' IF WHITE HOUSE WILL SEEK CONGRESS' APPROVAL FOR PERMANENT OCCUPATION: Earlier this week, State Dept. Coordinator for Iraq David Satterfield refused to say whether it was "a constitutional requirement" for the administration to "consult with Congress" on a long-term agreement with Iraq. Yesterday morning on Fox News, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino echoed Satterfield, saying that "we don't know" whether Congress has any constitutional role in authorizing such treating. In reality, the administration does know it will bypass Congress. In a follow-up letter to Satterfield's testimony obtained by The Progress Report, Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Bergner said the President does have "constitutional authority" to "continue combat operations" in Iraq without Congress's authorization. As justification, Bergner cited the 2002 authorization of force against Saddam Hussein and the resolution passed after 9/11. In defending the executive agreement, Perino cited "the long-term relationship we have with countries Japan and Germany and South Korea." Of course, these "strategic framework agreements" were approved by Congress first, as Oona Hathway of Yale Law School noted.
A new National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq is scheduled to be completed this month. But intelligence officials "have not decided whether to make its key judgments public" and "lean toward a return to the traditional practice of keeping such documents secret."
"A House committee will question three Wall Street executives later today over compensation awards reaching hundreds of millions of dollars while shareholders bear the brunt of billions in writedowns from subprime mortgages."
Alleging that the White House "made apparently false and misleading statements in court about the White House e-mail controversy," CREW asked a federal judge yesterday "to demand an explanation" about "testimony at a congressional hearing last week" that is inconsistent with "what the White House told a federal court in January."
In a new book, former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias says that a former protege of President Bush told him that he was fired for political reasons. "Iglesias recalls Texas U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton telling him shortly after he was ousted. 'If I were you, I'd just go quietly.'"
Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) recently introduced an earmark moratorium bill, but House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-WI) says Kingston "privately told him he was in favor of earmarks." "You know, David, I am really for earmarks," Obey said Kingston told him. Kingston confirmed the conversation.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) signaled yesterday "that she is ready to fall back on the strategy of 'ping-ponging' alternatives" on the FISA bill between the House and the Senate. The two chambers have been unable to reach consensus on immunity for telecommunications companies.
U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker "plans to leave Baghdad as early as January," and retire from the foreign service, “not long after the top military commander, Gen. David H. Petraeus, is expected to rotate out of Iraq."
And finally: On his recent visit to the White House, John McCain ditched an opportunity to enjoy fine gourmet and instead ate a hot dog. "[President Bush] said he was having a hot dog, so I had a hot dog," McCain said. The LA Times explains that a typical day for McCain "includes doughnuts in the morning, followed by an afternoon Coke-and-candy-bar snack."
The Senate voted overwhelmingly Thursday to beef up the Consumer Products Safety Commission, which "oversees the safety of consumer products after a spate of recalls involving imported products."
CALIFORNIA: State senator sponsors "package of bills intended to address California's most pressing firefighting and wildfire-protection needs."
ALABAMA: Birmingham approves "a $3.5 million plan to provide schoolchildren with 15,000 computers produced by the non-profit One Laptop Per Child Foundation."
THINK PROGRESS: White House Press Secretary Dana Perino attacks Congress on wiretapping using a factually inaccurate slide.
ON THE PLANE: Reporters are no longer interested in traveling with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
SWAMPLAND: Viktor Bout, the notorious arms trafficker arrested yesterday, had received U.S. taxpayer money for logistics in Iraq.
"We don't know if this is going to result in something that Congress will need to approve or not."
-- White House Press Secretary Dana Perino, 3/6/08, on a long term Iraq agreement
VERSUS
DELAHUNT: It's the position of this Administration that they do not need to come before Congress to receive authorization?
SATTERFIELD: That's correct.
-- Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-MA) to Amb. David Satterfield, 3/4/08
www.americanprogressaction.org
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