Bush on Obama: 'This guy has no clue'
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/09/15/art.getty.bush.obama.oval.o.jpg caption="Bush on Obama: 'This guy has no clue'."]
WASHINGTON (CNN) – Former President George W. Bush "seemed to feel considerable unease" with John McCain as the Republican presidential nominee, according to ex-speechwriter Matt Latimer in his tell-all memoir on his days in the White House.
In Latimer's new book, "Speech-less: Tales of a White House Survivor," set to hit bookstores on September 22, he reveals Bush's reactions to the economic collapse, the presidential campaign, and other memorable events. GQ published an excerpt from the memoir in its October issue.
Latimer said Bush liked Mitt Romney best and that he was "clearly not impressed with the McCain operation." Latimer said the former president wanted to appear with McCain at a campaign event in Phoenix, but after he was told the then-Republican nominee couldn't get enough people to show up, he called it a "cruel hoax."
"'He couldn't get 500 people? I could get that many people to turn out in Crawford.' He shook his head. 'This is a five-spiral crash, boys.'"
Bush presumed Hillary Clinton would be the Democratic nominee, according to Latimer, and was extremely critical of Barack Obama. Latimer said Bush was "ticked off" after one of Obama's speeches and he said the future president wasn't "remotely qualified" for the challenges of the job.
President Obama to appear on Sunday talk shows
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/09/15/art.getty.john.king.jpg caption="The president's interview with CNN will appear on State of the Union with John King at 9 am ET this Sunday."]
WASHINGTON (CNN) - A senior administration official confirms that President Barack Obama will appear on five Sunday morning talk shows this weekend. The president will sit down with CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, and Univision. The official said Obama will not be appearing on FOX.
The president's interview with CNN will appear on State of the Union with John King at 9 am ET this Sunday.
Resolution criticizing Wilson passes, on mostly partisan vote
WASHINGTON (CNN) - The House of Representatives on Tuesday formally admonished Republican Rep. Joe Wilson for shouting "you lie" during President Barack Obama's speech to a joint session of Congress last week.
The House passed a resolution of disapproval on a 240-179 vote that was mostly along party lines, reflecting the Democratic majority in the chamber.
Five representatives voted "present."
According to the Office of the House Historian, it was the first time in its 220-year history that the House has disciplined a member for speaking out during a presidential speech in the chamber to a joint session of Congress.
During debate on the resolution, Wilson called the measure a waste of time and failed to offer an apology to the chamber as demanded by House Democrats.
Republicans warn of rationing for disabled children
WASHINGTON (CNN) - Surrounded by a group of parents clutching pictures of their special needs children, two Republican members of Congress stood in front of the Capitol on Tuesday and warned that President Obama's proposed health care system will lead to a rationing of care for children with disabilities.
GOP Reps. Trent Franks of Arizona and Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington said at a news conference that government-run health care systems, wherever they exist in the world, inevitably force health providers to refuse care to people with chonically-ill family members in order to reduce costs. Both members of Congress said the issue hits close to home: McMorris-Rodgers has a son with Down Syndrome, and Franks was born with a cleft palate.
"Whenever there is pressure on government to cut costs, and that is ostensibly the purpose here, the reality is a lot of times the doctors take their hands off the situation," Franks said. He also predicted that the president's health care legislation will lead to "the largest expansion of abortion since Roe vs. Wade."
The two Republicans then heard from nearly a dozen parents who claimed that their disabled children would be discriminated against under the Democratic plan. Several pointed out that the President's health care adviser Ezekiel Emanuel - brother of White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and a frequent target of the presidential plan's critics - has written articles in the past in support of rationing care. Emanuel has since said his thinking has changed on the matter.
I may be hurt, Tom DeLay tweets
Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and his dancing partner, Cheryl Burke, practice for his debut on this season of Dancing With The Stars, debuting next week on ABC. (PHOTO CREDIT: ABC)
(CNN) - Tom DeLay may have left the political spotlight - but he says a broken bone or two isn't enough to force him to cede the real thing.
"Old age is catching up to me, may have a stress fracture in my foot," the former House Majority Leader, a contestant on this season of ABC's Dancing With the Stars, wrote on Twitter Tuesday. "no worries, it'll take more than that to keep me off the dance floor!"
The show's new season is slated to debut next week.
Update 5:56 p.m.: DeLay has informed his Twitter followers that his condition is "a pre-stress fracture. I live for another day."
Gang of Six Republicans say no to Baucus bill - for now
WASHINGTON (CNN) - CNN has learned that – barring some unforeseen change - Democratic Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus will unveil a health care proposal Wednesday without the support of the three Republican senators - Charles Grassley, Mike Enzi and Olympia Snowe - he's been negotiating with for months.
Senate Republican sources close to Grassley and Enzi - and in the case of Olympia Snowe, the senator herself - tell CNN they still have concerns that have not been addressed that range from taxpayer funding of abortion, to illegal immigration, to affordability of the health coverage this new law would require.
GOP sources to all these senators emphasize and insist that they aren't walking away yet - they will keep talking, keep negotiating and next week when votes start in the Finance committee they will offer amendments to address their concerns.
But Wednesday, when the Senate Finance Chairman unveils his bill, all indications are he will be doing it without the support of Republicans he has spent hundreds of hours negotiating with.
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First on the Ticker: Bush, Palin aide disputes book claims
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/09/15/art.spalin.0915.gi.jpg caption="Bush reportedly said Palin was unprepared for the national stage."]WASHINGTON (CNN) - A former aide to George W. Bush and Sarah Palin is dismissing a claim by onetime Bush speechwriter Matt Latimer that the former president was clueless about Palin when she was tapped as John McCain's running mate last August.
Latimer writes in a new book - scheduled for release in October - that Bush wasn't even aware of Palin when she was picked.
"'What is she, the governor of Guam?'" Bush reportedly asked. Latimer also writes that Bush told aides that the then-Alaska governor was "not even remotely prepared" for the national stage.
But Jason Recher, who served as special assistant to President Bush and as a traveling aide to Palin during the campaign, said the former President was well aware of Palin - especially since the two met in person in Alaska just three weeks before Palin was added to the Republican ticket.
During a stopover in Fairbanks on the way to the Beijing Olympics last August, Recher said Bush met with Palin and even made a knowing reference to her rising reputation in the Republican Party.
"The president was fully aware of who Sarah Palin was," Recher told CNN. "Even so much that when he greeted the governor and Todd in Fairbanks during a re-fueling stop on the way to the Beijing Olympics, he threw open his arms and said "Madam Vice President!'"
Boehner: Wilson resolution a 'diversion'
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/09/15/art.boehner.gi.jpg caption="Boehner: Wilson resolution a 'diversion'."]
WASHINGTON (CNN) - House Minority Leader John Boehner told CNN a resolution of disapproval against South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson is a "diversion" to help Democrats avoid talking about health care.
Many Democrats have attacked Wilson for yelling "you lie" during President Obama's address to Congress last week, and the House is expected to vote on a resolution Tuesday disapproving of the Republican lawmaker's conduct on Tuesday afternoon. Boehner called Wilson, who has since apologized, a "good man" and said that he was "thankful that the president accepted his apology."
"This tactic on the floor today is nothing more than a diversion so that they don't have to talk about their government run health care plan," Boehner told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "I just think we ought to be talking about what the American people sent us here to do, and that's to solve the issues they're concerned about."
House deeply divided over proposed rebuke of Obama heckler
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/POLITICS/09/15/wilson.resolution/art.wilson2.gi.jpg caption="Rep. Joe Wilson, R-South Carolina, shouts 'You lie!' during President Obama's recent address to Congress."]
WASHINGTON (CNN) - House Democrats said Tuesday they will formally admonish Rep. Joe Wilson for yelling out in Congress that President Barack Obama lied, calling it a serious violation of the chamber's rules that must be rebuked to maintain civil discourse.
Republicans, meanwhile, rallied around Wilson, with many saying a planned resolution disapproving of Wilson's heckle is a petty partisan distraction from more serious issues.
The shout of "you lie" by Wilson during Obama's health-care speech to a joint session of Congress has become a major story on its own, with the House scheduled to vote later Tuesday on a resolution expressing disapproval. It is the mildest form of discipline the House can exercise for misconduct on the House floor.
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