Washington News

Obama Defends Energy Policy, Announces Plans To Expedite Keystone Southern Leg President Obama offered what most reports call a strong defense of his energy policy Thursday as he continued a four-state tour. While the President began the trip in New Mexico and Nevada, and ended it in Ohio -- three swing states that he won in 2008 -- most of the coverage deals with his brief stop in heavily Republican Oklahoma, which is not expected to be competitive this fall. The President's announcement that he will expedite the southern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline, and his assertion that the US is keeping up domestic oil production under his Administration, get the most attention. Much of the focus is on charges that the President actually doesn't have a lot of say on the construction of the southern portion of the pipeline, despite Obama's focus on it.
Just one broadcast network covered the story. The CBS Evening News reported, "With gas prices rising, President Obama has been defending his energy policy. Today, he focused on a hot-button issue: the Keystone pipeline. The President refused to fast track the entire project that would bring more oil down from Canada, but today, he did back a smaller section from Oklahoma to Texas." CBS (O'Donnell) added, "While the President threw his support behind a portion of the pipeline, he failed to mention a critical point: These pipes will be used to build the 485-mile southern portion of the pipeline. ... This part of the pipeline never required presidential approval." House Speaker Boehner: "So the President can take credit for having nothing to do with the bottom half of this pipeline, and the fact is, there's only one permit that requires his approval because it crosses our national boundaries."
Fox News Special Report reported Obama "came here to the heart of Oklahoma oil country to declare he's in favor of a tiny leg of the pipeline from the small town of Cushing to the Gulf of Mexico to relieve a glut of oil that keeps gasoline prices in this region low but high elsewhere. ... Republicans fired back the President is hyping his role in relieving the bottleneck supply, because construction on this portion of the pipeline is expected to start in June with or without him."
On CNN's John King USA, guest anchor Candy Crowley asked, "Republicans say the President really can't legitimately claim credit for this. Can he?" White House correspondent Brianna Keilar: "No, Candy, he really can't. And the company today, TransCanada, saying really on the federal level, all they have are some minor details to work out with the Army Corps of Engineers. It is not really something that requires presidential intervention."
The AP reports the President "firmly defended his record on oil drilling Thursday, ordering the government to fast-track an Oklahoma pipeline while accusing Congress of playing politics with a larger Canada-to-Gulf Coast project. Deep in Republican oil country, Obama said lawmakers refused to give his administration enough time" to review the pipeline.
Bloomberg News says the President "vowed his administration will support domestic oil production while saying that won't be enough to bring gasoline prices down. ... The president stood in front of pipes that will ease the bottleneck of oil stored in Cushing and said he's streamlining the federal permit process for critical infrastructure." But his "action won't shorten the timeline for the project, as construction is slated to start as soon as June." Republicans "said the president's announcement was meaningless." Still, the Wall Street Journal says the Administration says an executive order on new permitting rules will reduce wait times.
The Oklahoman reports the President "touted his administration's 'all-of-the-above' energy strategy" in Cushing. The President "said producing more domestic oil and gas 'has been and will continue to be a critical part of the all-of-the-above' strategy." Obama said, "We are drilling all over the place right now. ... The problem is we're producing so much but we don't have enough pipeline capacity." AFP says the President "was keen to thwart attacks from Republican foes who portray the president as advocating policies that will kill American jobs this election year."
Obama Misstates US Oil Production Statistic. The Daily Caller observes that, "speaking off-the-cuff" during the speech, the President "mistakenly said that 'we only produce 2 percent of the world's oil.' According to the federal government's energy administration, the United States produces 10 percent of the world's production, making it the third-largest oil producing nation."
Obama Talks Energy Before Mostly Friendly Ohio State Crowd The AP reports the President traveled on to Ohio State University Thursday afternoon, where he said "his administration has shown a commitment to drilling for oil all over the nation."
The Columbus (OH) Dispatch reports the President "met and spoke with students working on a lightweight Formula racing car, an electric motorcycle, an entry into a national EcoCar competition, and the Buckeye Bullet 2, which holds a world record of 308 mph for an electric car."
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports, "During a late afternoon speech" at Ohio State, the President "touted what he has dubbed an 'all of the above' strategy and cast his Republican opponents as having one-track minds focused on drilling." The President "told a student-heavy crowd" of about 2,600, "We've added enough oil and gas pipeline to circle the entire Earth -- and then some. So the problem is not that we're not drilling or that we're not producing more oil." ABC News says the President put on "a rousing campaign-style speech in the battleground state of Ohio."

Senate Approves JOBS Act The Senate on Thursday voted 73-26 to approve the Jump-Start Our Business Start-Ups, or JOBS Act. The New York Times reports that the measure "would designate a new category of 'emerging growth' companies that could conduct initial public offerings of stock while being exempt from certain financial disclosure and governance requirements for up to five years." The Senate made several amendments to the bill which passed the House two weeks ago and House leaders expect "to take up the amended bill next week and hoped to send it quickly to President Obama, who has said he will sign it."
The Wall Street Journal reports that because both parties want to show they are making efforts to create jobs, the bill enjoys support from both the White House and House Republicans.
Likewise, the Los Angeles Times reports that Republicans and Democrats "want to show voters they are working to improve the nation's unemployment rate, with the GOP particularly characterizing the Jumpstart Our Business Start-ups, or JOBS, Act, as legislation that would help smaller companies expand and create jobs." The Times adds that House leaders "expect swift passage, sending it to the White House next week as a rare bipartisan victory."

Senate Sends Insider Trading Bill To President's Desk National press outlets covered the Senate's approval of the STOCK Act bill banning insider trading by members of Congress. Stories highlighted the rare bipartisan support for the bill, framing it as a chance for members of to polish their tarnished public image amid record-low popularity ratings for Congress. Outlets also describe the prolonged battle that preceded the passage, noting some members still vowing to pursue stronger provisions dropped from the final legislation.
The New York Times reports the bill was approved a wide margin reflecting "lawmakers desperate to regain public trust in an election year, when the public approval rating of Congress has sunk below 15 percent." President Obama "called for such legislation in his State of the Union address two months," and after political wrangling over what exactly would be included, the final version "makes clear that the insider trading ban in federal law applies to members of Congress and their aides and to officials in the executive and judicial branches of the federal government."
The Washington Post reports, "The STOCK Act -- which stands for Stop Trading On Congressional Knowledge -- is a scaled- back version of what was originally approved in the Senate, but will increase transparency into lawmakers' and other officials' finances."
The AP reports Obama commented, "It's a good first step" after the approval, adding "in the months ahead, Congress should do even more to help fight the destructive influence of money in politics and rebuild the trust between Washington and the American people."

Bales To Be Charged With 17 Counts Of Murder NBC Nightly News reported on the legal developments surrounding the Afghan massacre case implicating Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, who "will face 17 counts of murder and six counts of assault and attempted murder." The "17 counts of murder means the death toll in this case has been raised by one." The CBS Evening News said that "at least nine" of the now 17 dead were "children." Bales "is being held at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas," where he "is under 24-hour watch and has just had a chance to speak to his wife by phone."
The Washington Post cites an anonymous US official in reporting that "Bales, 38, will be formally charged Friday." Chargers of murder "indicate that Army prosecutors have concluded that the slayings were premeditated and that Bales was fully aware of his actions." However, the New York Times says that Bales' lawyer, John Henry Browne, continues to contend that his client "did not remember some events at the time of the attack." Browne is "not persuaded" by the facts, and has also said that Bales "definitely" has a "brain injury."

Campaign News

Offering Words Of Praise, DeMint All But Endorses Romney McClatchy reports that Sen. Jim DeMint, "among the nation's conservative leaders, stopped just short Thursday of endorsing Mitt Romney for president as" he "called on the former Massachusetts governor's foes to re-evaluate their campaigns. DeMint's appeal for Republicans to focus on defeating President Barack Obama came a day after former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, another influential conservative, endorsed Romney and urged party unity."
Politico reports that after meeting "privately with Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill" yesterday, Romney "came away with a big prize: something close to an endorsement from the Senate's most outspoken conservative." While he didn't mention either Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum "by name, DeMint said that 'the best thing they can do is maybe look at kind of throwing their support behind the one who might be our nominee. And that's beginning to look like Romney.'"
The Hill reports that Romney "reassured" DeMint "and other lawmakers of his conservative credentials during a meeting near the Capitol campus" yesterday as "part of the former Massachusetts governor's attempt to unify conservatives behind his candidacy."
Roll Call reports that DeMint said Romney "impressed him with his commitments to fiscal reform and to repealing President Barack Obama's healthcare law -- as well as the 'urgency' the Senator said Romney expressed in his discussions about the challenges facing the country." Roll Call adds that DeMint's "remarks couldn't have come at a better time for Romney," whose "campaign was still dealing with a media firestorm emanating from comments a top aide made Wednesday that compared the campaign process to playing with an Etch-A-Sketch toy."

Santorum Suggests Obama May Be Preferable To Romney The AP reports that Rick Santorum "on Thursday said Republicans should give President Barack Obama another term if Santorum isn't the GOP nominee." Arguing that Romney "is not conservative enough to offer voters a clear choice in the fall election and that only he can provide that contrast," Santorum said, "You win by giving people a choice. You win by giving people the opportunity to see a different vision for our country, not someone who's just going to be a little different than the person in there." And referencing the "Etch A Sketch" gaffe made by Romney's adviser Eric Fehrnstrom, Santorum "added, 'If they're going to be a little different, we might as well stay with what we have instead of taking a risk of what may be the Etch A Sketch candidate for the future.'"
The New York Times reports that Romney's "campaign wasted no time in trying to turn Mr. Santorum's words against him." Romney, in a statement, said, "I was disappointed to hear that Rick Santorum would rather have Barack Obama as president than a Republican. This election is more important than any one person. It is about the future of America. Any of the Republicans running would be better than President Obama and his record of failure." The Los Angeles Times also reports on the story.

Santorum Up 12 Points In Louisiana Primary A Rasmussen Reports survey of 750 likely Louisiana GOP primary voters taken March 21 shows Rick Santorum leading with 43%, followed by Mitt Romney with 31%, Newt Gingrich with 16% and Ron Paul with 5%. Louisiana will hold its primary on Saturday.