Today on ABCNews.com’s “Top Line,” Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., a senior member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said that pay czar Kenneth Feinberg should turn down the company’s request for his blessing, to send a “blunt message” that bonuses are not acceptable until companies return bailout funds to taxpayers.

While AIG could go ahead with the bonuses without Feinberg’s approval, AIG is looking for “political cover” that the Obama administration shouldn’t provide, Cummings said.

“The president and certainly . . . [Treasury] Secretary [Tim] Geithner have said any pay raises or any bonuses should be tied to performance and should not lend themselves to riskier types of transactions. Clearly, there has been nothing so far that’s shown that AIG has performed very well,” Cummings told us.

“ We really don’t know what the status is with regard to AIG. One thing we do know: They haven’t paid any of the $180 billion dollars that they owe the American people. Why should they be getting bonuses when millions of Americans are out of work?”

Cummings today sent a letter to Feinberg, the “special master” for TARP Executive Compensation, asking him to turn down AIG’s request to pay additional bonuses “to reiterate the views of President Obama and the American people.”

Cummings acknowledged that Congress is essentially powerless to halt the payouts, despite calls from both Democrats and Republicans for tighter control over bonuses awarded to companies receiving TARP funding.

“I’ve been warning the Congress to try to do something,” Cummings said. “And now we appeal to Mr. Feinberg and I think he can send a very blunt message out: ‘Look guys, why don’t you get it together. At least pay the American people a dime of their $180 billion, and maybe people will feel better about you. But right now, from a political and from a public relations stand point just, just hold on.’ ”

Andrew Williams, a Treasury spokesman, said in a prepared statement that Feinberg will “help ensure that companies strike the right balance around their need to retain talent, reward performance, and protect the taxpayers' investment.  Obviously, we all have a shared interest in ensuring that those companies can return to profitability as soon as possible so that taxpayers can recoup their investment.”

Williams continued: “Companies will need to convince Mr. Feinberg that they have struck the right balance to discourage excessive risk taking and reward performance for their top executives. That process is just beginning now, and Mr. Feinberg has begun consulting with those firms about their compensation plans. We are not going to provide a running commentary on that process, but it's clear that Mr. Feinberg has broad authority to make sure that compensation at those firms strikes an appropriate balance.”

On a separate issue, Cummings told us that he supports President Obama’s efforts to counsel patience regarding the economy. Asked if there’s a need for a second stimulus, he said:

“Not yet; I think we need to let the first one work. Keep in mind only 10 percent of the money has been dispensed so far. And also, keep in mind that the jobs rate is the thing that lags behind even when the economy comes back. But I gotta tell you that we’ve gotta get more of this money out the door faster. There are a lot people suffering. You know, if you look at the African-American unemployment rate, it’s double what the national average, is and Hispanics is similar. So we’ve got to get this money out the door. “

Click HERE to see the full interview with Rep. Elijah Cummings.

Also today, we checked in on the latest in the Supreme Court confirmation hearings of Judge Sonia Sotomayor with ABC’s Jan Crawford Greenburg, who covers the Court for us. Among the buzz of the morning: What was Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., up to with his opening statement?

Click HERE to see the interview with Jan Crawford Greenburg.

ABC’s Matthew Jaffe contributed to this report.

A group of liberal activists is teaming up with a Latino organization to run Spanish-language radio ads targeting Republican lawmakers over GOP opposition to Judge Sonia Sotomayor.

The ad places Rush Limbaugh front and center in the debate over Sotomayor’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings. It quotes Limbaugh as calling Sotomayor a “bigot” and a “racist,” and refers to Limbaugh as one of the “Republican leaders” who are attacking the judge.

“It’s insulting to all Latinos and Americans,” the ad says in Spanish.

The ads -- organized by Presente.org and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee -- are running in eight heavily Latino congressional districts in Florida, according to organizers. The districts include four now held by Republicans, including top Democratic targets Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Fla., and Rep. John Mica, R-Fla.

The effort is part of a broader campaign by progressive groups to capitalize on the publicity over the Sotomayor confirmation hearings to solidify Democratic gains among Latino voters.

As ABC’s Viviana Hurtado is reporting, Latino organizations are organizing confirmation-hearing “fiestas” to celebrate the nomination -- and to serve as organizing hubs if community leaders perceive bias in the hearings that they choose to respond to. 

Not all strike zones are the same. Not everyone likes the same kinds of umpires. Most arguments are really about the next call.

And not all distractions are unwelcome interference.

Even before Judge Sonia Sotomayor sits down before the Senate Judiciary Committee for the first time Monday morning, the confirmation fight has come full circle: It’s gone from agenda-slower to agenda-saver (and can always go back).

While the national attention turns to the Supreme Court, President Obama’s agenda gets a breather from the spotlight.

The upshot? Discussions over health care get to progress outside the 24-hour news cycle, for at least a few 24-hour periods. The stimulus, the economy, torture policies, a new fight with the CIA -- it’s all background noise (or so the White House hopes) while confirmation hearings are underway.

Even the actual debate over confirmation isn’t quite what it seems: Both parties are looking beyond this fight for cues and signals about what this will all look like when there really is a confirmation battle in the era of Obama.

It begins with senators’ opening statements at 10 am ET Monday, with the cable networks taking it live. It will all be streaming live at ABCNews.com, too, and via a new Facebook application. 

Sotomayor will have Monday’s last word, and senators’ questioning begins Tuesday.

New York’s senators will introduce her to lead off the session. Sotomayor’s guests inside the hearing room will include her mother, brother, stepfather, sister-in-law, a niece and two nephews -- plus former FBI director Louis Freeh, Russell Laine of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, four fellow judges, and Reps. Nydia Velazquez and Jose Serrano, D-N.Y.

“Leading Republicans in the Senate signaled that they would emphasize questions about the judicial impartiality of Judge Sonia Sotomayor when her Supreme Court confirmation hearing begins on Monday, but senators from both parties seemed to accept that her nomination was unlikely to be derailed given the Democrats’ majority,” Ron Nixon reports in The New York Times. 

The teachable moment: “I am really flabbergasted by the depth and consistency of her philosophical critique of the ideal of impartial justice,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.

A fight that isn’t about this nomination as much as it might be about the next one: It’s “the start of a new era of judicial confirmations,” USA Today’s Joan Biskupic writes. “Senators in both parties will use her hearings not just to make points about their views of the law, but also to establish the tone for any future nominations by Obama.” 

Getting this out of the way: “I think she'll have an up-or-down vote,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. 

“Barring a poor performance at her confirmation hearing or a last-minute revelation shedding new light on her record, court watchers believe her confirmation is all but certain,” per ABC’s Ariane DeVogue and Jan Crawford Greenburg. 

Sapping any drama? “One surprise may come late in the day, when, according to sources, several Republican senators could announce their support for Sotomayor's nomination, effectively sealing her appointment to the court and making the only question how many votes she will receive,” Michael D. Shear reports in The Washington Post. 

Expectations in an age of Democratic dominance: “Opponents of Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court suggested they would consider it a victory if more than half of the Senate's 40 Republicans voted against her in this week's confirmation hearing, as the GOP grapples with how aggressively to challenge the nominee,” Naftali Bendavid writes in The Wall Street Journal. “Many Republicans said they viewed 23 ‘no’ votes as a benchmark, because that would be one more than Chief Justice John Roberts received in 2005 and would reflect a significant protest vote.” 

Pictures of confidence: “The White House released a photo of a casually dressed Obama flashing a full-grill grin during a call to wish the Bronx-raised judge good luck, while top Democratic boosters predicted most senators will give her a thumbs up,” James Gordon Meek reports in the New York Daily News. 

The lessons we’ll learn: “The historic week-long exchange inside Room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building is only partly about the fate of Sotomayor's nomination, as both sides predict she will win confirmation easily,” the Post’s Shear writes. “The battle over President Obama's first court nominee is also likely to have broad and long-lasting political implications for the president and both political parties.” 

He continues: “Democrats are betting that an overly zealous assault on Sotomayor by Republican senators could anger Latinos and accelerate the shift of Hispanic voters away from the Republican Party, particularly in the South and West. Conservatives are hoping to use the Sotomayor hearings as a way to motivate their base if they can successfully portray her as an activist judge whose ‘empathy’ for certain groups guides her rulings more than court precedent or the written law.”

Playing for the next call: “Republicans on the Senate committee plan to portray her as apart from the mainstream on racial issues - a strategy intended to send a message to President Obama in deciding future nominations: Think twice before picking a liberal,” Joseph Williams reports in The Boston Globe. 

There’s the “wise Latina” comments, the Ricci case, plus: “They'll grill her on her interest in foreign law -- in their eyes an un-American curiosity that could pollute U.S. laws. And they will fret over her Second Amendment decisions and imply she might want to take away some folks' guns,” writes Time’s Jay Newton-Small. 

Making that argument: “Empathy-based rulings, no matter how well-intentioned, imperil the legal system that has been so essential to our liberties and so fundamental to our way of life,” Sen. Sessions writes in a Boston Herald op-ed. 

Latino groups are organizing “fiestas” across the country to watch the hearings -- and to be on the look-out for perceived slights. “Latinos will be watching Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearings ‘like hawks’ for evidence that senators on the Judiciary Committee are mistreating the Second Circuit Court of Appeals Judge, or are mischaracterizing her record, leaders of Latino political, professional and advocacy groups tell ABC News,” per ABC’s Viviana Hurtado. 

Pushback, at a star witness: “Supporters of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor are quietly targeting the Connecticut firefighter who's at the center of Sotomayor's most controversial ruling,” McClatchy’s Michael Doyle and David Lightman report. “On the eve of Sotomayor's Senate confirmation hearing, her advocates have been urging journalists to scrutinize what one called the ‘troubled and litigious work history’ of firefighter Frank Ricci.” 

How she prepped: “We've spent most of the past two weeks in extensive mock hearings, so she gets a good feel for the questions and can hone her answers," a White House official tells ABC’s Jake Tapper. “Her style is down to earth and straightforward -- not the sort of great speechmaker that [now-Supreme Court Chief Justice John] Roberts was, but a more pragmatic and 'just the facts' style that [former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day] O'Connor had when she was up.” 

What else has to happen this week (as every week takes on more importance than the one that came before, when it comes to the president’s top agenda items).

Time to get control of the agenda again:

 “President Obama, faced with dimming prospects that Congress will meet his August deadline to pass health care legislation, steps into the chaotic debate this week to push Congress to act and reassure Americans that they will not end up paying more for less. His leadership will have to go a long way,” Mimi Hall writes in USA Today. 

 “A series of setbacks has made the task of completing floor votes in both chambers virtually insurmountable, given the plodding pace of the Senate. The official line from the White House and the congressional leadership is it’s possible, but privately, there are a dwindling number of aides who would put money on it,” Politico’s Carrie Budoff Brown reports. “And without a deal by August, the ripple effects could start to endanger the prospect of health care reform this year altogether -- chief among them, the closer it gets to the 2010 midterm elections, the harder it will be to get members to make the tough political decisions needed to vote on a bill.” 

Watching the middle: “House Democratic leaders pushing a massive health care overhaul are facing a major drag from moderate Democrats soured by the political backlash to the climate change vote. Call it the hangover effect,” Roll Call’s Tory Newmyer and Steven T. Dennis report. 

If it doesn’t do this . . . “Although still publicly beating the drums for President Obama's healthcare overhaul, behind the scenes representatives of some of the biggest players in the game are beginning to express concern that it won't do enough about the major problem: runaway medical costs,” Noam N. Levey writes in the Los Angeles Times.

Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos”: “There is no chance that it's going to be done by August.” 

Perhaps the biggest drag on the bill’s prospects: “It was a week when lawmakers said they keenly felt the absence of Edward M. Kennedy, whose battle with brain cancer has made it increasingly difficult for him to participate in a momentous debate on what has been his signature issue over 46 years in the Senate,” Lisa Wangsness and Susan Milligan write in The Boston Globe. 

“Kennedy still holds weekly conference calls with the health committee. He speaks by phone from his home in Hyannis Port to his staff in Washington, to Democratic leaders, and to the White House, his colleagues say. His office is a hive of activity, and his top aides have been working almost nonstop for months on the health committee’s bill, now nearly finished,” they write. “But Kennedy has not been in the Capitol since late April, and it is not clear when he will return.”

Next from the ideas factory? Bloomberg’s Al Hunt reports that John Podesta is flirting with a new “consumption tax.” “Podesta will soon unveil plans for a public forum in September laying out the daunting fiscal challenges, while trying to fashion a ‘progressive’ agenda to deal with them. Any serious effort will almost certainly include substantive spending cutbacks,” Hunt writes in his column. “The centerpiece might be moving to a consumption tax, which is fraught with political and economic implications.” 

From the spy wars: “A secret Central Intelligence Agency initiative terminated by Director Leon Panetta was an attempt to carry out a 2001 presidential authorization to capture or kill al Qaeda operatives, according to former intelligence officials familiar with the matter,” Siobhan Gorman writes in The Wall Street Journal. “According to current and former government officials, the agency spent money on planning and possibly some training. It was acting on a 2001 presidential legal pronouncement, known as a finding, which authorized the CIA to pursue such efforts. The initiative hadn't become fully operational at the time Mr. Panetta ended it.” 

“It is unclear how wide an investigation lawmakers would like to see, but the latest controversy could fuel demands for an examination of the CIA's relationship with Congress during the Bush administration,” Julian E. Barnes writes in the Los Angeles Times. 

“As if he didn't already have enough on his plate, President Obama will now likely have to deal with something he hoped to avoid: revisiting Bush-era scandals,” ABC’s Scott Mayerowitz reports. “Former vice president [Dick Cheney] allegedly ordered CIA to withhold info from Congress. Attorney General Eric Holder is likely to push forward with a criminal investigation into the Bush administration's interrogation practices on suspected terrorists. . . . This comes despite the White House's desire to see the issue disappear.” 

Where he wants to be going just now? “President Obama is facing new pressure to reverse himself and to ramp up investigations into the Bush-era security programs, despite the political risks,” The New York Times’ Scott Shane writes. He counts “four fronts on which the intelligence apparatus is under siege. It is just the kind of distraction from Mr. Obama’s domestic priorities — repairing the economy, revamping the health care system, and addressing the long-term problems of energy and climate — that the White House wanted to avoid.” 

“Former spies and some political leaders are saying that a lack of trust between Congress and the CIA is putting the county's security in jeopardy,” ABC’s John Hendren and Jonathan Karl report. 

“It's one of the last nails in the CIA's coffin. It's finished. It's over. It's done,” said former Central Intelligence Agency operative Robert Baer, whose exploits in the Middle East was the model for George Clooney's role in “Syriana.”

On the economy: President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers on Monday is releasing a report, “Preparing the Workers of Today for the Jobs of Tomorrow,” that offers an overview of how the U.S. labor market is expected to grow over the next few years, per ABC’s Sunlen Miller.

“Jobs in the health-care and green- energy industries are growing at a faster pace than the rest of the economy and will help fuel the U.S. economic recovery, President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers will report today,” Bloomberg’s Ed Chen reports. 

(Fundamentally speaking, is this the quote the president wanted out of his radio address? The stimulus “has worked as intended,” the president declared.) 

On the economy, the president heads out into the country: “That’s the argument: Patience,” ABC’s Jake Tapper reported on “Good Morning America.” “Most of the money in the stimulus package will be spent in the next 12 months. So that’s the argument the president’s going to make. But they know they have a problem here.”

The urgency of now: “There is not much time for the Administration to lose in pushing forward the Democratic agenda,” Nate Silver writes at FiveThirtyEight.com. “The recent sluggishness in the recovery reduces, if not altogether eliminates, the possibility that the Democrats will have some kind of golden window of opportunity prior to the next midterms.” 

The New York Times does the Palin tick-tock -- and she takes the clock all the way back to the day she was chosen Sen. John McCain’s running mate: “It began when we started really looking at the conditions that had so drastically changed on Aug. 29,” Palin, R-Alaska, said. “The hordes of opposition researchers came up here digging for dirt for political reasons, making crap up.” 

Did someone think she was going away?

The Washington Times’ Ralph Z. Hallow: “The former Republican vice-presidential nominee and heroine to much of the GOP's base said in an interview she views the electorate as embattled and fatigued by nonstop partisanship, and she is eager to campaign for Republicans, independents and even Democrats who share her values on limited government, strong defense and ‘energy independence.’ ” 

“I will go around the country on behalf of candidates who believe in the right things, regardless of their party label or affiliation,” Palin said.

Friends like these: “What is remarkable is the contempt Palin has engendered within her own party and the fact that so many of her GOP detractors are willing, even eager, to express it publicly -- even with Palin an early front-runner for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination,” Mark Z. Barabak writes in the Los Angeles Times. 

On the Monday schedule: Labor presidents of the National Labor Coordinating Committee meet with President Obama at the White House at 1:15 pm ET. On the agenda: health care, the economy, and (naturally) the Employee Free Choice Act.

New pushback Monday: a Website launched by the Workforce Fairness Institute -- pitting “big labor bosses v. big labor bosses.”

Surgery Monday for Dr. Jill Biden: “Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, will have orthopedic surgery Monday to relieve shoulder pain,” per the AP. “Mrs. Biden will have the outpatient procedure performed at Thomas Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia, the White House said Sunday. The vice president will accompany her to the hospital, and the Bidens plan to spend the rest of Monday and Tuesday at their home in Delaware.” 

Will Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., usher in a new show-biz-veterans’ caucus? Not likely, says Variety’s Ted Johnson: “His victory was viewed as so unlikely that it inspired talk of a ‘Franken effect’ -- a flood of entertainment figures angling for a trip to Washington. But while stars like Alec Baldwin remain the subject of ‘what-if?’ speculation about a run, don't expect the floodgates to crash open. Far from inspiring more celebrities to enter the arena, Franken's example may actually give many pause.” 

The Kicker:

“Those members who suffer from Senate envy could write a 700-page nongermane amendment.” -- Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., in a legislative zing aimed at Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., who is mulling a Senate run. 

“It's easy for him to say that. That's what I would say to that.” -- US Soccer Coach Bob Bradley, responding to President Obama’s assurance that the national team is “not gonna give up a 2-goal lead.” 

Today on the “Top Line” political Webcast, live at noon ET: Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and ABC’s Jan Crawford Greenburg.

Follow The Note on Twitter: http://twitter.com/thenote

For up-to-the-minute political updates check out The Note’s blog . . . all day every day:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/

Compiled by ABC News’ KRISTEN RED-HORSE, JAYCE HENDERSON, CLAUDIA MORALES, VALENCIA WICKER and GEORGIA DAWKINS

BOOKMARKS:

The Note: LINK

The Must-Reads Online: LINK

Top Line Webcast (12noon EST M-F): LINK

ABC News Politics: LINK

The Political Punch (Jake Tapper): LINK

George's Bottom Line (George Stephanopoulos): LINK

Clem's Chronicle: LINK

Follow ABC News on Twitter: LINK

ABC News Mobile: LINK

ABC News on your iPhone/iPod Touch: LINK

PRESIDENT OBAMA AND DOMESTIC AFFAIRS:

The New York Times’ Scott Shane: “Obama Faces a New Push to Look Back” LINK

The Washington Post’s Carrie Johnson and Joby Warrick: “Bush Anti-Terror Policies Get Reluctant Revisit” LINK

Newsweek’s Daniel Klaidman: “Independent’s Day: Obama doesn’t want to look back, but Attorney General may probe bush-era torture anyway” LINK

PRESIDENT OBAMA AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

The Wall Street Journal’s Jonathan Weisman: “Obama's Foreign Strategy Mixes Encouragement, Demands” LINK

ABC News’ Karen Travers: “G-8’s Broken Promises to Africa” LINK

Time Magazine’s Michael Scherer: “The Five Pillars of Obama's Foreign Policy” LINK

Newsweek’s Aku Ammah-Tagoe: “In Ghana, Obama is ‘President of the World’” LINK

USA Today’s Richard Wolf: “Obama meets pope, says U.N., G-8 must tackle problems faster” LINK

Newsweek’s Holly Bailey: “Why Obama chose Ghana” LINK

Newsweek’s Holly Bailey: “Obama delivers Letter from Senator Kennedy to Pope” LINK

USA Today’s Aamer Madhani: “Bomb explodes near U.S. ambassador’s convoy in Iraq” LINK

PRESIDENT OBAMA AND THE UNITED STATES' ECONOMIC STIMULUS PACKAGE:

The Wall Street Journal’s Matthew Benjamin and Alison Fitzgerald: “Obama’s Stimulus Money Starts to Flow as Jobless Await Results” LINK

GOVERNOR SARAH PALIN:

The New York Times’ Jim Rutenberg and Serge F. Kovaleski: “Palin’s Route to Resignation: Missteps and Ignored Advice” LINK

ABC News’ Rachel Martin: “Palin Says She’ll Stump for Conservative Democrats” LINK

The Los Angeles Times’ Mark Z. Barabak: “Republican pundits open fire on Sarah Palin” LINK

THE SUPREME Court AND SOTOMAYOR:

The New York Times’ Ron Nixon: “G.O.P. Senators Are Set To Question Judge’s Impartialiality” LINK

The Washington Post’s Michael D. Shear: “Hearings Not Just About Sotomayor” LINK

Politico’s Glen Thrush: “Obama chats with Sonia—about Stare Decisis” LINK

Politico’s Manu Raju: “Sonia Sotomayor battle may jolt Republicans” LINK

ABC News’ Viviana Hurtado: “Latinos Will Be on Lookout for Sotomayor Abuse” LINK

The Washington Times’ Kara Rowland: “Sotomayor faces easy route to confirmation” LINK

New York Daily News’ Elizabeth Hays: “NAACP supports Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor: Warns Senate foes to focus on qualifications” LINK

USA Today’s Joan Biskupic: “With Sotomayor enters a new era in judicial politics” LINK

Newsweek’s Evan Thomas, Stuart Taylor Jr. and Brian No LINK

Newsweek’s Mark Hosenball: “The end of the Rainbow: Will Obama scrap Bush’s color-coded terror alerts?” LINK

DEMOCRATS/G.O.P.:

New York Daily News’ Helen Kennedy: “Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin plans to hit campaign trail after leaving office” LINK

The Hill’s Molly K. Hooper: “GOP, Holder battle over New Black Panthers” LINK

The Washington Times’ Jon Ward and Jennifer Haberkorn: “'Ration' is GOP's weapon in health care war” LINK

The Washington Times’ Ben Conery: “Republicans hit pursuit of torture probe” LINK

The Washington Post’s Nick Anderson: “GOP Leaving No Child Behind” LINK

The Wall Street Journal’s Jess Bravin: “Parties Set to Paint Opposing Pictures of Nominee” LINK

Boston Herald Op-Ed by Jeff Sessions: “We can’t be blind to bias” LINK

Boston Herald Op-Ed by Bonnie Erbe: “More than justice hangs in balance” LINK

Politico’s Jonathan Martin: “Cantor wants focus on ‘ideas’ not ‘personalities’” LINK

CONGRESS:

Politico’s Alex Isenstadt: “Kent Conrad: the Senate Grinch who stole Christmas?” LINK

CIA/NSA:

The Wall Street Journal’s Siobhan Gorman: “CIA Had Secret Al Qaeda Plan” LINK

The Wall Street Journal’s Siobhan Gorman: “Report Cites Weaknesses in Wiretapping Program” LINK

The Wall Street Journal’s Cary O’Reilly: “Senate Democrats Say Cheney May Have Broken Law on CIA Program” LINK

Politico’s Alex Isenstadt: “More Democrats call for investigating the CIA” LINK

ABC News’ John Hendren and Jonathan Karl: “Former Agents Say Stop Picking on the CIA” LINK

The Los Angeles Times’ Julian E. Barnes: “Clamor grows over CIA secrets” LINK

The Washington Times’ Kara Rowland: “Senators say CIA program secrecy wrong” LINK

Politico’s Harry Siegel: “McCain says ‘no’ to potential DOJ torture probe” LINK

HEALTH CARE REFORM:

The Wall Street Journal’s Kate Linebaugh: “Slump Spreads to Health Care as Michigan Loses Auto Jobs” LINK

Politico’s Carrie Budoff Brown: “Health care deadline unlikely to be me met” LINK

The Los Angeles Times’ Noam N. Levey: “Concern grows that healthcare overhaul won't cut costs” LINK

Los Angeles Times Opinion: “Improve care, lower costs” LINK

Los Angeles Times Opinion: “Our great hidden healthcare system” LINK

USA Today’s Charisse Jones: “Doctors express hopes to franchise urgent care in U.S.” LINK

USA Today’s Mimi Hall: “Obama begins health care push” LINK

ENVIRONMENT:

The Wall Street Journal’s Stephen Power: “Climate Bill Splits Industry Coalition” LINK

OTHER MUST-READS:

The Wall Street Journal’s Miriam Jordan: “New Curbs Set on Arrests of Illegal Immigrants” LINK

ABC News’ Scott Mayerowitz: “Will Ghosts of Bush Administration Derail Obama’s Agenda?” LINK

The Los Angeles Times’ Teresa Watanabe: “Activists push ballot initiative to end state benefits for illegal immigrants and their U.S.-born children” LINK

Los Angeles Times Opinion: “A bipartisan blueprint for immigration reform” LINK

The Washington Times’ Christina Bellantoni: “Obama enters fray in governors' races” LINK

USA Today’s Kevin Johnson: “Officer deaths up in first half of ‘09” LINK

ABC NEWS VIDEOS:

“Burris Won't Seek Re-election to Senate” LINK

“Obama Meets Pope at the Vatican” LINK

“G-8's Broken Promises to Africa” LINK

“Signs of Stimulus Wasting” LINK

“Inside Sotomayor's Family Heritage” LINK

“The Bottom Line on Stimulus Spending” LINK

]]> The Note Must-Reads ABCNews.com Mon, 13 Jul 2009 04:42:56 -0400 http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2009/07/mustreads-monday.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ABCNews_TheNote/~3/mvHyJY_dlck/top-line-minirevolt-in-congress-on-health-care.html http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2009/07/top-line-minirevolt-in-congress-on-health-care.html House Democrats’ hopes of finishing a draft of health care reform legislation this week have been dashed -- leaving the entire reform effort in doubt as the August recess draws near. ABC News’ Rick Klein reports: House Democrats’ hopes of finishing a draft of health care reform legislation this week have been dashed -- leaving the entire reform effort in doubt as the August recess draws near.

On ABCNews.com’s “Top Line” today, Jonathan Karl and I spoke with George Stephanopoulos about the state of play.

“They’re facing a mini-revolt among moderate and conservative Democrats who hold the balance of power there for the House Democrats, if they have to go this alone without any Republican votes,” Stephanopoulos told us. “And they’re concerned about some of the taxes that have been talked about inside this bill.” 

Even if a bill does get out of the House, it will have to be reconciled with a measure that can pass the more-conservative Senate -- where negotiations are just as tense, and -- so far -- just as fruitless.

“One of the things these moderate and conservative democrats in the House are worried about is if they’re going to take a tough vote and raise taxes in July, and then the Senate is going to dump those tax increases. And they will have taken a hard vote without getting any benefit,” Stephanopoulos said.

(In fact, discussions are so intense that House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., canceled his scheduled appearance on “Top Line” today to stay inside leadership meetings on the subject. We’re working to reschedule him for one day soon.)

Click HERE to see the full discussion with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. 

We led today’s program with a discussion on Iraq with ABC’s David Kerley, who was in the country recently for the handover of sovereignty to Iraqi forces.

Click HERE to see the interview with David Kerley.

From the press release going out this morning:

ABC NEWS TO PROVIDE GAVEL TO GAVEL COVERAGE OF SOTOMAYOR CONFIRMATION HEARINGS

Beginning Monday, July 13, as the Senate begins its confirmation hearing of Sonia Sotomayor ABCNEWS.com will provide gavel to gavel coverage of the proceedings. Starting at 10AM ET, the site will feature live-streaming coverage of the Sotomayor confirmation on a special section: http://abcnews.com/politics/soniasotomayor

ABC News’ Legal Correspondent, Jan Crawford Greenburgwill report from inside the hearing room, posting her reporting and analysis on Facebook Connect on ABCNEWS.com. Greenburg is the author of a blog about law and politics on ABCNEWS.com, http://blogs.abcnews.com/legalities.

The live feed, Facebook Connect and a wealth of related content about Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination and the Supreme Court can be found in this special section: http://abcnews.com/politics/soniasotomayor

Republicans on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee stood beside a large, orange “Road Work Ahead” sign draped with reflective road worker vests today to complain that the stimulus hasn’t worked in creating the jobs it was supposed to.

And they called on the Obama administration to work to address the $20 billion shortfall that threatens payments for non-stimulus road and infrastructure projects paid for through the highway trust fund.

“There's a new definition for dismal failure. Stimulus. This stimulus,” said Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, whose home state of Florida suffers from high unemployment.

The Congress people all suffer from high unemployment in their states and pointed to a GAO report released this week that shows many of the areas with the highest unemployment are receiving proportionally less stimulus money. In large part, this is due to the formula by which the funds have been dispersed.

“It’s absolutely shocking that after five months later continue to be mired in red tape. it takes far too long to get projects under way,” said Rep. John Mica, R-FL, who is the ranking Republican on the Transportation Committee.

 “Michigan, with the highest unemployment in the nation, is 45th in the nation in our receipt of transportation dollars,” said Rep. Candace Miller, who said her district has the highest unemployment in the nation.

She said the Obama administration and Congress should change the rules for stimulus-funded projects to cut through red tape. They pointed to the quick response to the bridge collapse in Minneapolis, which took 437 days to rebuild, although Congress passed a special bill to authorize its contribution to that project.

 “Cutting through all of this, we would have so many shovel ready programs,” said Miller of red tape that she said is snarling projects. “we would be really turning the dirt right now.”

They also faulted the Obama administration for its plan to ask Congress to authorize the borrowing of $20 billion to replenish the Department of Transportation’s highway trust fund, which faces a funding shortfall.

When an administration that asked to be judged starts doing judgment-worthy things, there's no shortage of people who stand ready to serve as judges.

Keeping in mind that a week ago health care looked back on track -- and Speaker Nancy Pelosi's CIA-is-lying storyline had played itself out -- and we'd heard the last of AIG bonuses -- and nobody really remembered what Sen. John Ensign even did -- and that Gov. Sarah Palin was still going to be in office for a while -- and that Gov. Mark Sanford wasn't . . .

This was something of a judgment week.

The judges include Republicans who pounced on a powerful admission (and more powerful numbers) to make a case against spending; Democrats who are taking advantage of the White House's light hand to devour each other over health care; and reporters who are taking the administration's own numbers and timelines seriously.

(And it won't take more than one bonus story to bring TARP and its tentacles back into political play.)

But before he faces this fun back home, President Obama has a chance to change perceptions of his foreign trip.

An 8 am ET press conference in Rome, an audience with the Pope later in the morning, and Ghana by nightfall -- fresh headlines in the offing.

"President Barack Obama is ending three days of often-wonkish policy discussions with fellow world leaders to embark on two of the most photogenic and emotional events of his young presidency: meeting the pope at the Vatican and becoming the first black American president to visit a mostly black African country," per the AP's Chuck Babington.

"Mr. Obama is likely to receive a much warmer reception in the Vatican on Friday when he meets Pope Benedict XVI for the first time," Laurie Goodstein writes in The New York Times. "Both the pope and the president recognize that despite their differences, they have an opportunity to join forces on international issues that are mutual priorities: Israel and the Palestinians, climate change, nuclear nonproliferation, increased aid to poor nations and immigration reform."

Building on: "President Obama [Thursday] pledged a strong U.S. role in global efforts to curb climate change and called upon his fellow attendees of the Major Economies Forum on Climate Change to work in the coming months to come up with commitments to lessen greenhouse gases," per ABC's Jake Tapper and Karen Travers. "But like the Group of Eight industrialized nations Thursday, the MEF today committed to nothing more than non-binding goals."

And what does the Pope think of the public option? Does His Holiness have any ideas that would free up $1 trillion or so?

Amid what signs of progress there are back home, rifts offer themselves up. (Is it this piece of the process -- the decision to negotiate separately inside the House and Senate, in the hopes of getting the hard work done in conference -- that most threatens a final health care product?)

Plus -- what if it's even too late for a second stimulus?

Paul Krugman, in his New York Times column: "The bad employment report for June made it clear that the stimulus was, indeed, too small. But it also damaged the credibility of the administration's economic stewardship. There's now a real risk that President Obama will find himself caught in a political-economic trap."

"It was disturbing when President Obama walked back Mr. Biden's admission that the administration ‘misread' the economy, declaring that ‘there's nothing we would have done differently.' There was a whiff of the Bush infallibility complex in that remark, a hint that the current administration might share some of its predecessor's inability to admit mistakes. And that's an attitude neither Mr. Obama nor the country can afford," Krugman continues.

Speaking of attitudes: "With 10 percent unemployment creeping up, the Obama-ites better have their economic Newspeak ready," Alex Beam writes in his Boston Globe column. "As hundreds of thousands of Americans file new jobless claims each week, the administration brags about the vast numbers of jobs it has ‘created or saved.' All administrations claim to create jobs, even in periods of high unemployment, but economists are marveling at Obama's new, bogus metric of jobs ‘saved.' "

Look to the fall for another package, Charlie Cook writes for National Journal: "If the mix of statistics doesn't improve by the end of the summer, Obama may have little choice but to propose a fresh package, despite knowing that adding it to his agenda would weaken the prospects of his health care and climate-change initiatives. Less than six months into his presidency, ain't nothing easy about this situation for Obama." 

"No second stimulus any time soon," ABC's George Stephanopoulos reported on "Good Morning America" Friday. "One caveat: If this unemployment rate continues to go up towards the end of the year, I think you could see a kind of rifle-shot extension of unemployment benefits.

Watching those indies: The president's "approval rating is down most significantly among independents, to 53% so far in July from an average of 59% in June; it has dropped two points among Republicans (from 25% in June to 23% so far in July) and has gone up a point among Democrats, to 90%," per the latest Gallup numbers, with a 58 percent approval rating overall (down from 61 percent last month).

Watching health care: "House and Senate Democrats appeared on Thursday to be on a collision course over how to pay for a sweeping overhaul of the nation's health care system, with the House planning to propose an income tax increase on the wealthiest Americans, an idea that Senate negotiators have all but dismissed as unworkable," David M. Herszenhorn writes in The New York Times. "Paying for the roughly $1 trillion, 10-year cost of the health care legislation is arguably the biggest hurdle confronting lawmakers and the White House." (Arguably.)

About that bill that was supposed to be finalized this week: "Conservative House Democrats are demanding significant changes before they can support a sweeping health care overhaul, forcing the House to join the Senate in delaying action on President Barack Obama's top domestic priority," the AP's Erica Werner reports. "The Blue Dog Democrats' list of demands came on the eve of House Democratic leaders' planned unveiling of their final bill Friday."

New tax idea: "The Senate Finance Committee is considering whether to apply Medicare taxes to capital gains and other non-wage income to help pay for an overhaul of the U.S. health-care system, two people familiar with the talks said," per Bloomberg's Ryan J. Donmoyer.

He'd get more than a few Democrats to agree: "Why doesn't the president give himself a well-deserved treat and slow down a bit on health-care reform?" Michael Kinsley writes in his column. "Instead of going for a total overhaul, go for some smaller successes, or what business executives and gorillas call the ‘low-hanging fruit'? Pick half a dozen, get Congress to swallow them and see where we stand?"

About that timeline: "U.S. President Barack Obama suffered a double-barreled setback in Congress on Thursday when members of his own party moved to apply the brakes on his top legislative priorities, healthcare and climate change," Reuters' JoAnne Allen writes.

"The core of President Obama's congressional agenda stalled Thursday as new obstacles emerged to climate change and health care legislation, possibly crushing Democratic leaders' hopes for rapid progress this summer," the Washington Times' Jennifer Haberkorn reports.

"Senate Democrats have punted climate change deeper into the fall, a delay that underscores the steep climb the White House faces in convincing Congress -- and the world -- to dramatically slash greenhouse gas emissions," Politico's Lisa Lerer reports.

What's back upon us now: "American International Group is preparing to pay millions of dollars more in bonuses to several dozen top corporate executives after an earlier round of payments four months ago set off a national furor," Brady Dennis and David Cho write in The Washington Post. "The request puts the administration's new compensation czar on the spot by seeking his opinion about bonuses that were promised long before he took his post."

Lessons learned? "The insurance giant is taking steps to avoid a similar furor as it prepares to dish out more bonuses," per ABC's Matt Jaffe. "Therefore, the company has been engaging in an active dialogue with the government, the source said, to get to a point where everyone is comfortable with the plans. As part of this effort to get everyone on the same page and avoid any surprises, the source said the company is trying to be as open and clear as possible with the government about handling compensation in an appropriate manner."

That letter from Democratic lawmakers may have backed up House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's contention that the CIA lies to Congress -- but does she really want this fight back?

"Pelosi, D-Calif., may feel vindicated, but Republicans are delighted that this latest dust-up revives the controversy surrounding her war of words with the CIA just when it had seemed to fade away," per ABC's Jonathan Karl. "At issue is a hastily arranged classified briefing by Panetta to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees on June 24. Panetta called the briefing to inform the committee about a covert CIA operation that had begun shortly after September 11, 20001. Panetta himself had just found out about the program and believed Congress should have been informed of it long ago."

"The incident has reignited a long-running dispute between congressional Democrats and the CIA, with some calling it part of a broader pattern of the agency withholding information from Congress," Paul Kane and Ben Pershing write in The Washington Post. "Some Republicans, meanwhile, privately questioned whether Panetta -- who has stood with CIA officers in a dispute with  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) -- was looking to score points with House Democrats."

Thickening the plot: "CIA Director Leon Panetta has ordered an internal inquiry into the agency's handling of a contentious and still highly classified intelligence program that has caused a heated dispute between the CIA and Democrats on the House intelligence committee," Newsweek's Mark Hosenball and Michael Isikoff report. "The move by Panetta appears to be an implicit acknowledgment by the agency that it should have disclosed information about the post-9/11 secret program to Congress much earlier than it did."

Pelosi's not playing. Per NPR, "Persistently pressed by [Melissa] Block about whether the House Intelligence Committee and its chairman, Rep. Silvestre Reyes, a Texas Democrat, should proceed with an investigation of the allegations, Pelosi became increasingly combative."

"You know, Melissa," Pelosi said, "I don't know how many more times I have to tell you: I did not have the briefing myself."

Who would have thought a Supreme Court fight is what Democrats would look forward to? "Unemployment keeps rising, the stimulus package is off to a slow start, health and energy bills are falling behind schedule on Capitol Hill, and foreign policy isn't getting any easier. But President Obama does have one practically worry-free item on the front burner these days: Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court," Jill Lawrence writes for Politics Daily.

Still playing: the John Ensign scandal.

"Sen. John Ensign appeared to be losing support among his Republican base Thursday as the lawmaker disclosed that his parents, who made millions in the casino industry, paid the family of his affair partner $96,000 around the time she and her husband stopped working for him," J. Patrick Coolican and Lisa Mascaro report in the Las Vegas Sun.

Said Ensign, R-Nev.: "I said before, I always planned on serving and working hard -- working harder than I ever worked -- and I'm going to continue to do that."

Said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas: "It's not good."

"A watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, asked the Justice Department to investigate the allegation because neither the campaign nor the PAC had reported the expenditure," the Los Angeles Times' Ashley Powers and Mark Z. Barabak report. "Politically, Ensign may be saved by the poor state of the Nevada Republican Party. GOP Gov. Jim Gibbons has faced his own set of scandals, including accusations of infidelity. Lacking strong leadership and absent an obvious candidate to replace him, the state party establishment is not likely to pressure Ensign to step aside."

CREW's Melanie Sloan tells ABC's David Wright, on "Good Morning America" Friday: "When you have an affair with someone in your office who's married to someone else in your office, and then you fire them both, and then on top of it you have your rich parents come in and pay them off -- I think it's hard to imagine a situation that's more embarrassing."

"All of this makes it likely that the senator is going to face an ethics committee investigation, and quite possibly an investigation by a grand jury as well," Wright reports.

Quips Politico's Ben Smith: "Pattern of generosity risks entering the lexicon right beside ‘wide stance' here."

Sen. Roland Burris, D-Ill., bows to the inevitable (and gives himself more time to update his tombstone). He'll make it official at an appearance in Chicago at 3 pm ET.

"The decision by Burris, 71, is an acknowledgment that prospects of mounting a multimillion-dollar fundraising effort for a high-profile statewide race are low in the face of widespread public criticism over how he got the job," John Chase and Rick Pearson report in the Chicago Tribune. "Almost two months after his appointment, a Tribune poll found only 37 percent of voters wanted Burris to run. As of the spring, he raised $845 with more than $111,000 in debt, a campaign filing showed."

"After 20 years in government service, Burris didn't want the last four months in office to be that legacy," a source tells the Chicago Sun-Times' Michael Sneed. 

From $845 to . . . $4.3 million?

Adam C. Smith, in the St. Petersburg Times: "[Gov. Charlie] Crist announced Thursday that in just 50 days he raised an eye-popping $4.3 million for his U.S. Senate campaign. That not only dwarfs the previous Florida Senate fundraising record set by Republican Mel Martinez -- $1.7 million in his first fundraising period in 2004 -- but it highlights the huge hurdles for Republican Senate rival Marco Rubio, who raised just $340,000 in the same period."

Tracking stimulus spending: "Signs of progress: Stimulus-funded road construction is underway across the country -- but what about the signs?" ABC's Jonathan Karl reported Friday on "Good Morning America." The recovery signs cost "500 bucks a piece in Maryland and New Hampshire . . . $1,700 in Georgia . . . $2,000 per sign in Pennsylvania and New York . . .  and $3,000 per project in New Jersey. New York alone is spending about a million dollars on signs."

That's cheap compared to a Website. Fallout continues from the $18 million Website contract -- which you read about first on The Note blog.

About half of the sum is to redesign the site and get it up and running by fall: "I do think $9.5 million is a bit much," OMB Watch's Craig Jennings tells ABC's Ned Potter.

By way of comparison: "USASpending.gov gives details down to the individual transaction level for contracts going all the way back to 2000. The Office of Management and Budget bought the software for that site from the group OMB Watch for $600,000," David Freddoso writes in the Washington Examiner.

"The award to Smartronix, a Maryland-based company which does a lot of military work, has been criticized for its size, secrecy, and exclusivity. Smartronix did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday," per The Wall Street Journal.

 Where's Hillary? We're about to find out: "After missing two overseas trips due to surgery to repair a broken elbow, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton plans to deliver a major foreign-policy speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington next week before departing for India and the ASEAN conference in Thailand on Friday, July 17,” Foreign Policy’s Laura Rozen reports.

The Kicker:

"We're not here to waste the taxpayers' money." -- Edward Pound, spokesman for the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, on the $18 million contract awarded to remake the Recovery.gov Website.

"I'm blessed. Thank God." -- Gov. Charlie Crist, R-Fla., announcing his record-breaking fundraising haul for his Senate bid.

Today on the "Top Line" political Webcast, live at noon ET: House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and ABC's George Stephanopoulos.

Follow The Note on Twitter: http://twitter.com/thenote

For up-to-the-minute political updates check out The Note's blog . . . all day every day.

Compiled by ABC News’ CARRIE HALPERIN, CLAUDIA MORALES, PETER MARTINEZ, GEORGIA DAWKINS and VALENCIA WICKER

BOOKMARKS:

The Note: LINK

The Must-Reads Online: LINK

ABC News Politics: LINK

The Political Punch (Jake Tapper): LINK

Radar: LINK

George's Bottom Line (George Stephanopoulos): LINK

Follow ABC News Correspondents on Twitter: LINK

ABC News Mobile: LINK

ABC News on your iPhone/iPod Touch: LINK

PRESIDENT OBAMA AND HIS ADMINISTRATION:

ABC News’ Jake Tapper and Karen Travers: “Whom Should the White House invite to its 2010 Nuclear Non-proliferation Summit” LINK

The Hill's Sam Youngman: "Obama looks for shared ground in papal meeting" LINK

Politico’s Ben Smith: “Independents begin to edge away from President Obama” LINK

USA Today’s Richard Wolf: “Obama, Australian leader announce climate institute” LINK

Newsweek’s Kathleen Kennedy Townsend: “Without a doubt: Why Barack Obama represents American Catholics better than the Pope does” LINK

CONGRESS:

ABC News’ Jonathan Karl: “Sixty Democrats… or 58?” LINK

The Hill's Reid Wilson: "Sen. Ensign’s parents gave $96K to mistress's family" LINK

The Hill's Walter Alarkon: "House overwhelmingly rejects signing statement" LINK

The Hill's Aaron Blake: "Sen. Burris will not seek reelection" LINK

Politico’s John Bresnahan: “Did Rick Santorum tip off John Ensign?” LINK

The Washington Posts' Paul Kane and Ben Pershing: “Secret Program Fuels CIA-Congress Dispute” LINK

The New York Times’ Carl Hulse: “Burris Won’t Run for Illinois Senate Seat” LINK

The New York Times’ Janie Lorber: “Black Caucus Studies Racial Makeup of House Committee Staffs” LINK

SUPREME COURT JUDGE SOTOMAYOR:

The New York Times’ Charlie Savage: “Hundreds of Pages Withheld on Sotomayor” LINK

G-8:

ABC News’ Jake Tapper and Karen Travers: “G-8 Will Not Call for New Sanctions Against Iran” LINK

The Wall Street Journal's Jonathanw Weisman and Stacy Meichtry: "G-8 Stumbles Anew, Comes Up Short on Food Aid" LINK

Bloomberg's James G. Neuger: "G-8’s Economic Dominance Faces Challenge From China, India" LINK

Politico’s Josh Gerstein: “Barack Obama on the defensive at G-8” LINK

USA Today’s Richard Wolf and Ken Dilanian: “G-8 to pledge billions for global food initiative LINK

FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

The Ap's Staff: "Explosives-Laden Truck Kills 25 in Afghanistan" LINK

The Wall Street Journal's Darcey Crowe: "Venezuela's Chavez Moves to Tighten Control Over Private Media" LINK

Politico’s David Rogers: “Record $49b foreign aid budget clears House” LINK

ECONOMY:

ABC News’ Alice Gomstyn and Bianna Golodryga: “Warren Buffett Backs Second Stimulus” LINK

The Wall Street Journal's Staff: "Leaders Seek to Finish Trade Deal by 2010" LINK

Bloomberg's Shobhana Chandra and Alex Tanzi: "Economists Raise U.S. Outlook as Recession Fades, Survey Shows" LINK

Bloomberg's Staff: "China Fails to Attract Enough Buyers in Bill Sales" LINK

USA Today’s Kathleen Gray: “Land banks gain popularity as way to fight urban blight” LINK

USA Today’s Emily Bazar: “Jobless finding new work on farms” LINK

The Washington Posts' Staff: “AIG Seeks Clearance For More Bonuses” LINK

The Washington Post’s Neil Irwin: “Fed Role Protecting Consumers Debated” LINK

ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

Politico’s Lisa Lerer: “Climate Change punted deeper into fall” LINK

ABC News’ Jake Tapper and Karen Travers: “G-8 Day Two: President Obama Calls for Nations to Take Action to Fight Climate Change” LINK

HEALTH CARE:

Politico’s Patrick O’Connor and Chris Frates: “House Democrats buck leaders on health-care bill unveiling” LINK

Politico’s Carrie Budoff Brown and David Rogers: “Max Baucus on how o pay for health care” LINK

The New York Times’ David M. Heszenhorn: “Democrats Are at Odds on Financing Health Care” LINK

Time Magazine’s Karen Tumulty: “Can Democrats Pass Health-Care Reform on Their own?” LINK

OTHER MUST-READS:

The Washington Times' Ben Conery: "Aide may be crucial to Blagojevich trial" LINK

Politico’s Michael Calderone: “Sam Donaldson on ‘a new day’” LINK

Politico’s Michael Calderone: “Politicos of the Fourth Estate” LINK

USA Today’s Judy Keen: “Four accused of doffing up bodies, reselling graves” LINK

Time Magazine’s David Con Drehle and Jay Newton-Small: “The Outsider: Where is Sarah Palin Going Next?” LINK

ABC NEWS VIDEOS:

“Pelosi Distances From CIA Controversy” LINK

“Global Leaders Warned On Global Warming” LINK

“Saving the Planet With Economic Stimulus” LINK

“Jake Tapper on U.S. Economic Growth” LINK

“G-8 Leaders Talk Climate Change” LINK

“Warren Buffett: Stimulus Not a Panacea” LINK

This time around, the numbers are nowhere near as eye-popping: only $2.4 million to 40 high-ranking executives, according to administration documents cited by the Washington Post.

However, both the company and the government want to avoid any kind of backlash as bad as the one last spring.

AIG declined to comment on the new bonuses, but a source close to the company said officials there are very concerned about making sure their stakeholders in the government are comfortable with the compensation plans.

Therefore, the company has been engaging in an active dialogue with the government, the source said, to get to a point where everyone is comfortable with the plans. As part of this effort to get everyone on the same page and avoid any surprises, the source said the company is trying to be as open and clear as possible with the government about handling compensation in an appropriate manner.

Meanwhile, the government's position also has evolved since the March fiasco. Now, the administration has appointed an official -- Kenneth Feinberg -- to oversee compensation for top executives at seven firms receiving "exceptional assistance".

"We all have a shared interest in ensuring that those companies can return to profitability as soon as possible so that taxpayers can recoup their investment," a Treasury spokesman said in a statement.

"Companies will need to convince Mr. Feinberg that they have struck the right balance to discourage excessive risk taking and reward performance for their top executives. That process is just beginning now, and Mr. Feinberg has begun consulting with those firms about their compensation plans. We are not going to provide a running commentary on that process, but it's clear that Mr. Feinberg has broad authority to make sure that compensation at those firms strikes an appropriate balance."

- Matt Jaffe