President Bush, Capitol Hill and Republican Voters

Hosted by
The conservative Washington Times says White House tensions with Congress are at an "all time high." Mississippi's Republican Senator Trent Lott says, "OK big boy, I'll just vote to override your veto," referring to the Dubai Ports deal, the last straw for some GOP House members up for re-election this year. Low poll numbers suggest that President Bush is losing all but the most hard-core Republican partisans. We speak with pollsters, political correspondents and political scientists about what's gone wrong and what it could mean for control of Congress next year.Making News: AT&T Wants to Buy BellSouth for $67 BillionAT&T plans to buy BellSouth in a telecommunications merger that has seemed unthinkable since 1984, when AT&T--known then as "Ma Bell" was broken up into the so-called "Baby Bells." Anne Marie Squeo, who writes for the Wall Street Journal, says competition is now coming from cable, wireless, and Internet as well as other new aspects of the telecommunications industry.Reporter's Notebook: Crash Is the Big Oscar SurpriseWashington Post film critic Tom Shales says that Jon Stewart should stick to his day job as host of The Daily Show. In any case, the ratings for last night's Academy Awards were among the worst in recent years. The only real upset was the Oscar for Crash as Best Picture. Brokeback Mountain had been expected to win. Peter Rainer, film critic for the Christian Science Monitor and former president of the National Society of Film Critics, has a post mortem.
The conservative Washington Times says White House tensions with Congress are at an "all time high." Mississippi's Republican Senator Trent Lott says, "OK big boy, I'll just vote to override your veto," referring to the Dubai Ports deal, the last straw for some GOP House members up for re-election this year. Low poll numbers suggest that President Bush is losing all but the most hard-core Republican partisans. We speak with pollsters, political correspondents and political scientists about what's gone wrong and what it could mean for control of Congress next year.
  • Making News: AT&T; Wants to Buy BellSouth for $67 Billion
    AT&T; plans to buy BellSouth in a telecommunications merger that has seemed unthinkable since 1984, when AT&T--known; then as "Ma Bell" was broken up into the so-called "Baby Bells." Anne Marie Squeo, who writes for the Wall Street Journal, says competition is now coming from cable, wireless, and Internet as well as other new aspects of the telecommunications industry.
  • Reporter's Notebook: Crash Is the Big Oscar Surprise
    Washington Post film critic Tom Shales says that Jon Stewart should stick to his day job as host of The Daily Show. In any case, the ratings for last night's Academy Awards were among the worst in recent years. The only real upset was the Oscar for Crash as Best Picture. Brokeback Mountain had been expected to win. Peter Rainer, film critic for the Christian Science Monitor and former president of the National Society of Film Critics, has a post mortem.

AT&T; on BellSouth merger

BellSouth on AT&T; merger

President Bush proposes line-item veto

Gallup Poll on Bush approval rating

Rep Bill Thomas to retire, Bakersfield Californian on

Tumulty's article on "breakaway Republicans"

Todd's (Atlantic Monthly) article on Republicans' six-year itch

Oscar winners

Crash

Credits

Host:

Warren Olney