Bishops slam 'unacceptable' health care bill .

Washington (CNN)– The US Conference of Catholic Bishops sent a strongly worded letter to members of the US Senate Friday, terming the abortion language in the Senate Democrats' health care bill "completely unacceptable."

"The new Senate bill is an enormous disappointment, creating new and completely unacceptable federal policy that endangers human life and rights of conscience," reads the letter obtained by CNN Congressional Producer Deirdre Walsh.

The bishops proved their power in the House, when, following direct negotiations with the House Speaker, they forced House Democratic leaders to allow a vote on the Stupak amendment, which introduced firmer restrictions on abortion funding.

The language in the Senate bill regarding abortion coverage is not as specific as the House bill passed earlier this month. In their letter to the Senate, the bishops ask for a similar measure to be added.

"Specifically, we urge you to include the House-passed provision that keeps in place the longstanding and widely supported federal policy against government funding of elective abortions or plans that include elective abortions. "

Catholic members of Congress, like Rhode Island Rep. Patrick Kennedy, have already faced rising pressure from church leaders as debate rages over the language in the Stupak amendment.

Full text:

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops 3211 FOURTH STREET NE • WASHINGTON DC 20017-1194 • 202-541-3000 WEBSITE: WWW.USCCB.ORG/HEALTHCARE • FAX 202-541-3339

 

November 20, 2009

United States Senate

Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator:

On behalf of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), we strongly urge the Senate to incorporate essential changes to the Senate’s health care reform bill to ensure that needed health care reform legislation truly protects the life, dignity, consciences and health of all. We especially urge the Senate to act as the House has in the following respects:

keep in place current federal law on abortion funding and conscience protections on abortion; protect the access to health care that immigrants currently have and remove current barriers to access; and include strong provisions for adequate affordability and coverage standards.

The Catholic Bishops of the United States have long supported adequate and affordable health care for all. As pastors and teachers, we believe genuine health care reform must protect human life and dignity, not threaten them, especially for the most voiceless and vulnerable. We believe health care legislation must respect the consciences of providers, taxpayers, and others, not violate them. We believe universal coverage should be truly universal, not deny health care to those in need because of their condition, age, where they come from or when they arrive here. Providing affordable and accessible health care that clearly reflects these fundamental principles is a public good, moral imperative and urgent national priority.

Sadly, the legislative proposal recently unveiled in the Senate does not meet these moral criteria. Specifically, it violates the longstanding federal policy against the use of federal funds for elective abortions and health plans that include such abortions – a policy upheld in all health programs covered by the Hyde Amendment, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program – and now in the House-passed “Affordable Health Care for America Act.” We believe legislation that violates this moral principle is not true health care reform and must be amended to reflect it. If that fails, the current legislation should be opposed.

Protecting Human Life and Conscience

Specifically, we urge you to include the House-passed provision that keeps in place the longstanding and widely supported federal policy against government funding of elective abortions or plans that include elective abortions.

In the aftermath of the overwhelming and bipartisan House vote for the Stupak-Smith-Ellsworth- Kaptur-Dahlkemper-Pitts Amendment, there has been much misunderstanding of what it does and does not do. This amendment does not change the current situation in our country: Abortion is legal and available, but no federal dollars can be used to pay for elective abortions or plans that include elective abortions. This provision simply keeps in place existing policy and allows Congress to honor the President’s commitment that “no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions.” The amendment does not restrict abortion, or prevent people from buying insurance covering abortion with their own funds. It Health Care Letter to the Senate November 20, 2009 Page 2 simply ensures that where federal funds are involved, people are not required to pay for other people’s abortions.

Thus far, the pending Senate bill does not live up to President Obama’s commitment of barring the use of federal dollars for abortion and maintaining current conscience laws. The bill provides federal funding for plans that cover abortion, and creates an unprecedented mandatory “abortion surcharge” in such plans that will require pro-life purchasers to pay directly and explicitly for other people’s abortions. Its version of a public health plan (the “community health insurance plan”) allows the Secretary of HHS to mandate coverage of unlimited abortions nationwide, and also allows each state to mandate such abortion coverage for all state residents taking part in this federal program even if the Secretary does not do so. The bill seriously weakens the current nondiscrimination policy protecting providers who decline involvement in abortion, providing stronger protection for facilities that perform and promote abortion than for those which do not. The legislation requires each region of the insurance exchange to include at least one health plan with unlimited abortion, contrary to the policy of all other federal health programs. Finally, critically important conscience protections on issues beyond abortion have yet to be included in the bill. To take just one example, the bill fails to ensure that even religious institutions would retain the freedom to offer their own employees health insurance coverage that conforms to the institution’s teaching. On these various issues the new Senate bill is an enormous disappointment, creating new and completely unacceptable federal policy that endangers human life and rights of conscience.

Immigrants and Health Care Coverage

We support the inclusion of all immigrants, regardless of status, in the insurance exchange. The Senate legislation forbids undocumented immigrants from purchasing health-care coverage in the exchange. Undocumented immigrants should not be barred from purchasing a health insurance plan with their own money. Without such access, many immigrant families would be unable to receive primary care and be compelled to rely on emergency room care. This would harm not only immigrants and their families, but also the general public health. Moreover, the financial burden on the American public would be higher, as Americans would pay for uncompensated medical care through the federal budget or higher insurance rates.

We also support the removal of the five-year ban on legal immigrants accessing federal health benefit programs, such as Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and Medicare. Legal immigrants, who work and pay taxes, should have access to such programs if needed. Removing the ban would help ensure that legal immigrants, who were widely praised in past immigration debates for their many contributions and for playing by the rules, will still have access to health care.

Accessible and Affordable Health Care

The Catholic bishops have advocated for decades for affordable and accessible health care for all, especially the poor and marginalized. The Senate bill makes great progress in covering people in our nation. However, the Senate bill would still leave over 24 million people in our nation without health insurance. This is not acceptable.

The bishops support the expansion of Medicaid eligibility for people living at 133 percent or lower of the federal poverty level. The bill does not burden states with excessive Medicaid matching rates. The affordability credits will help lower-income families purchase insurance coverage through the Health Insurance Exchange. However, the Senate bill would still leave low-income families earning between 133 and 250 percent of the federal poverty level financially vulnerable to health care costs. Overall, the average subsidy provided for in the Senate bill is $1,300 less than the average subsidy in the Health Care Letter to the Senate November 20, 2009 Page 3

House bill. Improvements to the bill should be made so that low-income families have reasonable out of pocket expense for health care.

Immediate reforms are included in the bill that should be helpful in providing relief to the uninsured and underinsured. Additionally, reforms that will strengthen families and protect low-income and vulnerable people such as eliminating denial of coverage based on pre-existing conditions including pregnancy; eliminating life time caps; offering long-term disability services; and extending dependent coverage to uninsured young adults - are significant steps toward genuine health care reform. We urge the Senate to maintain these provisions.

These moral criteria and policy objectives are not marginal issues or special interest concerns. They are the questions at the heart of the health care debate: Whose lives and health are to be protected and whose are not? Will the federal government, for the first time in decades, require people to pay for other peoples’ abortions? Will immigrants be worse off as a result of health care reform? At their core, these health care choices are not just political, technical, or economic, but also moral decisions. This legislation is about life and death, who can take their children to the doctor and who cannot, who can afford decent health care coverage and who are left to fend for themselves.

Our appeal for health care legislation that truly protects the life, dignity, health and consciences of all reflects the unique perspectives and experience of the Catholic community. Our hospitals, clinics, and long-term care facilities provide quality health care to millions. Our dioceses, institutions, and ministries purchase health care for many thousands of employees and their families. Our emergency rooms, shelters, clinics, and charities pick up the pieces of a failing health care system. Our Catholic moral tradition teaches that health care is a basic human right, essential to protecting human life and dignity.

For many months, our Bishops’ conference has been working with members of Congress, the Administration and others to fashion health care reform legislation that truly protects the life, dignity, health and consciences of all. Our message has been clear and consistent throughout. We hope and pray that the Congress and the country will come together around genuine reform.

Sincerely,

Bishop William F. Murphy Diocese of Rockville Centre

Chairman

Committee on Domestic Justice

and Human Development

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo

Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston

Chairman

Committee on Pro-life Activities

Bishop John Wester

Diocese of Salt Lake City

Chairman

Committee on Migration

Senate Ethics Committee clears Burris of legal wrongdoing.

Washington (CNN) –The Senate Ethics Committee issued a letter Friday admonishing embattled Illinois Sen. Roland Burris "for actions and statements reflecting unfavorably upon the Senate" in connection with his controversial appointment by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

"While the committee did not find that the evidence before it supported
any actionable violations of law, senators must meet a much higher standard of conduct," the letter stated.

Burris, currently the only African-American U.S. senator, is serving the remaining two years of President Barack Obama's Senate term, but he has never been embraced by his party's leaders in Illinois or Capitol Hill.

He was appointed to the seat last December by Blagojevich, who was later impeached, removed from office and arrested on federal corruption charges alleging that he tried to sell Obama's seat to the highest bidder.

Democratic leaders urged Blagojevich, who has maintained his innocence, not to make an appointment. He disregarded those wishes by naming Burris, a former state attorney general and state comptroller, to the seat.

Burris, for his part, was suspected of perjury in connection with his testimony on Blagojevich's alleged "pay for play" scheme to fill the Senate seat. But in June, the state's attorney in Sangamon County, Illinois, said he would not charge Burris.

The state's attorney, John Schmidt, said Burris gave incomplete but truthful answers to questions about his conversations with Blagojevich's representatives.

In July, Burris said he would not run for a full six-year term in 2010.

(Updated 12pm)

OFA fundraising off Palin book tour.

Washington (CNN) - The Democratic Party's fundraising off of Sarah Palin's "dangerous" book tour.

"Right now, Sarah Palin is on a highly publicized, nationwide book tour, attacking President Obama and his plan for health reform at every turn," wrote Organizing for America director Mitch Stewart in a message sent to supporters Friday.

"It's dangerous. Remember, this is the person who coined the term 'Death Panels' - and opened the flood gates for months of false attacks by special interests and partisan extremists. Whatever lie comes next will be widely covered by the media, then constantly echoed by right-wing attack groups and others who are trying to defeat reform.

The group, the president's political arm at the Democratic National Committee, set a goal of raising $500,000 over the next week "to help push back against Sarah Palin and her allies." OFA said the contributions will be used to respond to those attacks via ads, events, and phone banking congressional offices.

Sens. Jack Reed, left, Dick Durbin and Robert Menendez, right, hold a news conference about health care Friday at the Captiol.

Washington (CNN) – To debate or not to debate the Senate's health care reform bill; that is the question.

The legislative body on Saturday is expected to vote on whether to begin debate - also known as invoking cloture - on its version of the health care bill, which was introduced Wednesday by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Reid says the 2,074-page bill would expand health insurance coverage to 30 million more Americans at an estimated cost of $849 billion over 10 years. A House bill was passed nearly two weeks ago.

Proceedings begin at 10 a.m. and will last through the early evening.

Around 8 p.m., the Senate will hold a roll call vote on the motion to invoke cloture.

Reid needs 60 votes in the 100-member Senate to overcome a certain GOP filibuster attempt and open the chamber's debate on the bill. It would take another 60 votes to close debate that could last for weeks, while final approval of the bill would require only a simple majority.

So how will the Democratic leadership get the magic number 60?

Full Story:

New York (CNNMoney.com) – The health care bill that faces a crucial test vote in the Senate on Saturday is proof that getting reform passed and getting it right are two very different things.

Both are hard. But the pursuit of votes has weakened key elements with the most promise of reducing overall health spending.

Exhibit A: The eleventh-hour introduction of a Medicare tax hike as a way to help pay for reform.

Health care reform, to succeed, must not only help more people get coverage but also slow the growth in health costs and spending.

Full Story:

Sanford impeachment measure to be formally considered.

(CNN) – A special House committee in South Carolina will formally consider an impeachment resolution against Gov. Mark Sanford for the first time next Tuesday, the Republican chairman of the committee told CNN Friday.

The resolution, filed by a handful of House Republicans earlier this week, will be examined by an ad hoc committee of seven lawmakers from both sides of the aisle.

The group will meet for the first time next week, after Sanford provides the legislature with the results of a state Ethics Commission investigation into the governor's travel expenses, Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Harrison said.

The first meeting of the special committee on Tuesday will likely focus on Sanford's infamous trip to Argentina this summer, which led to revelations of an extramarital affair and calls for his resignation. Harrison said the group will then spend the Thanksgiving holiday poring over the Ethics Commission report before meeting again in December to include any additional language in the resolution.

The measure currently states that Sanford committed "serious misconduct" by secretly leaving the state in June without informing his staff or establishing a chain of command.

Harrison said "the game plan" is for the four Republicans and three Democrats in the group to finalize the language in the resolution before passing it on to the full Judiciary committee, which will then vote in January on whether the measure should be sent to the full House.

Harrison noted that he spoke to House speaker Bobby Harrell, a fellow Republican, on Monday night to discuss the plan.

For Sanford to be removed from office, two-thirds of South Carolina's House and the Senate must vote in favor of impeachment.

Washington (CNN) – Call it the New York-23 effect: Both the Democratic and Republican congressional re-election committees spent more money than they took in last month.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee reported Thursday that it raised $3.76 million in October, but spent $3.98 million. A similar story from the National Republican Congressional Committee, which said it brought in $3.4 million last month, but spent $3.6 million.

So where did the money go? Both committees infused campaign cash into the special election in New York's 23rd congressional district.

The race, to fill the seat left vacant when Republican congressman John McHugh stepped down to become Secretary of the Army, turned into a three-way contest between official GOP candidate Dede Scozzafava, Conservative Party candidate Dough Hoffman, and Democrat Bill Owens.

Scozzafava dropped out of contest three days before the election, after conservatives in the GOP backed Hoffman's bid. Owens ended up narrowly winning the election, taking a district Democrats haven't controlled since the 19th century. A count of absentee ballots continues.

The DCCC says it has $14.52 million cash on hand, with $3.3 million in debt. The NRSC reports $4.2 million in the bank, with $2 million in debt.

Next November, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for grabs. Democrats currently hold a 258-177 advantage in the House.

Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @psteinhausercnn

Poll: Paterson's TV ads still not helping.

(CNN) -- A new poll suggests that the big television ad push by New York Gov. David Paterson's campaign may not be quite as effective as he'd hoped: A Marist College survey released Friday indicates that 56 percent of New York state voters have seen at least one of Paterson's television commercials - and those who'd seen the ad appeared slightly less likely to support his run.

Sixty-one percent who hadn't seen the ad thought the governor should not remain in the 2010 race. Among those who'd actually seen the spot, that number was roughly 4 points higher: Nearly two-thirds of those who say they've seen the ad don't think Paterson should run in 2010. That 4-point margin is just outside the poll's 3.5 percent sampling error.

Paterson went up on the airwaves last month with a major ad campaign designed to reintroduce himself to voters. His campaign said the commercials would run for several weeks, and constitute a "multi-million dollar" ad buy. A Siena College Research Institute survey released last week gave a hint the spots might not be having the impact Paterson was looking for: Only 21 percent of New Yorkers had a positive opinion of the job he was doing as governor, with 79 percent holding a negative opinion - a result virtually unchanged from his October showing.

The latest Marist poll suggests Paterson, who took office after Eliot Spitzer's scandal-scarred resignation, trails New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo by nearly 51 points in a hypothetical 2010 Democratic primary matchup - with results virtually the same whether or not a voter has seen the governor's new ads.

Cuomo, the son of former three-term New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, has yet to announce if he'll enter the race.

Two-thirds of those questioned in the survey think Cuomo's doing an excellent or good job as attorney general, while only one in five think Paterson's doing an excellent or good job as governor.

"Right now, Andrew Cuomo has a clear path to become governor," says Dr. Lee M. Miringoff, Director of The Marist College Poll. "If he could fast-forward to next November, I'm sure he would."

In a hypothetical general election matchup, the poll indicates that Cuomo leads former Rep. Rick Lazio, the only declared Republican candidate, by 45 points. But a Lazio-Paterson faceoff next year would be a dead heat, according to the survey.

The poll's release comes one day after a spokeswoman for Rudy Giuliani said the former New York City mayor has not made up his mind about running for governor next year. Maria Comella was responding to a Thurday New York Times report that quoted unnamed sources saying Giuliani had decided not to run for New York governor in 2010.

There's speculation that if Giuliani decided against a run for governor, he might consider a Senate run. Top New York Republicans have reportedly urged Giuliani to run for the Senate in 2010 against incumbent Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand. A Marist survey released Thursday indicates Giuliani leads Gillibrand by 14 points in a hypothetical Senate race.

The Marist College poll released Friday was conducted November 12, 16 and 17, with 805 registered New York state voters questioned by telephone. The survey's overall sampling error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @psteinhausercnn

Washington (CNN ) - Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson announced Friday that he would be supporting the motion to proceed that would allow the Senate to begin debate on the Democrats' health care reform legislation.

"Throughout my Senate career I have consistently rejected efforts to obstruct," he said in a statement. "That's what the vote on the motion to proceed is all about. It is not for or against the new Senate health care bill released Wednesday. It is only to begin debate and an opportunity to make improvements. If you don't like a bill why block your own opportunity to amend it?"

The Nebraska Democrat sounded a positive note Thursday after emerging from a meeting with Reid and other moderate Democratic holdouts in the Senate Majority Leader's office, although he told CNN then he was withholding his final decision on the motion to proceed until he had a chance to "study (the bill) or at least review it to begin with."

He said there had been concerns about the length of time the bill would be made public before the final vote, and whether it would be read on the floor - but that it appeared Reid had largely satisfied his concerns on those issues.

Nelson also said the meeting did not include discussion of any of the specifics regarding abortion language, the antitrust exemption for the insurance industry, and other issues of concern to him.

–CNN's Ted Barrett contributed to this report

Washington (CNN) – Traditional Senate decorum yielded to brass-knuckle politicking in the health care debate Friday as top congressional Democrats sought to close party ranks before a key procedural vote this weekend.

Senate Democrats slammed their Republican colleagues as leaders of a counterproductive party of fear caught in an obstructionist mindset dating back to the New Deal. Republicans, in turn, ripped Democrats for pushing a bill that conservatives claim will force millions of Americans to drop insurance plans they like while jacking up premiums and doing nothing to slow spiraling medical costs.

The harsh rhetoric served as a backdrop for a rare Saturday night Senate
vote on whether to formally proceed with floor debate on Senate Majority Leader

Harry Reid's sweeping $848 billion health care bill.

If Republicans stay unified in opposition to the bill, Reid will need the support of all 58 Senate Democrats along with independent Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut to reach the 60 votes necessary to overcome a filibuster.

Three key Democratic moderates - Sens. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Ben Nelson of Nebraska - have refused to publicly indicate if they'll back Reid. Each has expressed concern about the cost and scope of the legislation.

Discussion has begun on the 2012 primary calendar.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Representatives from some of the top 2008 GOP presidential campaigns gathered in Washington, D.C. Thursday to urge the Republican National Committee to lock in a 2012 primary calendar as early as possible to avoid the confusion that dogged the early stages of last year's nomination contest. One campaign manager took his recommendations a step further and suggested ending the traditional first-in-the-nation statuses of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.

An RNC panel headed by party chairman Michael Steele invited the campaigns to share their views as it considers numerous possible changes to the process the party will use to nominate a candidate to challenge President Barack Obama in 2012.

Mike DuHaime, the 2008 campaign manager for former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, told the panel that the three early states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina should continue to hold contests early in the process, but not necessarily as the first three contests.

"I believe there needs to be greater decision-making authority given to states beyond the early states," said DuHaime, referring to Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. "If you win two out of three states, those have been our nominees. With that, 47 other states don't have the same say."

"I think that is ultimately not in the best interests of the party," he added.

DuHaime went on to say that the early phase of the nomination calendar should be more geographically and ethnically diverse and that doing so could make the party more competitive in general elections.
DuHaime's candidate did not campaign heavily in the early states and instead focused his time and energy on later contests.

Former Huckabee presidential campaign manager Chip Saltsman, whose candidate won the Iowa caucuses in 2008, defended the role of the traditional early states.

"I think it's very important and crucial to have Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina early on in the process," he said.

Saltsman said that he has seen during his experiences in Iowa from previous campaigns "just how seriously folks in those states take the process. Not that the other 47 states don't. It's an opportunity for any candidate, no matter how rich, no matter how poor, no matter how new, and no matter who's been running for eight years."

"This is making our candidates better candidates," Saltsman added.

The campaigns all agreed that regardless of what the calendar eventually looks like, it will be important to lock in the schedule early so that candidates can plan and strategize accordingly. In 2008, both the Republican and Democratic primary calendars were thrown into disarray when Michigan and Florida moved their contests earlier in the process to challenge the early positioning of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.

"This is something that I don't know if there's a perfect solution, but there needs to be a solution," said Saltsman. "Set the rules. Set them fair. Let [the presidential campaigns] know what they are. And set them in a way that don't change."

Beth Myers, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney's 2008 campaign manager, echoed a similar sentiment.

"I am of the belief that a campaign can plan for any calendar, but that certainty is what matters," she said in a written statement submitted to the panel. "In other words, my primary recommendation would be that the calendar is set as early as possible so that it is known by all campaigns."

Myers did not address the politically sensitive issue of whether Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina should remain as the first contests, but she did suggest a later start for the primary season, which began on January 3 in 2008, the earliest start of any presidential primary season in history.

"The one complaint we heard more than any other was that it started too close to the holidays," she said. "I would urge you to mandate a start in late February or early March."

Saltzman suggested late January as a starting point.

The RNC invited all the 2008 GOP presidential campaigns to provide feedback for Thursday's forum. The Huckabee, Giuliani and Duncan Hunter campaigns sent representatives to testify in person. The Romney, Ron Paul and Fred Thompson campaigns submitted written statements. The remainder of the 2008 GOP field, including the campaign of Sen. John McCain, did not respond to the invitation.

The RNC is expected to finalize its rules governing the nomination process at its summer meeting next year.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee will begin making robocalls encouraging Reid to stand strong.

WASHINGTON (CNN)– The day before Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid opens the debate on health care reform, a group of liberal activists who once attacked the Nevada Democrat announced they will begin making robocalls encouraging Reid to stand strong in the fight for health care reform and the public option.

In the calls, longtime Nevada nurse Lee Slaugher - the star of an attack ad released late last month which questioned Reid's political strength, tells residents in her state to stand behind their Senator.

"I'm very thankful that Senator Harry Reid has included a public health insurance option in his health care bill. He shocked the political world by being so bold on this issue." Slaughter says in the calls released by The Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a liberal political action committee with the express goal of electing progressive candidates to federal office.

"If you want to join me in thanking Senator Reid, and letting him know that we'll stand with him as long as he keeps fighting for a public option, please press one on your keypad," Slaughter concludes.

The group says the calls are expected to reach 10,000 Nevada voters beginning Saturday, as Democrats and Republicans take to the Senate floor to vote on beginning debate on health care legislation introduced by Democrats.

The 2,074-page Senate bill seeks to reduce long-term costs of health care for the government, businesses and individuals while reforming how services are delivered to increase efficiency and effectiveness. It includes controversial provisions such as a government-run public health insurance option.

Republicans have vowed to try to block the bill, requiring Reid to round up 60 votes in the 100-member Senate to overcome a GOP filibuster and launch debate.

Washington (CNN) - Nearly two years into the recession, opinion about which political party is responsible for the severe economic downturn is shifting, according to a new national poll.

A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Friday morning indicates that 38 percent of the public blames Republicans for the country's current economic problems. That's down 15 points from May, when 53 percent blamed the GOP. According to the poll 27 percent now blame the Democrats for the recession, up 6 points from May. Twenty-seven percent now say both parties are responsible for the economic mess.

"The bad news for the Democrats is that the number of Americans who hold the GOP exclusively responsible for the recession has been steadily falling by about two to three points per month," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "At that rate, only a handful of voters will blame the economy on the Republicans by the time next year's midterm elections roll around."

Thirty-six percent of people questioned say that President Barack Obama's policies have improved economic conditions, with 28 percent feeling that the president's programs have made things worse, and 35 percent saying what he's done has had no effect on the economy.

One reason for that, says Holland, may be the growing federal budget deficit: Two-thirds say that the government should balance the budget even in a time of war and recession.

The survey indicates that only 18 percent say the economic conditions in the country today are good, down 3 points from August. Eighty-two percent say economic conditions are poor.

"Some economic indicators may suggest that the economy has turned the corner - but try telling that to the American people," adds Holland. The number of Americans who say that the economy is in good shape - a number that grew steadily through the spring and summer - has now stalled, with fewer than one in five expressing a positive view of current conditions. More than eight in 10 say that economic conditions are in poor shape, with 43 percent calling them very poor.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll was conducted November 13-15, with 1,014 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Full results (pdf)

–CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinahauser contributed to this report

Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @psteinhausercnn

It's one reason so many people are stunned when they're hit with unexpected rate increases or penalty fees: It's in the small print.

CNN asked 13 credit card holders to review a basic five-page credit card agreement. Only four of them were able to find the annual percentage rate, and it wasn't easy.

"It's very confusing, and I'm an intelligent person," Amy Gould said, adding that she thinks the credit card companies have a stake in keeping their agreements opaque. "I think it tries to make the consumer confused. It takes advantage."

Alan Siegel thinks he has the answer. He runs Siegel+Gale, a marketing firm that's specialized in contract simplification for 30 years. He's simplified agreements for the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Mint, major banks and insurance companies. He believes that it's time credit card companies got on board.

According to Siegel, the current contracts are full of "gobbledygook." He insists that "it's a total disregard and disrespectful to the relationship with the consumer." He believes that card companies can make their agreements crystal clear.

Full story

WASHINGTON (CNN) – President Barack Obama will not announce a new Afghanistan war strategy until after Thanksgiving, a senior administration official said Friday.

CEDAR CREEK, Texas (CNN) – Virginia Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell on Wednesday declined to weigh in on Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson’s recent claim that Islam is not a religion, but “a violent political system.”

McDonnell, though, stressed that he reached out to Muslims and visited mosques in Virginia throughout the governor’s race and will continue to do so when he takes office in January.

Muslim groups have called on McDonnell to condemn the remark because Robertson is a longtime political benefactor of the Republican, who won a blowout victory in this year’s closely-watched gubernatorial election.

McDonnell attended law school at CBN University (now Regent University), founded by Robertson, and has accepted thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the televangelist along with appearing on his show, “The 700 Club.”

“I’ve got probably 15,000 donors to the campaign and I can’t stand and defend or support every comment that any donor might make,” McDonnell said in response to a question from CNN at the Republican Governors Association annual meeting near Austin. “I think people are entitled under the First Amendment to express whatever opinions that they may have, but I can only say that as governor of Virginia, I intend to have an inclusive administration where we bring people across the political and religious system to help us govern.”

Robertson made the comments on his show on November 9 after the shooting rampage at the Fort Hood Army post in Texas. The suspected gunman, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, is a Muslim who was critical of U.S. military activity in Iraq and Afghanistan

“Islam is a violent, I was going to say religion, but it's not a religion. It's a political system,” Robertson said. “It's a violent political system bent on the overthrow of the governments of the world and world domination. That is the ultimate aim.”

When asked if he believes Islam is “a violent political system,” McDonnell said no, but he did not condemn Robertson.

“I think that there are people in various religions that do some violent things and they should be judged according to their acts,” he explained. “But I have believed that there are people of all the great religions, that can be enormously helpful in our multicultural Virginia to help them to benefit us in the state.”

(Updated Friday morning)

The CNN Washington Bureau’s morning speed read of the top stories making news from around the country and the world

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For the latest political news: www.CNNPolitics.com

NY Daily News: Rudy Giuliani will very likely seek U.S. Senate seat, and if elected maybe 2012 White House: source
Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani has decided against running for governor, but is strongly considering running for U.S. Senate instead, sources told the Daily News.

McClatchy: Senate girds for Saturday vote and long battle on health care
The Senate Thursday began what promises to be a bitter, lengthy battle over the future of health care in America, and taxes, abortion, affordability and federal deficits emerged as key flashpoints. Senate Democratic leaders expect the first test vote on their new $848 billion, 2,074-page health care overhaul bill will come on Saturday evening.

Washington Post: GAO warns stimulus jobs data could contain inaccuracies
Government auditors raised doubts Thursday about the number of jobs created or saved by the economic stimulus program, but they also said that mistakes reported in recent weeks signal the benefits of government transparency.

Foreign Policy: White House: No Afghanistan announcement until after Thanksgiving
The Obama administration won't announce its new comprehensive strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan until after Thanksgiving, a White House official confirms to The Cable, and observers and experts close to the discussions see it as the White House's attempt to stage a full and controlled rollout over the week beginning November 30.

New York Times: Clinton Emerges as Key Link to Afghan Leader
It is far from clear that President Obama can depend on President Hamid Karzai to bring order to this violent country, but it is becoming clear that he will depend on Hillary Rodham Clinton to be his go-between in dealing with the mercurial Afghan leader.

USA Today: Senate panel notes 'red flags galore' in Fort Hood incident
Military and FBI officials appeared to miss numerous warning signs in the months leading up to the Nov. 5 killings of 13 people at Fort Hood in Texas, lawmakers said Thursday in the first congressional hearing into the incident.

New York Times: For Bruno, How Albany Works Is Also on Trial
The longtime secretary for one of the most powerful politicians in New York spent as much time on his private business, handling bills and correspondence, as she did on his public duties, like arranging meetings with lawmakers.

Los Angeles Times: California lawmakers, officials face 18% pay cut
California's Legislature went to state Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown recently seeking relief from a future pay cut and on Thursday received an unwelcome surprise: An 18% reduction for lawmakers and other elected state officials can begin next month instead of a year from now.

Miami Herald: Blogger in Cuba has D.C.'s ears, not Raúl's
Cuba's celebrated and increasingly brassy blogger Yoani Sánchez emerged Thursday as a player in U.S.-Cuba relations, scoring a lengthy reply from President Barack Obama to her questions and playing a starring role in a congressional hearing on efforts to let American tourists visit Cuba.

NATIONAL
For the latest national news: www.CNN.com

ABC News: Major Hasan's E-Mail: 'I Can't Wait to Join You' in Afterlife
United States Army Major Nidal Hasan told a radical cleric considered by authorities to be an al-Qaeda recruiter, "I can't wait to join you" in the afterlife, according to an American official with top secret access to 18 e-mails exchanged between Hasan and the cleric, Anwar al Awlaki, over a six month period between Dec. 2008 and June 2009.

CNN: New guidelines: Pap tests should start at age 21
Young women should have their first Pap test no sooner than age 21, regardless of when they become sexually active, say new guidelines from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Earlier screening for cervical cancer may lead to unnecessary and possibly harmful treatments for an increasingly rare cancer, according to ACOG, the leading U.S. professional organization for obstetricians and gynecologists.

CNN: Expert: Study on extremism might have prevented Fort Hood shootings
A security expert who contributed to a now-classified 2008 study aimed at helping military officials recognize the signs of extremism among troops said it could have helped prevent the shootings at Fort Hood, Texas.

New York Times: U.S. Reviews Air Defenses to Thwart Terror From Skies
The commander of military forces protecting North America has ordered a review of the costly air defenses intended to prevent another Sept. 11-style terrorism attack, an assessment aimed at determining whether the commitment of jet fighters, other aircraft and crews remains justified.

Wall Street Journal: Tech Snafu Grounds Nation's Fliers
The failure of a single piece of computer gear in Utah disrupted travel for thousands Thursday, exposing the risks of the long-running patchwork upgrade of the nation's air-traffic-control system. It is the second time in 15 months that a tech glitch threw air travel into disarray across large swaths of the country.

INTERNATIONAL
For the latest international news: http://edition.cnn.com

CNN: Attack hits near Afghan governor's house
A suicide bomber self-detonated Friday morning next to the governor's house in the capital of Afghanistan's western Farah province, killing at least seven people, including a policeman, police said.

BBC: Mixed response as top EU figures named
Belgian PM Herman van Rompuy was named President of the European Council, while Briton Baroness Catherine Ashton was made EU foreign affairs supremo. The US welcomed the choice, saying it would make Europe a stronger partner. However, the BBC's Jonny Dymond in Brussels says there has been some dismay at the choice of two candidates with a low international profile.

CNN: Honduran de facto president to step down temporarily
De facto Honduran President Roberto Micheletti will temporarily step down from power in the days surrounding the scheduled November 29 presidential election, Micheletti said in a speech Thursday.

BUSINESS
For the latest business news: www.CNNMoney.com

Wall Street Journal: AOL Grapples With Harsh New Reality
AOL Inc. plans to cut about a third of its staff as the struggling
Internet company attempts to resurrect its business after it spins off from Time Warner Inc. next month. The company said Thursday it is asking for up to 2,500 people across all divisions to take buyout packages during a one-week program starting Dec. 4.

New York Times: Google Offers Peek at Operating System, a Potential Challenge to Windows
Google began lifting the veil on its planned Chrome operating system on Thursday, but it said that computers powered by the software would not be available for a year.

CNN: A push to simplify credit card 'gobbledygook'
Have you ever read your credit card contract? If not, you're not alone. Most cardholders never read the long complicated legalese in a credit card agreement. It's one reason so many people are stunned when they're hit with unexpected rate increases or penalty fees: It's in the small print.

Bloomberg: Warren Winning Means No Sale If You Can’t Explain It
In Elizabeth Warren’s world, credit card contracts would be so simple a teenager could read and understand them in four minutes. Loans would be as easy to compare as toasters, and online credit scores would be free. “We need a new model: If you can’t explain it, you can’t sell it,” said Warren, 60, a Harvard University law professor who is head of the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, in an interview.

In Case You Missed It

CNN: Katrina ruling surprises Nagin
A ruling against the Army Corps of Engineers could open the door to thousands of Hurricane Katrina-related lawsuits.

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Washington (CNN) – Federal authorities Thursday indicted 26 suspects in nine states in a wide-ranging scheme to defraud a program intended to help the deaf.

Officials said they arrested conspirators in New York, New Jersey,
Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Maryland.

"The individuals charged in connection with today's operation are alleged to have stolen tens of millions of dollars from an important government program that is intended to help deaf and hard-of-hearing Americans communicate with hearing persons," said Lanny Breuer, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Criminal Division.

Breuer told reporters the defendants allegedly generated fraudulent call minutes by making it appear that deaf Americans were engaging in legitimate calls with hearing persons. "In reality, the defendants were simply attempting to steal money from an FCC program that is funded by every single American who pays their telephone bills," he said.

The FBI was deeply involved in the investigation, authorities said.

Joseph Persichini Jr. assistant director of the FBI's Washington field office, added, "Unfortunately, this remarkable service designed to help those in need also provided a growth opportunity for criminal activity that we believe has cost American consumers tens of millions of dollars."

Officials said the 26 indicted individuals falsely billed the government at a rate of $390 per hour for using what is known as as a video relay service system.

The indictments say owners and employees of seven companies engaged in the scheme. The firms are located in Rockville, Maryland; Las Vegas, Nevada; Phoenix, Arizona; Austin Texas; Miami Lakes, Florida; and Huntington Beach, California; and one firm operated in both New York and New Jersey.

Washington (CNN) – In the 2004 election, "new media" was defined by blogs. In 2008, it was defined by Facebook and Twitter. In 2012, those social media tools will move from your computer screen to your pocket, as mobile technology helps define the new terms of campaign engagement.

Political strategists are getting ready for the new era - testing new uses for mobile technology, and generating massive contact lists. Last week, Harry Reid's re-election campaign launched a text messaging program surveying constituents on their feelings about health care. Those results were then sent out for all to see on Reid's campaign Twitter account.

"Last campaign was almost, but this campaign will be, a tipping point for mobile," says Todd Ogasawara, who writes the blog Mobile Content Today.  "A lot of these tools are not only maturing, but the people using these tools are maturing."

A third of Nevada's voters registered after Reid's last re-election bid in 2004. Thirty-seven percent of those are under the age of 30, a demographic that began texting not long after they learned to talk.

They may not pick up a newspaper, but they never put down their cell phone.

"The campaign recognizes cell phones are a primary mode of communication and we need to go communicate with voters on their turf," Reid campaign manager Brandon Hall told CNN. The new technology, he says, is driving traditional political organizing. "Instead of having someone knock at someone's door, it allows you to do all the traditional political organizing online," he said.

Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman's campaign has hired Tusk Mobile, a firm that concentrates on mobile strategy for Republican candidates, to spearhead that effort for her gubernatorial bid in California. Tusk Mobile executive Chris Taylor is training each department - fundraising, research, outreach, youth - in the tactics of the new technology. The Whitman team has already made mobile tools a centerpiece of their campaign strategy: At campaign rallies, staffers ask audience members to text in what they want the Republican candidate to cover in her speech. Moments before she goes on stage, her team looks at the text results and tailors the speech accordingly.

Politicians aren't the only ones picking up on the trend. Health Care for America Now, the union umbrella group pushing for passage of President Obama's health care plan, tapped Revolution Messaging to create a mobile tool to summon instant grassroots armies: a "call Congress" tool that changes depending on the group's legislative priority of the week, and geo-targets phones to pinpoint congressional and Senate districts.

Revolution Messaging founder Scott Goodstein, who ran mobile operations for Obama's presidential bid last year, predicts a campaign future where the technology comes to dominate the political battlefield. "As phones become smarter and smarter, more people are moving to using their phone for photos, videos, MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service)," Goodstein told CNN.  "These things were not there for the 2008 or 2009 election, but another six months of peoples' contracts coming up for renewal and it will be a big factor in the 2010 and 2012 race."

Palin wasn't exactly a welcome presence in Virginia and New Jersey during both governor's races.

CEDAR CREEK, Texas (CNN) – Chris Christie and Bob McDonnell, the soon-to-be-governors of New Jersey and Virginia, both deflected questions Wednesday about why Sarah Palin did not appear with the two Republicans during their respective campaigns.

Christie said he only had three GOP heavyweights visit New Jersey during his campaign - Rudy Giuliani, Tim Pawlenty and Mitt Romney - and each came for a specific reason.

“I had a long standing relationship with Mayor Giuliani,” Christie explained. “Gov. Pawlenty and Gov. Romney both faced the same type of crises financially in their state when they took over that we did.”

McDonnell said his campaign had reached out to Palin nearly a year ago to campaign in Virginia, but said she was overwhelmed with requests at the time. When she stepped down as governor of Alaska in July, McDonnell said, their visitor lineup had already been set - a full four months before election day in Virginia.

“We thought she was a good leader for the party as the governor of Alaska and had some good reforms in the state, but she was in such incredible demand frankly for the longest time we were not able to work out anything for her to come in,” he said. “And then after she decided to leave office we had pretty much already arranged all of the folks that we had for the home stretch for fundraisers, including several current and former governors, and so we pretty much had our strategy set at that point.”

Christie and McDonnell made the comments at a news conference held during the Republican Governors Association's annual meeting near Austin.

Washington (CNN) - Abortion rights opponents made clear Thursday that they are adamantly against language regarding coverage for reproductive services in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's health care bill.

"Senator Reid's bill provides for an unprecedented expansion of federally funded abortion," said Charmaine Yoest, head of the group Americans United for Life. "The majority of Americans who oppose federal funding of abortion will not stand for policies that force them into paying for abortions under the guise of health care reform."

The Senate plan would allow abortion coverage through privately funded premiums in both a government-run public insurance option and private plans purchased with the assistance of government subsidies.

The more conservative House of Representatives plan, in contrast, would bar abortion coverage under both the public option and private policies purchased with government subsidies. House Democratic leaders opposed the measure, but added it to win critical support from anti-abortion members.

Both plans would allow for exceptions in cases of rape, incest or when the life of the mother is in danger.

Abortion opponents have rallied around the House language. Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan, co-author of the language adopted by the House, claimed Thursday that the Senate measure would "mandate abortion coverage for the first time in history."

GOP Sen. Mike Johanns of Nebraska said the abortion language in the Senate bill "satisfies no one." He also said a Senate vote on whether to open floor debate on the bill - now slated for Saturday - will be a "key vote for the pro-life community."

The leaders of the 40-member Republican Senate caucus have vowed to try to block the bill, requiring Reid to round up 60 votes in the 100 member chamber to overcome a filibuster and launch debate.

"We don't need 40 Democrats to stand up," Johanns said. "We just need one."

Democratic leaders have been walking a political tightrope on the abortion issue in recent weeks. Abortion opponents warn they have the votes to oppose a bill if necessary; abortion rights supporters were infuriated by what they saw as a sellout of core Democratic Party principles in the House.

"Health care reform must not be misused as an opportunity to restrict women's access to reproductive health services," 90 House Democrats opposed to the amended abortion language wrote in a letter to President Barack Obama last week.

In an example of the complicated politics of the issue, all but one of the House Democrats who signed the letter had voted to pass the overall health care bill even though it contained the amendment they opposed.

Their strategy now is to work with Obama and Senate Democrats to prevent inclusion of the language of the House amendment in a final health care bill.

2/3 of recovered funds come from federal health care fraud, Justice Dept. says.

Washington (CNN) – Two of every three dollars federal authorities recovered from frauds against the government come from health care fraud, a top Justice Department official disclosed Thursday.

As the cost of proposed health care programs is front and center for the president and the Senate, Assistant Attorney General Tony West told reporters that $1.6 billion of the $2.4 billion recovered through lawsuits during the past year was the direct result of fraud against federal health care programs.

The $2.4 billion in settlements and court judgments against defendants
accused of fraud is the second largest annual recovery of civil fraud claims in history, West said.

The Justice Department has stepped up enforcement of health care fraud through the use of regional strike forces.

West said of the 1,040 cases currently under investigation, about 600 deal with health care fraud. A much smaller number deal with defense procurement fraud and other claims.

Most health care fraud charges in recent months have focused on people accused of overcharging Medicare for wheelchairs and other medical devices.

CEDAR CREEK, Texas (CNN) – Virginia Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell on Wednesday would not disavow Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson’s recent claim that Islam is not a religion, but “a violent political system.”

McDonnell, though, stressed that he reached out to Muslims and visited mosques in Virginia throughout the governor’s race and will continue to do so when he takes office in January.

Muslim groups have called on McDonnell to condemn the remark because Robertson is a longtime political benefactor of the Republican, who won a blowout victory in this year’s closely-watched gubernatorial election.

McDonnell attended law school at CBN University (now Regent University), founded by Robertson, and has accepted thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the televangelist along with appearing on his show, “The 700 Club.”

“I’ve got probably 15,000 donors to the campaign and I can’t stand and defend or support every comment that any donor might make,” McDonnell said in response to a question from CNN at the Republican Governors Association annual meeting near Austin. “I think people are entitled under the First Amendment to express whatever opinions that they may have, but I can only say that as governor of Virginia, I intend to have an inclusive administration where we bring people across the political and religious system to help us govern.”

Robertson made the comments on his show on November 9 after the shooting rampage at the Fort Hood Army post in Texas. The suspected gunman, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, is a Muslim who was critical of U.S. military activity in Iraq and Afghanistan

“Islam is a violent, I was going to say religion, but it's not a religion. It's a political system,” Robertson said. “It's a violent political system bent on the overthrow of the governments of the world and world domination. That is the ultimate aim.”

When asked if he believes Islam is “a violent political system,” McDonnell said no, but he did not condemn Robertson.

“I think that there are people in various religions that do some violent things and they should be judged according to their acts,” he explained. “But I have believed that there are people of all the great religions, that can be enormously helpful in our multicultural Virginia to help them to benefit us in the state.”

Havana, Cuba (CNN) – A metaphorical timeout has been in place between the United States and Cuba for nearly 50 years. But that could all be changing with the help of sports.

Fifty-six Americans flew to Havana this week for a series of games with Cuban counterparts. The games are friendly, But these veteran players take their softball seriously.

"Well we sort of got a handle on softball diplomacy and big things start in small places and maybe this will be the spot for it," said U.S. softball player Stu Gray.

For the opposing pitcher, it's working.

"This bolsters ties between the two countries ... There's a real friendship between us," said Cuban softball player Roberto Castelo.

Players from the two baseball-crazed nations are all over 55.

"I'd like to see more Americans have the opportunity to come to Cuba and see what Cuba is today. And I think the Cubans appreciate Americans," said U.S. softball player David Brissen.

And that idea is gaining traction in Congress.

Full Story:

Washington (CNN) – The House voted Thursday to prevent cuts in coming years in Medicare reimbursements to doctors.

However, the so-called "doc fix" bill was defeated earlier this year in the Senate, which is unlikely to reconsider the measure until after it completes work on an overall health care reform bill.

The House approved the $210 billion bill on a 243-183 vote, mostly on partisan lines. Democrats called it a necessary step to address an annual problem under a 1997 formula that limits increases in Medicare reimbursement costs.

Each year, Congress has voted to override the formula to prevent a cut in the money reimbursed to doctors providing Medicare services. For 2010, doctors face a 21 percent cut in reimbursements without a congressional remedy. The doc-fix bill would replace the old formula as a permanent solution for the recurring funding issue.

Republicans called the bill a budget buster that would raise the federal deficit by more than $200 billion. They accused Democrats of separating the bill from the larger health care reform legislation as a political trick to hold down the cost of the more comprehensive health care measure.

The doc-fix legislation was considered an important incentive for the American Medical Association to support the overall health care reform bill.

Democratic leaders wanted House approval for the bill to signal the AMA of their intention to continue pushing for it despite the earlier defeat in the Senate.

Poll: Giuliani on top in possible 2010 Senate showdown.

(CNN) – A new poll of New York state voters indicates Rudy Giuliani leads incumbent Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in a hypothetical Senate race.

According to a Marist College survey released Thursday afternoon, 54 percent of registered voters in New York support the former New York City mayor for Senate, with four in 10 backing Gillibrand, a Democratic congresswoman from upstate New York who was appointed to fill Hillary Clinton's former Senate seat. Gillibrand is running in 2010 to serve the final two years of Clinton's term.

The poll indicates that Giuliani would top former New York State Gov. George Pataki 71 percent to 24 percent in a hypothetical Republican Senate primary next year. In September, Pataki wouldn't say if he was interested in making a bid for the senate seat held by Gillibrand. Earlier this year, fellow Republican Rep. Peter King officially announced that he would not challenge Gillbrand next year.

According to the poll, Giuliani leads Gillibrand overwhelmingly among registered Republicans, tops her by 14 points among independents, and trails her by 26 points among registered Democrats. The survey indicates that New York City voters are divided between Giuliani and Gillibrand.

The Marist College poll was conducted November 12, 16 and 17, with 805 registered New York state voters questioned by telephone. The survey's overall sampling error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

The poll's release comes as a spokeswoman for Giuliani says the former mayor has not made up his mind about running for New York governor next year. Maria Comella was responding to a Thurday New York Times report that quoted unnamed sources saying Giuliani had decided not to run for New York governor in 2010.

There's speculation that if Giuliani decided against a run for governor, he might consider making a bid for the Senate. Top New York Republicans have reportedly urged Giuliani to run for the Senate in 2010.

Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @psteinhausercnn

Barbour hopes Hutchison stays in Senate.

Cedar Creek, Texas (CNN)– Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said Thursday that he hopes Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison remains in the Senate and acknowledged that he has spoken with her about challenging Gov. Rick Perry in the GOP primary.

Barbour, head of the Republican Governors Association (RGA), would not elaborate on his conversation with Hutchison, but did say he personally hopes Perry wins another term.

"I would just hate to lose Kay Bailey in the Senate," Barbour said at a news conference during the RGA's annual meeting. "She has been a great senator. I would just hate to lose a great senator like that when we have a fine governor."

Barbour did note that the RGA, which is the campaign arm for GOP governors, would not be taking a side in the primary. Still, this week's conference is being held in Perry's home state and he has played a prominent role as host of the event.

Washington (CNN) – It appears the Democratic National Committee outraised its Republican counterpart last month.

The DNC raked in $11.5 million in October, a party source told CNN Thursday. Earlier in the day, the Republican National Committee reported that they brought in $8.79 million last month, with $11.2 million cash on hand and no debt.

According to the Democratic party source, the DNC has $12.3 million in the bank, with debt of $4.4 million. The $11.5 million the DNC says it raised in October would be a monthly record for a non-presidential election year since the implementation of campaign finance reform measures earlier this decade.

The RNC says the $8.79 million they raised in October was their highest monthly total in an off-election year.

The RNC's $11.2 million in the bank is down nearly $8 million from the start of October, which reflects the large amounts of money the party committee spent last month to help GOP candidates in this November's contests. Republican gubernatorial candidates in New Jersey and Virginia both won, grabbing back two seats held by Democrats.

Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @psteinhausercnn

President Obama to appear with NFL players for Thanksgiving public service announcement.

Washington (CNN) - Several White House officials confirm President Obama will appear in a public service announcement with NFL players DeMarcus Ware, Drew Brees, and Troy Polamalu. The 90-second spot will air during the NFL Thanksgiving games, and a shorter version will run throughout the football season.

The ad has Obama playing touch football on the White House lawn with local children and the Pittsburgh Steelers safety Polamalu, New Orleans Saints quarterback Brees, and Dallas Cowboys linebacker Ware. The spot is to promote the NFL's Play 60 campaign which tackles childhood obesity by encouraging physical exercise, and Mr.Obama's community service project United We Serve. During the spot the president wears a Chicago Bears jacket recognizing his home team.

Washington (CNN) – Defense Secretary Robert Gates Thursday announced a 45-day review of military policies in response to the Fort Hood killings, telling reporters the November 5 massacre raised questions that "demand complete but prompt answers."

The review will examine whether Pentagon policies fall short in identifying service members who pose "credible threats to others," or in personnel screening programs and security and emergency response at U.S. bases.

Gates said the investigation won't ease the pain of the families of the 13 people killed, but said the Pentagon must do "everything in our power to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future."

"In all of these, I promise the Department of Defense's full and open disclosure," he said.

Giuliani spokeswoman: No decision yet.

(CNN) - A spokeswoman for Rudy Giuliani says that the former New York City mayor has not made up his mind about running for governor next year.

Maria Comella's comments were in response to report Thursday in the New York Times that Giuliani had decided not to run for New York governor in 2010, according to people who have been told of his decision.

"Rudy has a history of making up his own mind and has no problem speaking it. When Mayor Giuliani makes a decision about serving in public office, he will inform New Yorkers on his own," said Comella in a statement.

Recent polls of New York State voters indicate that Giuliani holds a wide lead over former Rep. Rick Lazio, the only Republican to have declared a gubernatorial bid, in a hypothetical 2010 GOP primary match-up.

According to the surveys, Giuliani has a double-digit advantage over incumbent Democratic Gov. David Paterson in a hypothetical general election faceoff. But the polls suggest that New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who has not indicated if he wants to run for governor, tops Giuliani by 10-12 points. Cuomo also easily beats Paterson in a possible Democratic primary, according to those surveys.

The polls indicate that New Yorkers have an overall favorable opinion of the former New York City mayor.

Sunday on CNN's State of the Union with John King, Giuliani said he had not yet made up his mind regarding a run. He had previously indicated that he would make a decision before the end of the year.

Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @psteinhausercnn

Senate to vote Saturday on opening debate on health care bill '

Washington (CNN)– The Senate will vote Saturday on opening debate on the sweeping health care bill introduced by Democrats, Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday.

At a celebratory news conference the day after unveiling the 2,074-page bill, Reid and other leading Senate Democrats touted it as long overdue reform that will provide health coverage to millions of uninsured Americans while reducing the federal deficit.

Republicans have vowed to try to block the bill, requiring Reid to round up 60 votes in the 100-member Senate to overcome a GOP filibuster and launch debate.

The Democratic caucus is composed of 58 Democratic senators and two independents. However, some conservative and moderate Democrats have expressed concern with provisions in the health care bill.

Asked Thursday if he had the votes to launch debate, Reid said: "We'll find out."

(CNN) - A former security guard at a New Jersey airport who was accused of making threats against the president is expected to be released from jail Thursday after a judge determined he is not a threat to himself or others, the prosecutor's office said.

John Brek, 55, of Linden, New Jersey, appeared Thursday morning before Judge Robert Gardner, who, after reviewing Brek's psychiatric evaluation, sentenced him to the 29 days he has served in jail since his arrest in October, a spokesman for the Essex County prosecutor's office told CNN.

Brek initially was charged with making terroristic threats in connection with remarks he allegedly made about President Barack Obama. He denied making any threats, and the judge ultimately accepted a plea deal under which Brek pleaded guilty to two lesser counts.

Sentencing was delayed pending the psychiatric evaluation. After looking at that evaluation, Gardner said he concluded Brek is not a threat to anyone.

The arrest came one day before Obama's scheduled appearance at a campaign rally for New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine in Hackensack, New Jersey.

Brek is a gun collector and hunter, and a search of his home and a friend's home last month turned up a total of 70 firearms registered to him, all of which are legally owned, authorities said. When he is released from jail he will be able to submit an application to the court to have the confiscated weapons returned.

At the time of his arrest, Brek worked for a private security firm at Newark Liberty International Airport. He is no longer employed by the firm, FJC Security.

His attorney, Moses Rambarran, said he plans to pursue legal means of getting Brek's job back.

"While the protection of the president of the United States is of paramount concern, the constitutional rights of American citizens cannot be violated in that very important effort," Rambarran said. "And in this case, John Brek's constitutional rights of free speech and the right to bear arms were, in fact, violated. He should have never been arrested"

Parnell on Palin book: 'I have enjoyed it'

Cedar Creek, Texas (CNN) – Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell said Thursday he has read "significant portions" of Sarah Palin's new memoir and called it "a great re-telling of her story thus far."

Parnell, who succeeded Palin in Juneau when she resigned her office in July, said he read parts of the book during his flight from Alaska to Texas, where he is attending the Republican Governors Association's annual conference. Palin did not send him a copy of the book, he said.

"It's such a conversational tone, and there is so much in there that I have lived with her, except for the presidential campaign," Parnell told CNN. "I have enjoyed it."

But Parnell said Alaskans have moved on from the drama of the 2008 campaign and are now primarily concerned with local economic issues.

"Most of our focus has returned to our state issues, the gas line, resource development," he said. "People are just concerned about their jobs, just like here. People are focused on the economy.

Congress opens investigation into Fort Hood massacre .

WASHINGTON (CNN) – A key congressional committee opened its investigation Thursday into the November 5 Fort Hood shootings with a pledge to find out if authorities failed to "connect the dots" and could have prevented the attack.

The head of the committee promised the inquiry would not interfere with a separate investigation into the shootings being conducted by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Attorney General Eric Holder.

"Their investigation looks backward and is punitive. Ours looks forward and is preventive," said Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, I-Connecticut,

Authorities say Nidal Malik Hasan, a U.S. Army psychiatrist, opened fire at a military processing center at Fort Hood Army Post, killing 13 people. Dozens of others were wounded.

Wary of anti-Muslim backlash, Lieberman said the committee will carry out its investigation "with respect for the thousands of Muslim Americans who are serving in the American military with honor and the millions of other patriotic, law-abiding Muslims who live in our country."

But, he added, "we do no favor to all our fellow Americans who are Muslim by ignoring real evidence that a small number of their community have, in fact, become violent Islamists and extremists."

Lieberman said the committee's investigation will focus on whether concerns raised by Hasan's colleagues about his "mental stability and political extremism" were dealt with appropriately by senior Army officials.

Among other things, a memo reportedly written two years ago by Hasan's supervisor at Walter Reed Army Medical Center says Hasan demonstrated "a pattern of poor judgment and a lack of professionalism" during his residency at the hospital.

CNN could not corroborate the authenticity of the memo, which was obtained by National Public Radio.

Lieberman also said the committee will examine a lack of response by federal authorities after uncovering an exchange of e-mails between Hasan and a radical cleric accused of having ties to al Qaeda.

The FBI reportedly was aware of communication between Hasan and Anwar al-Awlaki, a Yemeni-American cleric who has promoted jihad against the United States and other Western countries.

Third, he noted, the committee will look into whether information on Hasan gathered by a joint terrorism task force was shared with officials in the Army, the Defense Department or elsewhere.

"This case ... raises questions about whether or not restrictive (federal) rules have a chilling effect on the legitimate dissemination of information, making it too difficult to connect the dots that would have allowed a clear picture of the threat to emerge," said Maine Sen. Susan Collins, the ranking Republican on the committee.

The committee heard testimony from, among others, former Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. John Keane and New York City Police Department intelligence analyst Mitchell Silber.

Cedar Creek, Texas (CNN) - Flanked by 14 of his fellow Republican governors, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour Thursday denounced Democratic efforts to reform health care and said that states will bear the financial burden if enacted.

Barbour took specific aim at a health bill recently passed by the House as well as the new legislation introduced in the Senate by Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada.

"Sen. Reid's bill, like the House bill, guts Medicare and is a huge cost shift that will have to be borne by states," Barbour said at a news conference held during the Republican Governors Association annual meeting.

(CNN) – House Republicans are criticizing three Democrats for voting in favor of their party's health care reform bill in a new weeklong TV ad buy.

The 30-second spots are airing on cable television and target Reps. Vic Snyder of Arkansas, Earl Pomeroy of North Dakota and John Spratt of South Carolina.

Ken Spain, communications director of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said this early ad buy is an indication of what Democrats should expect to see in the lead up to the 2010 elections.

"Democrats are getting a taste of what next fall is going to feel like when they are going down to defeat thanks in part to the statements made by their liberal colleagues," Spain said.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – The U.S. government has no right to restrict Americans from traveling to Cuba, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee said Thursday.

"It is the only country in the world where our people are not allowed to go," said Rep. Howard Berman, D-California, at the start of a hearing on whether it is time to lift the travel ban.

"Let's face it. By any objective measure, the nearly 50-year-old travel ban simply hasn't worked," Berman said, referring to the Communist nation's refusal to embrace democracy.

The Republican National Committee says they've raised what they call an off-election year record of money last month.

Washington (CNN) - With less than a year to go until crucial mid-term contests, the Republican National Committee says they've raised what they call an off-election year record of money last month.

The RNC reports Thursday morning that they raked in $8.79 million in October, with $11.2 million cash on hand and no debt. The RNC says it has now topped one million active donors and that as of November 11, it has registered a record 305,000 new contributors this year.

The $8.79 million is up slightly from the $8.74 million the RNC says they raised in September. The $11.2 million in the bank is down nearly $8 million from the start of October, which reflects the large amounts of money the RNC spent last month to help Republican candidates in this November's contests. Republican gubernatorial candidates in New Jersey and Virginia both won, grabbing back two seats held by Democrats.

"I am extremely pleased that the Republican National Committee continues to show solid fundraising numbers, and we are grateful to the countless Americans who have contributed to our Party. The elections in Virginia and New Jersey clearly showed the American people oppose bigger government, reckless federal spending, and higher taxes, and this enthusiasm for common-sense Republican principles is strongly resonating with our generous and motivated donors," said RNC Chairman Michael Steele in a statement.

"Thanks to our many contributors, the RNC is on solid financial footing as we continue build an organization to support our candidates and state parties in the election of 2010 and beyond."

The RNC's counterpart, the Democratic National Committee, has not yet released its October numbers. The DNC reported that they raised just over $8 million in September.

Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @psteinhausercnn

President Obama greeted US troops at Osan Air Base, south of Seoul, Thursday. (Getty Images)

Seoul, South Korea (CNN) - President Obama wrapped up an eight-day tour of Asia on Thursday, holding talks with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and speaking to American troops at Osan Air Base.

Nuclear negotiations involving North Korea and Iran highlighted a news conference held by the leaders.

Obama announced that he will send American envoy Stephen Bosworth to North Korea on December 8 for bilateral talks on dismantling Pyongyang's nuclear program.

"If North Korea is prepared to take concrete and irreversible steps to fulfill its obligations and eliminate its nuclear weapons program, the United States will support economic assistance and help promote its full integration into the community of nations," Obama said. "That opportunity and respect will not come with threats. North Korea must live up to its obligations."

Full story

Sarah Palin on Wednesday sent out her first tweet in nearly four months on a new Twitter account associated with her book tour.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Sarah Palin on Wednesday sent out her first tweet in nearly four months on a new Twitter account associated with her book tour.

She tweeted from a BlackBerry at 11:04 p.m. ET: "Michigan-thx 4 Going Rogue! Perfect tour kickoff w/Kid Rock tune praising Northern MI humming in backgrnd @ Barnes/Noble. Above expectations."

The former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate launched a bus tour for her new book, "Going Rogue: An American Life," which is already a bestseller. The tour started Wednesday in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Palin's last tweet occurred from an account associated with Alaska's governorship. When she resigned in late July, the @AKGovSarahPalin went dormant and Palin switched to sending out frequent Facebook messages.

This week, her old Twitter account sent a message, saying @AKGovSarahPalin would be removed and Palin would begin tweeting from a new account: @SarahPalinUSA.

Palin has more than 22,000 people following her new account. More than 153,000 people followed her original account.

A fallen soldiers memorial is seen in front of the podium where President Obama spoke at the memorial service for victims of the Fort Hood shootings.

Washington (CNN) – A majority of Americans think that authorities could have prevented the deadly attack at Fort Hood, Texas, according to a new national poll.

A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey indicates that 64 percent of the public believes that federal law enforcement agencies or the U.S. military should have been able to prevent the shootings, with 31 percent saying the incident couldn't have been prevented.

Authorities say Nidal Hasan, a U.S. Army psychiatrist, opened fire at a military processing center at the Fort Hood army post, killing 13 people. Dozens of others were wounded.

"All major demographic groups seem to believe that the attack at Fort Hood was preventable," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "A majority of men and women, old and young, Democrats and Republicans - all think Hasan could have been stopped."

The poll's Thursday morning release comes as the Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman is scheduled to begin hearings focusing on what authorities knew about the alleged shooter before the November 5 incident, and whether military or law enforcement authorities missed signals that Hasan was planning an attack.

According to the survey, Americans are split on whether the attack was an act of terrorism. Forty-seven percent of people questioned say it was an act of terrorism, with 45 percent disagreeing.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll was conducted November 13-15, with 1,014 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

Full results (pdf)

–CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report

Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @psteinhausercnn

Obama said he probably won't ready Palin's new book.

(CNN) – Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to buy Sarah Palin's just-released memoir, but don't count President Obama among them.

In an interview with CNN's Ed Henry in China, the president acknowledged Wednesday he would not be reading the highly-anticipated memoir by his potential 2012 opponent.

"I probably won't, but I don't get a chance to read things other than briefing books very often these days anyway," he said.

Obama also suggested he views the former Alaska governor as a credible candidate should she decide to seek the presidency in a couple of years.

"You know, she obviously has a big constituency in the Republican Party," he said. "You know, there a lot of people who are excited by her."

But when it comes to the 2012 race, Obama didn't discount the possibility he may sit out on a reelection bid.

"You know, if - if I feel like I've made the very best decisions for the American people and three years from now I look at it and, you know, my poll numbers are in the tank and because we've gone through these wrenching changes, you know, politically, I'm in a tough spot, I'll - I'll feel all right about myself," Obama told CNN's Ed Henry during an interview in China.

Related: North Korea, trade on agenda as Obama visits South Korea

"I said to myself very early on, even when I started running for office, I don't want to be making decisions based on getting reelected, because I think the challenges that America faces right now are so significant," the president also said. "Obviously, if I make those decisions and I think that I'm moving the country on the right direction economically, in terms of our security interests, our foreign policy, I'd like to think that those policies are continued because they're not going to bear fruit just in four years."

But in the next breath the president quickly sounded like someone who would relish taking his case to the American people in 2012, saying he's tackling big issues like health care and Iran that he's confident will bear fruit in the future.

The last president not to seek reelection was Lyndon Johnson in 1968.

TOPICS: Fort Hood shootings

Full results (pdf)

The CNN Washington Bureau’s morning speed read of the top stories making news from around the country and the world.

WASHINGTON/POLITICAL
For the latest political news: www.CNNPolitics.com

CNN: Senate leader unveils $849 billion health care bill
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid unveiled a sweeping health care bill Wednesday that would expand health insurance coverage to 30 million more Americans at an estimated cost of $849 billion over 10 years.

CNNMoney: 1 million jobless face benefits loss in January
One million people could lose unemployment benefits in January if Congress doesn't extend federal aid, according to a report released Wednesday. The report is likely to turn up pressure on lawmakers and the president, who earlier this month enacted a record-long extension of federally paid benefits. But the law only helps those who exhaust their lifelines by year's end.

New York Times: Obama Demands Results From Afghan Reforms
President Obama sent his top diplomat to Afghanistan on Wednesday to press President Hamid Karzai to deliver “measurable results” on governance and corruption as the White House prepared specific new demands to accompany an American troop buildup.

Newsweek: 'Heads I Win, Tails You Lose': In 9/11 Case, KSM Won't Walk Free Even If Found Not Guilty
Attorney General Eric Holder acknowledged on Wednesday a previously unspoken proviso to the controversial decision to try alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four co-conspirators in a federal court in New York: even if the defendants are somehow acquitted, they will still stay behind bars.

Washington Post: Sides gear up for fight over U.S. ban on travel to Cuba
A battle over Cuba policy is escalating in Congress, with proponents saying they have their best chance in years of repealing the ban on U.S. tourist travel to the island.

The State: Panel finds probable cause for charges against Sanford
A state ethics panel has found evidence Gov. Mark Sanford may have broken state law, charging him with "several" undisclosed violations after an investigation into his travel and campaign spending.

Hartford Courant: Former Professional Wrestler Blasts Linda McMahon And Her Campaign For Senate
Linda McMahon, in her campaign to unseat U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd, has repeatedly distanced herself from the business that made her rich and propelled her aspiring political career — professional wrestling. In TV commercials and campaign brochures, McMahon mentions that she operated a highly successful business with her husband that had once gone bankrupt. But the commercials never mention wrestling.

NATIONAL
For the latest national news: www.CNN.com

CNN: Court: Army Corps of Engineers liable for Katrina flooding
The Army Corps of Engineers' failure to properly maintain a shipping channel linking New Orleans, Louisiana, to the Gulf of Mexico led to catastrophic flooding during Hurricane Katrina, a federal court ruled Wednesday.

Miami Herald: Broken deadline not a surprise at Guantánamo
Guards didn't go through the prison camps Wednesday and unpin the presidential closure order from detainee bulletin boards. And the detention center didn't put in an urgent call for reinforcements. Rather, President Barack Obama's acknowledgment - in television interviews in China - that his administration would miss its Jan. 22 deadline for closure barely caused a ripple in the place slated for closure.

New York Times: Born in U.S., a Radical Cleric Inspires Terror
In nearly a dozen recent terrorism cases in the United States, Britain and Canada, investigators discovered the suspects had something in common: a devotion to the message of Anwar al-Awlaki, an eloquent Muslim cleric who has turned the Web into a tool for extremist indoctrination….Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist charged with killing 13 people at Fort Hood, Tex., on Nov. 5, is only the latest suspect accused of perpetrating or plotting violence to be linked to the cleric.

NY Daily News: Department store Santas lobby to receive H1N1 vaccine before the holidays
Santas may love to give but there’s one thing they’d rather not receive in return: swine flu. It seems the nation’s Santas want special priority for getting the H1N1 vaccine – and not only because of all the snot-nosed kids pawing them all day long. It also has to do with the big bellies they sport, according to an AP report.

INTERNATIONAL
For the latest international news: http://edition.cnn.com

CNN: Suicide attack turns deadly in Peshawar
A suicide bomber self-detonated Thursday morning outside the gates of a court compound in the heavily guarded administrative heart of the Pakistani city of Peshawar, the seventh deadly explosion there in less than two weeks.

CNN: Afghanistan's Karzai sworn in to 2nd term
Afghan President Hamid Karzai was sworn in for a second term Thursday amid intense pressure from Western nations to tackle corruption in the troubled nation. His inauguration came a day after another report of government graft had resurfaced following an election marred by fraud.

BBC: Canada hears of Afghan 'torture'
A senior Canadian diplomat has testified that many Afghan detainees captured by Canadian forces in 2006 and 2007 were likely to have been tortured. Richard Colvin told a parliamentary committee in Ottawa that government bureaucrats had ignored his warnings.

Financial Times: Iran rejects key demand of nuclear compromise
Iran on Wednesday rejected the central tenet of a compromise over its nuclear programme, putting forward an alternative proposal even though the US says it had signed up to the original deal. Unless reversed, the statement by Manouchehr Mottaki, foreign minister, is likely to confirm the Obama administration in its shift of emphasis from engagement with Tehran to a push for new sanctions.

Bloomberg: Obama Says He Seeks to Break Pattern With North Korea
President Barack Obama said he and South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak aim to “break the pattern” in dealing with North Korea in which the regime in Pyongyang alternates between provocation and negotiation. Obama said he will send his special envoy, Stephen Bosworth, to North Korea on Dec. 8 in an effort to resume the stalled six-party talks over North Korea’s nuclear program.

BUSINESS
For the latest business news: www.CNNMoney.com

Bloomberg: Obama Pledges to Allay Concerns of Auto Lobby Over Korea Trade
President Barack Obama said he is committed to pushing through a free trade agreement with South Korea that has been stalled by the U.S. auto lobby and unions, who argue it doesn’t do enough to open up Korean markets.

CNN: California approves new energy efficiency standards for televisions
The California Energy Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to become the first state to impose energy efficiency standards for televisions. The agency estimates the move will save consumers $1 billion a year in energy costs.

Los Angeles Times: U.S. in standoff with Beijing over Chinese currency
As President Obama's trip to Beijing proved, the days when U.S. leaders could jawbone China into making major changes in economic policy appear to be gone. Not only did the Chinese brush off Obama's appeals this week, they harangued the United States for its own shortcomings.

USA Today: As pensions dried up, four firms paid top execs $49.5M
Top executives at four companies that jettisoned their employee pension plans received $49.5 million in retirement and severance benefits in the years before the companies filed for bankruptcy, while retirees saw their benefits cut by as much as two thirds, congressional investigators conclude in a report to be released today.

In Case You Missed It

CNN: Mammogram policy 'unchanged'
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2009/11/18/tsr.sebelius.mammograms.cnn

CNN: Fast food lobbying
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2009/11/18/schiavone.fast.food.lobbying.cnn

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Obama said he probably won't ready Palin's new book.

(CNN) – Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to buy Sarah Palin's just-released memoir, but don't count President Obama among them.

In an interview with CNN's Ed Henry in China, the president acknowledged Wednesday he would not be reading the highly-anticipated memoir by his potential 2012 opponent.

"I probably won't, but I don't get a chance to read things other than briefing books very often these days anyway," he said.

Obama also suggested he views the former Alaska governor as a credible candidate should she decide to seek the presidency in a couple of years.

"You know, she obviously has a big constituency in the Republican Party," he said. "You know, there a lot of people who are excited by her."

But when it comes to the 2012 race, Obama didn't discount the possibility he may sit out on a reelection bid.

"You know, if - if I feel like I've made the very best decisions for the American people and three years from now I look at it and, you know, my poll numbers are in the tank and because we've gone through these wrenching changes, you know, politically, I'm in a tough spot, I'll - I'll feel all right about myself," Obama told CNN's Ed Henry during an interview in China.

Related: North Korea, trade on agenda as Obama visits South Korea

"I said to myself very early on, even when I started running for office, I don't want to be making decisions based on getting reelected, because I think the challenges that America faces right now are so significant," the president also said. "Obviously, if I make those decisions and I think that I'm moving the country on the right direction economically, in terms of our security interests, our foreign policy, I'd like to think that those policies are continued because they're not going to bear fruit just in four years."

But in the next breath the president quickly sounded like someone who would relish taking his case to the American people in 2012, saying he's tackling big issues like health care and Iran that he's confident will bear fruit in the future.

The last president not to seek reelection was Lyndon Johnson in 1968.

Obama said he probably won't ready Palin's new book.

(CNN) – Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to buy Sarah Palin's just-released memoir, but don't count President Obama among them.

In an interview with CNN's Ed Henry in China, the president acknowledged Wednesday he would not be reading the highly-anticipated memoir by his potential 2012 opponent.

"I probably won't, but I don't get a chance to read things other than briefing books very often these days anyway," he said.

Obama also suggested he views the former Alaska governor as a credible candidate should she decide to seek the presidency in a couple of years.

"You know, she obviously has a big constituency in the Republican Party," he said. "You know, there a lot of people who are excited by her."

But when it comes to the 2012 race, Obama didn't discount the possibility he may sit out on a reelection bid.

"You know, if - if I feel like I've made the very best decisions for the American people and three years from now I look at it and, you know, my poll numbers are in the tank and because we've gone through these wrenching changes, you know, politically, I'm in a tough spot, I'll - I'll feel all right about myself," Obama told CNN's Ed Henry during an interview in China.

Related: North Korea, trade on agenda as Obama visits South Korea

"I said to myself very early on, even when I started running for office, I don't want to be making decisions based on getting reelected, because I think the challenges that America faces right now are so significant," the president also said. "Obviously, if I make those decisions and I think that I'm moving the country on the right direction economically, in terms of our security interests, our foreign policy, I'd like to think that those policies are continued because they're not going to bear fruit just in four years."

But in the next breath the president quickly sounded like someone who would relish taking his case to the American people in 2012, saying he's tackling big issues like health care and Iran that he's confident will bear fruit in the future.

The last president not to seek reelection was Lyndon Johnson in 1968.

Palin wasn't exactly a welcome presence in Virginia and New Jersey during both governor's races.

CEDAR CREEK, Texas (CNN) – Chris Christie and Bob McDonnell, the soon-to-be-governors of New Jersey and Virginia, both deflected questions Wednesday about why Sarah Palin did not appear with the two Republicans during their respective campaigns.

Christie said he only had three GOP heavyweights visit New Jersey during his campaign - Rudy Giuliani, Tim Pawlenty and Mitt Romney - and each came for a specific reason.

“I had a long standing relationship with Mayor Giuliani,” Christie explained. “Gov. Pawlenty and Gov. Romney both faced the same type of crises financially in their state when they took over that we did.”

McDonnell said his campaign had reached out to Palin nearly a year ago to campaign in Virginia, but said she was overwhelmed with requests at the time. When she stepped down as governor of Alaska in July, McDonnell said, their visitor lineup had already been set - a full four months before election day in Virginia.

“We thought she was a good leader for the party as the governor of Alaska and had some good reforms in the state, but she was in such incredible demand frankly for the longest time we were not able to work out anything for her to come in,” he said. “And then after she decided to leave office we had pretty much already arranged all of the folks that we had for the home stretch for fundraisers, including several current and former governors, and so we pretty much had our strategy set at that point.”

Christie and McDonnell made the comments at a news conference held during the Republican Governors Association's annual meeting near Austin.

Republican Bob McDonnell captured the Virginia governor's mansion back from Democrats earlier this month.

CEDAR CREEK, Texas (CNN) – Virginia Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell on Wednesday would not disavow Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson’s recent claim that Islam is not a religion, but “a violent political system.”

McDonnell, though, stressed that he reached out to Muslims and visited mosques in Virginia throughout the governor’s race and will continue to do so when he takes office in January.

Muslim groups have called on McDonnell to condemn the remark because Robertson is a longtime political benefactor of the Republican, who won a blowout victory in this year’s closely-watched gubernatorial election.

McDonnell attended law school at CBN University (now Regent University), founded by Robertson, and has accepted thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the televangelist along with appearing on his show, “The 700 Club.”

“I’ve got probably 15,000 donors to the campaign and I can’t stand and defend or support every comment that any donor might make,” McDonnell said in response to a question from CNN at the Republican Governors Association annual meeting near Austin. “I think people are entitled under the First Amendment to express whatever opinions that they may have, but I can only say that as governor of Virginia, I intend to have an inclusive administration where we bring people across the political and religious system to help us govern.”

Robertson made the comments on his show on November 9 after the shooting rampage at the Fort Hood Army post in Texas. The suspected gunman, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, is a Muslim who was critical of U.S. military activity in Iraq and Afghanistan

“Islam is a violent, I was going to say religion, but it's not a religion. It's a political system,” Robertson said. “It's a violent political system bent on the overthrow of the governments of the world and world domination. That is the ultimate aim.”

When asked if he believes Islam is “a violent political system,” McDonnell said no, but he did not condemn Robertson.

“I think that there are people in various religions that do some violent things and they should be judged according to their acts,” he explained. “But I have believed that there are people of all the great religions, that can be enormously helpful in our multicultural Virginia to help them to benefit us in the state.”