Specter hints at surveillance fund cuts
WASHINGTON, April 27 (UPI) -- A leading Senate critic of warrantless surveillance warned the White House in Washington Thursday funding for the program could be in jeopardy.
Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., told a news conference he had filed an amendment to a spending bill that would prohibit the use of federal funds for "domestic electronic surveillance for foreign intelligence purpose" unless Congress is kept up to date on the operations.
Specter said President George W. Bush's electronic surveillance program is "of great importance to protect the country from terrorism," but he said there is no way to know if the surveillance is constitutional because the White House has refused to answer all his questions about the program.
"It is possible that the only way Congress can assert its constitutional prerogative is by exercise of power of purse," said Specter.
He said cutting off funding would be a drastic remedy that he was not prepared to support right now, but which "may become necessary."
Specter said the administration's argument -- that the president has the power to conduct warrantless surveillance under a resolution passed by Congress after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks -- was "totally without merit."
Poll: U.S. voters 'deeply pessimistic'
WASHINGTON, April 27 (UPI) -- Despite positive economic signs, U.S. voters are "deeply pessimistic," and national leaders are paying a political prices, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The pessimism is largely fueled by rising gasoline prices, the newspaper said in a report on the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll -- which found 77 percent of those surveyed said they were uneasy about the state of the economy.
The Journal said current data showed new-home sales and factory orders are strong, but two-thirds of those polled said the nation is "on the wrong track."
The poll found President George W. Bush's approval rating has fallen to 36 percent and Congress' approval rating is 22 percent.
In New Orleans Thursday, Bush was asked by NBC News about his falling poll numbers.
"I've been up in the polls and I've been down in the polls," Bush said, "but I'm going to continue to do what's right for the country."
Democratic pollster Peter Hart, who conducts the Journal/NBC poll with Republican counterpart Bill McInturff, told the newspaper there's "almost nothing" the public is satisfied with.
"What they're telling you is, they want change on every front," said Hart.
House puts off ethics reform debate
WASHINGTON, April 27 (UPI) -- The U.S. House of Representatives halted debate Thursday on a lobbying reform bill, as Republicans struggled to find agreement among themselves on the issue.
The House had been working on a procedural matter early Thursday when Republican leaders stopped debate and went into a private meeting to discuss concerns of some GOP members over how far lobbying reform should go, The Washington Post reported.
Leaders said the House would vote later Thursday on procedures for debating the legislation, the newspaper said.
The issue gained importance in Washington because of the scandal surrounding disgraced Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff. He has pleaded guilty to federal charges as part of a corruption investigation involving several members of Congress and their aides.
Returning to Washington from the Easter break this week, Republican lawmakers said they might pass a relatively tame ethics bill because constituents rarely mention the issue, the Post reported.
The fundamental disagreement Thursday had to do with earmarks -- funding targeted at home-district pet projects. Some Republicans oppose a provision of the ethics bill that would require lawmakers to attach their names to earmarks, the newspaper said.
Lay acknowledges giving false impression
HOUSTON, April 27 (UPI) -- Kenneth Lay defended his failure to report his sales of Enron stock in 2001 as he spent a second day under cross-examination Thursday in Houston.
Lay told assistant U.S. Attorney John Hueston he was advised by the Enron lawyer specializing in Securities and Exchange Commission regulations that he did not need to report the sales until the end of the year, The Washington Post reported.
Under questioning, he admitted that his delay left the public with the impression that his holdings in Enron remained the same -- or possibly grew a little -- by the end of the year when he had, in fact, sold $70 million in company stock.
One of the founders of the energy giant, Lay faces six counts of fraud while his co-defendant, Jeffrey Skilling, is charged with 28 counts. The two men blame Enron's collapse on Andrew Fastow, the chief financial officer turned prosecution witness, unfriendly media coverage and short sellers.
Hueston asked Lay about short sales by his own son.
"He wasn't trying to kill Enron in 2001, was he?" Hueston asked.
