In a shift, Bush endorses new stimulus plan

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested recently that Congress should get to work on a second stimulus package that would include up to $150 billion in federal spending on unemployment benefits, food stamps, highway-construction projects and aid to cash-strapped state governments.

To hear the White House tell it, you'd think she was proposing, well, socialism or something. Only last Thursday, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said the administration "didn't think" the Democrats' proposals to spur spending "would help bring money into the economy."

But today, two weeks out from an election that some see as a referendum on George W. Bush's handling of the economy, the White House has a new tune.

First, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gave his blessings to a second stimulus for the economy, which he predicted would be weak for several quarters. Then, as President Bush flew to Louisiana for an economic speech, Perino told reporters on Air Force One that the White House is "open" to a new plan and would "look carefully" at suggestions. In a press gaggle, she said:

We're continuing to have conversations with members of Congress and we're open to ideas that they would put forward that would -- both Democrats and Republicans alike -- that would stimulate the economy and help us pull out of this downturn faster.

It may be too late. Pelosi told the Associated Press the other day that she thinks she'll wait until a new administration takes office. "If (Bush) won't sign it, then let's get on a path" to a bill, Pelosi said, "instead of beating our head against a wall just to make a point that he won't sign it. But we can get something signed — please, God — when Barack Obama wins the election."

-- Johanna Neuman

Photo: Charles Dharapak / Associated Press

No Child Left Behind: Left Behind?

It has been one of President Bush's proudest accomplishments in the domestic policy arena, but the No Child Left Behind law that overhauled the federal government's approach to education nearly seven years ago is limping along these days.

It has itself been left behind in the presidential campaign debate.

The administration long ago gave up on winning reauthorization of the law this year -- a process that stalled in an election year under pressure from education experts pushing for major changes. Instead, the law will continue, as written, unchanged since Bush signed it in 2002.

And neither Barack Obama nor John McCain has focused significantly on the law itself or on education in general as they seek the presidency -- certainly not to the extent that Bush did in 2000.

Nevertheless, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings is plugging away, trying to maintain support for the central element of the law: the requirement that states and schools show that students have achieved grade-level proficiency in reading and math.

"We must resist pressure to weaken or water down accountability," she said at an education summit run by the nonpartisan Aspen Institute, the Washington Post reports today.

-- James Gerstenzang

Photo: Ken Cedeno / Bloomberg News

President Bush and Dick Cheney: Closet liberals?

And now for something completely different: President Bush, yes, this President Bush--as a liberal.

The Canadian magazine Macleans is making that argument, under the shocking headline "The shockingly liberal legacy of George W. Bush."

The irony that it misses: Could it be that Vice President Dick Cheney is the force behind at least one element of the "liberalization?"

In a lengthy article that addresses the breadth of the Bush presidency and notes that the administration's legacy is more than just the war in Iraq, it says: "In some areas it is the result of hard-line conservative ideology — but in others it is surprisingly liberal."

Consider the seeming contradictions: The tax-cutting conservative who ...

Laura Bush redux: the ranch and schools

The first lady's press secretary called this morning with a few clarifications about recent news items posted here.

First, said Sally McDonough, contrary to our item "So done with the Crawford thing," Laura Bush really loves the ranch in Crawford. McDonough doesn't know why the media are going nuts over news that the first lady is house-hunting in Dallas. True, the president revealed this in off-the-cuff remarks recorded on someone's cell camera, but, McDonough noted, Mrs. Bush first disclosed their Dallas plans in a speech in April.

And, just for the record, said McDonough, while Countdown to Crawford made much last night of Mrs. Bush's speech chiding Congress for eliminating reading funds, apparently she's dinged Congress over education funds before.

-- Johanna Neuman

Photo: Krisanne Johnson / White House

Laura Bush dings Congress on reading funds

Suddenly, the first lady is getting top billing.

First came news that First Lady Laura Bush, who for nearly eight years has been in the supporting role, is in charge of the post-presidency decisions, such as where the first family will live. (Dallas, as per President Bush's off-the-cuff remarks last week about her not liking Crawford.)

Then came the National Republican Committee announcement that Mrs. Bush, at least 20 points higher in approval ratings than her husband, will get a separate speaking slot at the GOP convention.

Now comes word that the first lady, in an appearance today before the fifth annual Reading First conference, actually criticized Congress. Mrs. Bush, a former teacher and librarian who has long championed the cause of literacy, dinged appropriators for slashing funding for the program.

A little-noticed component of the No Child Left Behind Act, "Reading First" targets students from low-income families and those just learning the English language. In her remarks, Mrs. Bush said the program is premised on the notion that "there's no limit to what children who know how to read can achieve." She also said its founded "on sound science -- not the latest fads. The nonpartisan National Research Panel reviewed more than 100,000 studies before identifying the five components that form the core" of the program.

Using her platform to chide Congress, she then said:

"Despite evidence that the program is effective, Congress last year cut 'Reading First' funding by 60%. Now appropriators in the House and Senate are proposing to eliminate this program altogether. If Congress continues on this path, it would be the first time in a decade that no federal money would be provided for instruction. The solution for our nation's struggling students is not less time and fewer resources. Congress must restore the full $1-billion appropriation for 'Reading First.' "

Well, all C2C can say is, go girl go.

-- Johanna Neuman

Photo: Krisanne Johnson / White House

Jeb Bush defends big brother

The president's famous younger brother, Jeb, the former Florida governor, got a little tongue-tied the other day trying to push his favorite cause -- education -- while still defending his brother. Jeb Bush was asked about his brother's No Child Left Behind Act, notorious among educators as forcing students to learn to the test but credited by some for infusing accountability into a broken public education system.

Kicking off a campaign for choice and accountability (and vouchers) in the nation’s public schools,

"I think President Bush 43 has tried," he said, calling NCLB "a historic piece of legislation" and an example of bipartisan cooperation.

But the former governor said he hopes whoever wins the White House next will refocus on education. And in case anyone tries to suggest that he's slighting his brother by pushing an education agenda on the next president, Jeb Bush said, "I'm not being critical of the current president by saying that the next president should make this a higher priority."

-- Peter Wallsten

Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press