News and Notes: The National Scene

What's going on today:

Weak Jobs Report Triggers More Stock Losses - After experts had predicted 130,000 new jobs in July, the Labor Department this morning reported only 92,000 new nonfarm jobs and the unemployment rate edged up 0.1% to 4.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average promptly dropped 101 points to 13.336.

FISA Amendment Stalls, Bush Calls on Congress to Stay in Session - Negotiations between Bush and Congress over amending the law that governs warrantless surveillance have stalled, and Bush has called on Congress to stay in session until an amendment is passed. A judge on the secret FISA court ruled early this winter that a component of the National Security Agency's enhanced surveillance since 9/11 is illegal, causing the administration to seek changes to the law. The specific area in dispute is warrantless tapping of calls between two persons outside the country when the call itself is routed through the US. The Bush administration contended that the NSA activities were legal and did not agree to submit them to FISA court review until January, so the contrary ruling is a political blow to the administration. A key point of contention in the negotiations is whether the law should require the disputed NSA activity to be reviewed by the Attorney General Alberto Gonzales or by the FISA court. Democrats will not agree to review by Gonzales, who has been criticized for (and is the subject of proposed articles of impeachment about) making misleading statements if not outright false statements to Congress about the activities of the NSA.

Energy Bill Still Pending - One of the major pieces of legislation that the House is still not getting to because of the spat over last night's procedural vote is the energy bill, passage of which is somewhat uncertain because Democrats from big oil states are balking at $16 billion in new taxes on oil companies. Another item in suspense is the Udall/Platt amendment, heavily promoted by environmentalists, farmers, and the wind energy industry, that would require electrical utilities to generate 15% of their electricity from renewable energy sources.