THE HOTLINE, February 8, 2007, Thursday

Copyright 2007 National Journal Group, Inc.

THE HOTLINE

February 8, 2007 Thursday

SECTION: NATIONAL BRIEFING

HEADLINE: DEMOCRATS;

SIZE DOESN'T MATTER, REALLY GUYS

BODY:

Speaker Nancy Pelosi's "request" for access to a larger Air

Force plane-- first reported in the Washington Times-- continues

to develop, with MSNBC reporting she will fly commercial to her

district if a non-stop gov't plane is not available (2/8).

Washington Times' Hurt and Scarborough report, the Defense Dept

sent a letter to Pelosi that "puts limits on the size of the

plane she may use" and "restricts the guests she can bring." A

congressional source "said it essentially limits her to the

commuter plane used" ex-Speaker Dennis Hastert (2/8).

Los Angeles Times' Barnes writes, the "flap over how the

House speaker gets around has been circling over" DC since last

week, "but was largely ignored until" 2/7 "when, as things tend

to do on a slow news day in the nation's capital, it exploded."

Pelosi's "conservative critics" say she is "abusing the

perks of power by attempting to commandeer a fancy jumbo-size

military jet with a 'distinguished visitor compartment with

sleep accommodations.'" Pelosi supporters "charge that the

controversy is being fueled by GOP opponents who are still

burning over an election loss." For her part, Pelosi "suggested"

that the Bush admin. was "trying to sabotage her." Pelosi: "The

misrepresentation could only be coming from the administration,

and one would only have to wonder why" (2/8).

Pelosi was on "On the Record" and discussed the airplane

controversy:

FNC's Van Susteren: "It's about the size of the plane. I

think that's what the dispute was."

Pelosi: "It was the distance."

Van Susteren: "You're from California, we can't do anything

about that. ... And Speaker Hastert was Illinois, the mid-part

of the country."

Pelosi: "That's right."

Asked if she asked for a particular sized plane, Pelosi:

"No" (2/7).

McClatchy's Taley writes, the controversy is "a potential

image problem for the first female speaker," who is being

"portrayed as thinking she deserves her own Air Force Three"

(2/8).

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

"Despite misgivings" that the measure has "virtually no

chance" of avoiding a veto from Pres. Bush, House Dems and labor

unions are "moving forward" on a bill to require employers to

recognize unions created by the easier "card check" method of

collecting employee signatures, effectively replacing

secret-ballot votes for unionization. Dems "promised quick

action" on the measure as part of their '06 platform, and a

House subcmte is slated to hold the first hearing today.

AFL-CIO pol. dir. William Samuel said 232 House members are

co-sponsoring the measure, and he's "confident" a majority of

Senators will support it, though perhaps not enough to block a

GOP filibuster. Cornell prof. Richard Hurd said support is

nearly unanimous among labor groups, though some, like SEIU,

question "if it's the right way to use political capital right

now" (Gerstein, New York Sun, 2/8).