Wonkette

“Former President Bill Clinton today accepted responsibility for the failure to get a universal health care bill passed in 1993…. ‘It was more my fault than hers,’ the former president said. ‘We couldn’t raise the money.’” Ahh yes. The ol’ money excuse. [Iowa Politics]

* House approves campaign finance legislation along party lines; new rules will primarily benefit Republicans. [WP]
* Rep. Tom DeLay’s departure “has emboldened centrists and conservatives to push their divergent views more assertively.” [NYT]
* Many Republicans facing reelection “are feeling voter wrath” over Iraq; voters are increasingly critical of pro-war stances. [WP]
* Senate Republicans near agreement on immigration but “showdown” will come this morning; legislation “would allow undocumented workers a path to lawful employment and citizenship if they could prove [that] they have been in the country for five years.” [WP, NYT, USAT, WT]
* Bush tries to shift attention to domestic issues; visits Connecticut to talk healthcare. [WP, NYT]
* Majority of federal budget –military and entitlement programs– cannot be reduced by lawmakers. [NYT]
* Conservatives see the fall of DeLay as “a setback and a warning for their movement” — “a big hole in their forces in Congress.” [NYT]

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