Documents: Fund-raisers promise access
Political fund-raisers have lined up meetings for donors with Washington's most powerful decision makers and, in some cases, reminded potential givers that lawmakers were helping to pass measures benefiting their industries, newly released party documents show.
( SHARON THEIMER, Associated Press, 12/07/2002 08:38 AM PST)

Sen. John Kerry has been hawk and dove
A decorated Vietnam veteran who protested the war. A liberal-leaning Democrat who cautiously backed President Bush's Iraq war resolution.
( MELISSA B. ROBINSON, Associated Press, 12/07/2002 07:53 AM PST)

Sources: Bush has treasury pick in mind
President Bush, struggling to demonstrate he can deal effectively with a sick economy, is shaking up his economic team and laying plans to present the new Congress a major stimulus package that will include sizable new tax cuts.
( MARTIN CRUTSINGER, Associated Press, 12/07/2002 07:45 AM PST)

Bush Skeptical Over Iraqi Compliance
The United States will analyze Iraq's claim that it has no weapons of mass destruction to determine if that denial is credible and complies with U.N. terms, the White House said Saturday.
( LAWRENCE L. KNUTSON, Associated Press, 12/07/2002 07:23 AM PST)

Bush sacks treasury secretary, top economic adviser
In the first shake-up of his 2-year-old administration, President Bush on Friday unloaded Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and top economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey.
( By DIEGO IBARGUEN, Knight Ridder Newspapers, 12/06/2002 04:04 PM PST)

O'Neill known for lively - sometimes embarrassing - remarks
Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, who resigned Friday, earned a reputation for pungent quotations that often were politically inept and embarrassing. Here's a sampling:
( Knight Ridder Newspapers, 12/06/2002 04:12 PM PST)

Dick Armey gives Republicans some parting advice
Retiring U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader Dick Armey gave fellow Republicans some parting advice on Friday -- do not squander their new power but use it to push a conservative agenda.
( By THOMAS FERRARO, Reuters, 12/06/2002 03:02 PM PST)

Communications industry plans security
Communications industry officials endorsed a 300-item list Friday of what they say telephone, cable, satellite and Internet operators should do to protect against terrorist attack.
( By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press, 12/06/2002 02:59 PM PST)

Ex-treasury heads go to private industry
Paul O'Neill could return to private industry or join the growing ranks of former top Treasury officials who have landed in investment banking or academe now that he has stepped down as Treasury secretary.
( By MARCY GORDON, Associated Press, 12/06/2002 02:57 PM PST)

Florida's Harris lands key House role
She's been elected to Congress for just more than a month, but already Katherine Harris has landed a leadership role in the U.S. House.
( By CHRISTOPHER COLE, Bradenton (Fla.) Herald, 12/06/2002 07:48 AM PST)

Bush ousts O'Neill, Lindsey from jobs
President Bush pushed Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and economic adviser Larry Lindsey from their jobs Friday in a Cabinet shakeup designed to control political damage from the ailing economy.
( RON FOURNIER, Associated Press, 12/06/2002 07:35 AM PST)

Missouri candidates set spending record in U.S. Senate race
Jim Talent and Jean Carnahan combined to spend more than $20 million in their U.S. Senate race, making it the most expensive in Missouri history, new campaign finance reports show.
( By MATT STEARNS, The Kansas City Star, 12/06/2002 07:32 AM PST)

Bush's divided team faces Iraq decision
If Saddam Hussein maintains a strategy of denial and declares this weekend he has no weapons of mass destruction, the pressure shifts to President Bush and his deeply divided foreign policy team.
( RON FOURNIER, Associated Press, 12/06/2002 05:54 AM PST)