Fred Thompson In 1991: Abortion Lobbyist
The Los Angeles Times revealed last night that Fred Thompson accepted a lobbying job from Planned Parenthood in 1991. The assignment was to lobby the George H. W. Bush Administration to rescind or at least relax the "gag rule" preventing clinics receiving federal money from counseling women regarding abortion. Thompson spokesman Mark Corallo is denying Thompson ever did the work, but Planned Parenthood minutes from 1991, and the personal allegations of two people involved at the time, attest to it.

Hillary Leads In Congressional Endorsements
A review by The Hill finds that Hillary Clinton has a wide lead over the competition in terms of endorsements from current members of Congress. Hillary has an astounding 51 endorsements, while her closest Democratic competition, Barack Obama, has a mere 22 Congressional supporters. On the Republican side, John McCain and Mitt Romney are tied at 27 endorsements each.

For Now, Fred Thompson's Committee Doesn't Have To Report Donors
While the other candidates are reporting their donations and facing the good or bad news, Fred Thompson has found a temporary loophole. ABC News notes that Fred Thompson's "testing the waters" committee does not have to report its donors until such time as he officially becomes a candidate. As such, he is able to raise donations up to the $2,300 limit for the primaries, but does not have to report his totals, as he has not said outright that he is a candidate. If and when he does finally call himself a candidate, all the donations will be made public, including those raised in the "testing the waters" phase.

White House Attacking Dems On Spending — Dems Say It's Bogus
The Wall St. Journal reports that the White House is attacking Congressional Democrats on the grounds that they are "are looking for opportunities for increasing taxes, looking for opportunities to increase spending," as deputy press secretary Tony Fratto said yesterday. The language is sure to help shore up the White House's support among the conservative base. However, Dem aides say the attacks are empty, and that their spending proposals are not showing significant growth over the budgets from past years. "I have no idea what all this carping about spending is all about," said Jim Manley, a spokesman for Harry Reid.

In Maine, GOP Congressional Candidate Reports For Duty In Iraq
Naval Reservist Charlie Summers, the first Republican candidate thus far to declare for the Democratic-leaning 1st Congressional District of Maine, reported yesterday for a tour of duty in Iraq\. His wife will campaign on his behalf until he gets back. "She will articulate my ideas for me. If all goes well, I will be back the first week of August 2008," Summers said. However, the primary is in June 2008 — meaning he will likely be unable to do any actual campaigning for the race, and his wife will effectively become the face of the campaign on the ground in the district. The seat has opened up due to the Senate candidacy of Congressman Tom Allen (D).

Spitzer Allegedly Calls Bruno "Senile Piece Of Shit"
The New York Post reports that in the midst of a heated argument, Governor Eliot Spitzer (D-NY) called state Senate Majority leader Joe Bruno (R-NY) "an old, senile piece of shit." And just to add some more leverage, Spitzer made sure to remind Bruno of the current ongoing federal investigation against him, according to a Bruno aide.