Subject: ​Correct The Record Tuesday January 6, 2015 Afternoon Roundup
From: Burns Strider <[email-masked]>
To: CTRFriendsFamily <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2015 14:49:58 -0500
List-Id: <CTRFriendsFamily.americanbridge.org>

*​**Correct The Record Tuesday January 6, 2015 Afternoon Roundup:*

*Tweets*

*Correct The Record* @CorrectRecord: .@HillaryClinton
<https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton> started @TechGirls
<https://twitter.com/TechGirls> classroom exchange to increase the number
of girls in tech #HRC365 <https://twitter.com/hashtag/HRC365?src=hash> #STEM
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/STEM?src=hash>
http://correctrecord.org/hillary-clinton-education-for-girls-futures/ …
<http://t.co/mSTfSxcOo6> [1/6/15, 12:44 p.m. EST
<https://twitter.com/CorrectRecord/status/552521209712492547>]

*Correct The Record* @CorrectRecord:.@HillaryClinton
<https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton> fought for the study of environmental
factors that may cause breast cancer#HRC365
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/HRC365?src=hash>
https://www.congress.gov/bill/109th-congress/senate-bill/757 …
<https://t.co/YgcSfJNI4D> [1/5/15, 6:31 p.m. EST
<https://twitter.com/CorrectRecord/status/552245932721332226>]

*Headlines:*

*FROM MEDIA MATTERS FOR AMERICA: Media Matters For America: “Clinton Camp
Flatly Denies Anonymously-Sourced Report That They Circulated Attack On Jim
Webb”
<http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/01/06/clinton-camp-flatly-denies-anonymously-sourced/202024>*

"In a comment to Media Matters, Clinton spokesperson Nick Merrill flatly
denied the claim: 'There is nothing true about this, it's pure fabrication,
and if the reporter who wrote the story would have bothered to ask before
printing it, we would have told him that.'"

*Associated Press: “Gov. Cuomo: My Dad Was ‘Anything But A Typical
Politician’”
<http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MARIO_CUOMO_FUNERAL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT>*

“Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton, Attorney General Eric Holder, New York
Mayor Bill de Blasio, state Senate Republican leader Dean Skelos and
Republican-turned-independent former Mayor Michael Bloomberg were among the
dignitaries in St. Ignatius Loyola Church's 800 packed seats.”

*MSNBC: “Can the 2015 Senate contain its 2016 ambitions?”
<http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/the-2015-senate-staging-ground-2016>*

“As Democratic discontent with Hillary Clinton festers on the left, Warren
almost has carte blanche to force her party – and Clinton – to pay closer
attention to what liberal base voters want.”

*Washington Post: Style: “Rep. Steve Israel, finding the funny in
Washington’s corridors of power”
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/rep-steve-israel-finding-the-funny-in-washingtons-corridors-of-power/2015/01/06/56615ab8-937a-11e4-a900-9960214d4cd7_story.html>*

“While presidents Bush and Obama remain mostly offstage, an unnamed New
York senator, ‘perpetually pancaked’ and ‘psychologically incapable of
declining any request that involved a camera,’ makes a late yet notable
entrance. Israel claims that the character is ‘a composite of all
senators.’ Uh, no, he isn’t. So far, Israel has heard no response from Sen.
Charles E. Schumer. He has heard from Hillary Clinton, though. The former
New York senator isn’t mentioned in the novel, but she told Israel that
she’s reading it after listening to her husband’s abundant laughter.”

*Fox News: “Jeb Bush filing paperwork Tuesday for new PAC, in big step
toward 2016 bid”
<http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/01/06/jeb-bush-filing-paperwork-tuesday-for-leadership-pac-in-big-step-toward-2016/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter>*

“EXCLUSIVE: Jeb Bush plans to file paperwork on Tuesday to launch a new
organization allowing him to raise and spend money for political
activities, Fox News has learned, in the former Florida governor's most
direct step yet toward a 2016 presidential bid.”

*Articles:*

*FROM MEDIA MATTERS FOR AMERICA: Media Matters For America: “Clinton Camp
Flatly Denies Anonymously-Sourced Report That They Circulated Attack On Jim
Webb”
<http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/01/06/clinton-camp-flatly-denies-anonymously-sourced/202024>*

By Oliver Willis

January 6, 2015

Conservative media outlets promoted an anonymously sourced claim published
by U.S. News & World Report that an aide to Hillary Clinton circulated an
attack on former Senator Jim Webb. Clinton spokesperson Nick Merrill flatly
denied the report, telling Media Matters it was "pure fabrication."

In a story discussing Webb's possible run for the presidency, U.S. News &
World Report's David Catanese claimed that "Clinton loyalists are keeping
an eye" on Webb as a potential rival for the Democratic nomination. As
evidence, Catanese wrote that "the week before Thanksgiving, staffers of
Philippe Reines, Clinton's longtime communications guru, pitched talk radio
producers on the racy, sexually charged writings in Webb's novels,
according to a source."

In a comment to Media Matters, Clinton spokesperson Nick Merrill flatly
denied the claim: "There is nothing true about this, it's pure fabrication,
and if the reporter who wrote the story would have bothered to ask before
printing it, we would have told him that."

Catanese doubled down on his claim in a follow-up report, writing that "of
course, the Clinton team is denying Reines' underlings floated the material
in the first place" and publishing Merrill's statement that the claim was
"an unmitigated lie," before adding, "Our source, granted anonymity, stands
by the account."

Several conservative media outlets ran with the anonymous U.S. News report,
using it to attack Clinton's character.

The Drudge Report's headline linking to the report said "Team Clinton
Already Dishing Oppo on Jim Webb."

New York Post columnist Michael Goodwin called the report evidence that
Hillary Clinton was "trying to dirty up Jim Webb," and added, "Mud first,
that's Hillary."

National Review's Jim Geraghty asked, "Why on earth would the Hillary team
go after Jim Webb this early?" adding, "What is this, some form of
mudslinging pregame stretching?"

At HotAir, conservative blogger Ed Morrisey said the story was evidence of
"Clintonistas using a kitchen-sink strategy" which "sends a message to
other Democrats who might dare to intrude on Coronation II: Hillary's
Boogaloo."

American Conservative's James Carden said that "Clinton's team is seemingly
alive to the danger a Webb candidacy poses" because of the report that
"longtime Clinton henchman Philippe Reines had been pitching talk radio
producers unflattering stories about Webb." Carden wrote that the incident
"should raise additional questions about the former Secretary's powers of
discernment, particularly when it comes to the character of some of her
closest advisers."

*Associated Press: “Gov. Cuomo: My Dad Was ‘Anything But A Typical
Politician’”
<http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MARIO_CUOMO_FUNERAL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT>*

By David Klepper and Jonathan Lemire

January 6, 2015, 1:05 p.m. EST

Mario Cuomo's legacy as a powerful orator, three-term governor and
immigrant's son whose humble upbringing in Queens inspired his approach to
public service were championed at his funeral Tuesday by an inarguable heir
to his politics - Gov. Andrew Cuomo, his son.

"At his core, he was a philosopher. He was a poet. He was an advocate. He
was a crusader. Mario Cuomo was the keynote speaker for our better angels,"
the younger Cuomo said in a eulogy that spanned from his father's biggest
speeches to his fierce competitiveness on the basketball court.

The former governor - who flirted with but never made a presidential run
and turned down an opportunity to be nominated for a U.S. Supreme Court
seat - was a leader whose politics were part-and-parcel of his beliefs, not
strategies for pleasing people, the younger Cuomo said.

He was, he said, "anything but a typical politician."

Dignitaries from both sides of the political aisle gathered to mourn the
Democratic Party icon. The 82-year-old died Thursday at 82, hours after his
son was inaugurated for a second term.

Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton, Attorney General Eric Holder, New York
Mayor Bill de Blasio, state Senate Republican leader Dean Skelos and
Republican-turned-independent former Mayor Michael Bloomberg were among the
dignitaries in St. Ignatius Loyola Church's 800 packed seats. Democratic
State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver put off taking his seat before the
funeral started, standing outside in the snow to await the hearse.

"Mario Cuomo ever communicated a spirit of inclusivity and care, a spirit
of decency and uprightness that inspired love and respect," said the Rev.
George M. Witt, the pastor of St. Ignatius, where some of Cuomo's five
children are parishioners and several of his grandchildren have gone to
school. "In the end, it was not so much the eloquence of his words that
spoke to us but the eloquence of his life."

Scripture readings - some by Cuomo's daughters - included the Beatitudes,
which were said to be among Cuomo's favorites, and a quote from the Book of
Wisdom that begins, "The souls of the just are in the hands of God."

The elder Cuomo was known for his oratorical skills, for powerful appeals
for social justice that blended liberal ideals with his personal experience
as the son of an Italian immigrant grocer, for an intellectual nature given
to discoursing on Jesuit philosophy along with discussing public policy -
and for his deliberations over running for president, which earned him the
nickname "Hamlet on the Hudson." He came close to running in 1988 and 1992
but decided not to.

Cuomo was most remembered for a speech at the 1984 Democratic National
Convention in San Francisco, where he focused on an America divided between
haves and have-nots and scolded Republican President Ronald Reagan for not
working to close that gap.

On Monday, hundreds waited in a line that stretched more than a block to
pay their respects at Cuomo's wake. Vice President Joe Biden, House
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer of New York,
actor Alan Alda and former state Comptroller Carl McCall were among those
who paid tribute.

Even after hours of greeting mourners, his widow, Matilda Cuomo still
managed to smile as she spoke lovingly of her spouse. "He's up there,
telling God what to do. He's working with God now," she said.

Lynda Rufo, a banker lined up outside the funeral home, said her daughter
was finishing law school because of Cuomo's encouragement.

"He was a part of New York," Rufo said. "He always took the time to be
there for everyone, no matter who you were or where you came from. He loved
people."

*MSNBC: “Can the 2015 Senate contain its 2016 ambitions?”
<http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/the-2015-senate-staging-ground-2016>*

By Kasie Hunt

January 6, 2015, 12:39 p.m. EST

Mitch McConnell has his hands full.

Sure, he’s presiding over a new Republican majority in the Senate. He has
an eye toward following in the footsteps of other great lawmakers who’ve
gone before.

But starting Tuesday, he’ll be in charge of a body chock full of ambitious
senators who may be more focused on winning the White House for themselves
in 2016 than they are on legislating over the course of the next two years.

Republicans Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Marco Rubio of Florida and Rand Paul
of Kentucky all want to move into the Oval Office – and this puts no small
amount of pressure on the Senate’s leader. McConnell is powerful, sure, but
the chamber rules mean a lone lawmaker can at stop a nomination, block a
bill, shut down the government – or, in short, create a fuss.

McConnell isn’t alone, though, as Democrats aren’t short on ambition in
their ranks. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren insists she’s not running
for president, but she led the charge from the Senate against weakening
restrictions on big banks that were included in the year-end spending bill
that President Obama even supported. Then there’s Sen. Bernie Sanders,
I-Vt., who caucuses with Democrats – and who’s already made trips to early
presidential states.

Eight years ago, in 2007, the Capitol was also full of would-be presidents:
eventual party nominees Obama and John McCain were both senators, as were
Hillary Clinton and now-Vice President Joe Biden. There were lesser-known
hopefuls, too, including Sens. Chris Dodd and Evan Bayh. On the House side,
Reps. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, and Ron Paul, R-Texas, also ran that year.

This time around, the 2016 political context has important implications for
Obama’s final two years in office and the next two years of Republican
control of Congress. As the 114th convenes, here’s a look at the key
Capitol Hill players in the upcoming 2016 presidential race–both potential
candidates and those who will matter to them.

Ted Cruz, R-Texas

For the past two years, Cruz has made life difficult for his fellow
Republicans–and given Democrats plenty to work with. He led the filibuster
over health care that included a Senate floor reading of Dr. Seuss’s “Green
Eggs and Ham” and ultimately resulted in a government shutdown. Most
recently, shortly before Christmas, he held up voting on the so-called
“cromnibus” spending package that forced others in the GOP to cancel
holiday plans and let Democrats approve more of the president’s nominees
than they would have had time for otherwise. Now, Cruz will be in a
position to force Republicans (especially those running for president–or
facing a Senate primary in 2016) to toe the conservative line on issues
ranging from immigration to spending–or risk alienating base voters and
handing Cruz an advantage. It’s a potential problem for McConnell’s push to
govern. But it could also put pressure on establishment figures like Jeb
Bush and Chris Christie who are also eyeing a run, especially if Cruz keeps
his rhetoric at fever pitch.

Rand Paul, R-Kentucky

Of all the senators considering a presidential bid, Paul has likely laid
the most groundwork. He’s used his perch in the Senate to take stands that
have elevated his profile–particularly his filibuster of John Brennan’s
nomination as CIA director as a protest against the Obama administration’s
use of drone strikes. Cruz and Rubio, two potential competitors, even
rushed down to the floor to join in. And Paul has an ally in McConnell, who
won reelection in Kentucky after sticking very close to Paul through a tea
party primary challenge. The question looming for the next two years: How
active will Paul be as the Senate deals with foreign policy issues? They’re
set to play a larger-than-usual role on the Hill in the coming months, with
possible sanctions against Iran, funding to train Syrian rebels and the
ongoing war against ISIS all coming up on the agenda. Broadly, it’s where
Paul differs most from the party’s establishment and so could make the
loudest noise–but Paul has also been working to close that rift as he
prepares a bid.

Marco Rubio, R-Florida

When he arrived in Congress in 2010, Rubio was viewed as the establishment
Republicans’ tea party guy. Young, photogenic and Hispanic, Rubio looked
like what the party wanted its future to be. Since then, he helped lead the
way on a comprehensive immigration reform bill that’s become toxic with the
Republican base; and his political mentor, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush,
has announced he’s going to explore a bid. Still, aides privately say
Rubio’s seriously considering a run for president regardless of what Bush
might do. Rubio’s used his perch in the Senate to start crafting a message
focused on the “American Dream” and to bolster his foreign policy bona
fides, recently criticizing the Obama administration’s reconciliation with
Cuba after five decades.

Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky

The Senate Majority Leader won’t be on the ballot in 2016. But more than
almost any other Republican, he’ll be responsible for making sure his party
is in the best possible position to win back the White House–and he knows
it. “I don’t want the American people to think that if they add a
Republican president to a Republican Congress, that’s going to be a scary
outcome,” McConnell told The Washington Post in an interview published on
Monday. “I want the American people to be comfortable with the fact that
the Republican House and Senate is a responsible, right-of-center,
governing majority.”

McConnell will also have primary responsibility for managing the ambitions
of those in his caucus – particularly Cruz, who many blame for the shutdown
that soured Americans on the GOP brand. And McConnell has to carefully
balance his already-announced support for Paul, his home state colleague.

“I’m going to be supporting Rand Paul. But he knows that beyond that, I
won’t be involved in presidential politics. I’ve got a big job here,”
McConnell told the Post.

Joni Ernst, R-Iowa

She won’t be on the ballot herself, but as first woman ever elected to
federal office from Iowa and the first female veteran to serve in the U.S.
Senate, Ernst is already the forefront of GOP presidential primary in 2016.
Her own Senate race was a preview, with Republican presidential aspirants
flying in from all over the country to help her campaign against Democratic
Rep. Bruce Braley.  Christie, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Texas
Gov. Rick Perry, Sens. Cruz, Rubio and Paul–among others–all paraded
through Iowa on her behalf. She hasn’t said if she has an early favorite,
though aides privately say that Rubio made a good impression when they met
in 2014.

Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

A self-declared socialist, Sanders hasn’t drawn intense attention from the
grassroots or financial backers he would need to mount a serious
presidential bid. But he’s carved out a reputation as an advocate for
veterans, and early trips to Iowa have made him popular with many of the
liberal state activists who show up at the caucuses. It’s not clear how
aggressive he’ll be in using his position to further his presidential
ambitions, but aides privately say he’s not finished exploring the
possibility of a bid.

Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.

She says she’s not running for president. But Elizabeth Warren has already
proved she can use her position in the Senate to force populist economic
ideas into the national debate. When Senate Democrats picked their leaders,
they elevated her into a specially created messaging role to work with
liberal interest groups. When Republicans put a provision into last year’s
spending bill to strip away regulations from big banks, Warren led the
charge against it–and almost stalled the bill as a result. As Democratic
discontent with Hillary Clinton festers on the left, Warren almost has
carte blanche to force her party – and Clinton – to pay closer attention to
what liberal base voters want.

*Washington Post: Style: “Rep. Steve Israel, finding the funny in
Washington’s corridors of power”
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/rep-steve-israel-finding-the-funny-in-washingtons-corridors-of-power/2015/01/06/56615ab8-937a-11e4-a900-9960214d4cd7_story.html>*

By Karen Heller

January 6, 2015, 12:55 p.m. EST

MELVILLE, N.Y. — Because, seriously, there aren’t enough caucuses
cluttering Capitol Hill, Rep. Steve Israel plans to start a new one this
month. It’s tentatively called the Congressional Writers Caucus, because
there’s another critical shortage in this country: politicians publishing
books.

But in that crowded field, the Long Island politician and former two-term
chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is surely an
anomaly. Israel has authored neither a political tract/bid for higher
office nor a memoir/bid for higher office. His offering is “The Global War
on Morris,” a comic novel about Long Island and the war on terrorism that’s
being released this week. In a Washington Post review, Book World editor
Ron Charles called it “an unexpected delight,” written “in the full-tilt
style of Carl Hiaasen.”

“Morris” may also be the only comic novel written by a member of Congress
that’s dedicated to Dick Cheney. (As well as Israel’s late father who, the
dedication reads, “didn’t particularly care for” the former vice president.)

Also, written entirely on a cellphone.

Yes, truly. Israel, sitting in a choice booth at a popular diner in his
district, takes out his iPhone to show an incredulous visitor the first few
chapters, plus the epilogue, of a second novel.

“Parodies, in particular, are a wonderful way of dealing with the insanity
of Washington,” says Israel, 56. “Instead of screaming and yelling on the
floor of the House, I like to work it out as parody.”

He adds, “If you’re a member of Congress and can’t find the humor in
yourself, then you need to find another job.” Which may help explain why so
many members recently left.

Writing satire may well have been an antidote to chairing the DCCC during
Obama’s second term, as the president’s numbers sank southward and everyone
anticipated major losses for his party in the midterms.

“I was tempered by being able to sit with this and start writing,” says
Israel, who will be reading from his novel at Washington’s Politics and
Prose bookstore on Wednesday night. “Anybody who has an intense job has
some sort of release. Some people have yoga, or go to the gym. My release
was writing about everything I’d seen during the day.” Trim despite a lunch
of a Hamburger Delight (french fries and onion rings), Israel seems to be
able to do without the gym.

He wrote the novel in the midst of his own challenging election. In 2012,
“Obama barely won this district. This is not a slam-dunk Democratic
district,” says Israel, first elected to the House in 2000. “This is a new
district that became more Republican.” So he made sure to be home every
weekend.

The bunker-like Broad Hollow Diner is on Route 110 in Melville, down the
road from Estelle’s Dressy Dresses and what arguably may be the discount
furniture center of the Eastern seaboard. In the next booth, two women are
speaking in what Israel calls pure “Lawn Guylish,” spraying a sewer of
invective and obscenities, noteworthy in that they are apparently
schoolteachers.

“What can I say?” Israel says, beaming like a proud father.“These are my
people!”

Stranger than fiction

A diner, along with much of Long Island, figures prominently in “Morris,”
which takes place between 2004 and 2012. But it’s a fictional diner. During
visits home to New York’s 3rd District, Israel makes sure to rotate meals
so as to not play favorites. “You can’t spend too much time in one diner
and pizza place. So it’s Diner Diplomacy, and Pizza Parity,” he says.

Israel long dreamed of being a novelist. (Also a congressman and an
outfielder for the Mets, so two out of three isn’t bad.) He began writing
“Morris” in 2006, initially on a BlackBerry, before Washington underwent an
iPhone conversion.

“I would go to these meetings with senior members of the Bush
administration, including President Bush, and hear the most absurd things,”
Israel says. “I would be very frustrated because I knew if I reported these
things in a congressional newsletter, no one would believe me.” So fiction
became an outlet. “As chair of the DCCC, if I had to give three or four
speeches during the day and had to raise a ton of money in Milwaukee, I
would go back to the hotel and write. My balance was writing.”

The spark for “Morris” came when Israel learned that the NSA had
accidentally done surveillance on a group of Quakers, one of those
Washington moments that transcends fiction.

“If it’s happening to this group of elderly Quakers, it has to be happening
to other people,” Israel recalls thinking. “That night I went home to my
apartment in Washington and created Morris Feldstein,” a meek, Walter
Mitty-like pharmaceutical salesman. “Because I don’t know about elderly
Quakers, but I do know about Jewish guys on Long Island, whose whole
philosophy is, don’t get into trouble.”

Morris gets into trouble. During the course of the novel, he grapples with
a terrorist towel attendant, an all-knowing government supercomputer with a
mind of its own, a seedy Long Island motel (and possibly fiction’s
shortest-lived affair) and the Guantanamo Bay prison, as well as being a
pawn of Scooter Libby, Karl Rove and, Israel’s improbable muse, Dick
Cheney. “Morris” quotes entire passages of Cheney’s 2004 national
convention speech linking terrorism to politics — to comic effect.

While presidents Bush and Obama remain mostly offstage, an unnamed New York
senator, “perpetually pancaked” and “psychologically incapable of declining
any request that involved a camera,” makes a late yet notable entrance.
Israel claims that the character is “a composite of all senators.”

Uh, no, he isn’t.

So far, Israel has heard no response from Sen. Charles E. Schumer.

He has heard from Hillary Clinton, though. The former New York senator
isn’t mentioned in the novel, but she told Israel that she’s reading it
after listening to her husband’s abundant laughter. During the last weeks
of the midterm campaign, Bill Clinton phoned Israel, who assumed that it
was to drill him on DCCC efforts. Instead, the congressman recalls, “he
spent 10 minutes praising the characters in the book.”

A balancing act

Israel originally met with literary agent David Kuhn to pitch a book on
America’s middle class. “If you don’t like my nonfiction,” Israel told
Kuhn, “let me tell you about my novel.” After 90 seconds, Kuhn’s hands shot
into the air. “Tell me about your novel,” he asked.

Impressed with the manuscript, Kuhn sent a copy to Simon & Schuster’s Ben
Loehnen. “I was worried that it would be flat-footed and a work of vanity,”
Loehnen recalls. “Instead of writing a soporific and sycophantic memoir,
he’s written a satire that’s critical and alive and intelligent.” Also, the
editor notes, “any writer who can make a supercomputer into an
unforgettable character deserves readers.”

Lauren Sharp, Israel’s co-agent in Washington, says that the main prep work
she did on the manuscript was paring back some of the jokes: “The original
manuscript was so chock-a-block with humor, it was easy to get distracted.
Mostly, we were trimming every fourth joke to let the other three shine
through a little more.”

Former representative Bob Mrazek, for whom Israel worked as an aide on the
Hill, left Congress in 1993 to return to his first career as a writer. He
has published seven works of fiction and nonfiction, as well as writing and
co-directing the independent feature “The Congressman.” And he’s
“absolutely astonished at what Steve’s done. It’s typical that most authors
need a good deal of free time to think about characters. Being in Congress
you’re at work all day, plus Steve was chair of the DCCC, which can mean an
18-hour day. I don’t know how he was able to focus all his creative
forces.” Particularly on a satirical novel. “It’s too hard. It requires a
very fine balance, a very fine calibration of the absurd and the
believable.”

Moreover, politics is noisy, while writing generally demands quiet.
“Congress is very extroverted, and writing is a very introverted
lifestyle,” Israel says. The father of two grown daughters who’s in the
midst of a second divorce, he writes most mornings for an hour. He also
writes on planes, trains and automobiles on the way to campaign events.
Hence the iPhone as instrument of choice. It’s always there, “molded to my
hand.”

Just like Hollywood

As a member of Congress, Israel is barred from accepting an advance, a rule
put in place after Newt Gingrich’s original $4.5 million advance for two
books in 1994 (talk about a contract with America!) was whittled to a token
$1 after critics suggested that the incoming speaker was profiting from
that year’s Republican congressional victory. Any money Israel makes from
“Morris” will come from royalties, which are generally negligible for a
first novel.

Beyond the book, Israel has contributed a comic piece to the New Yorker and
recently launched a twice-monthly column, Kings of the Hill, for the
Huffington Post, for which, like so many contributors to that Web site, he
will receive not a cent. His second novel, “Big Guns,” is about the gun
lobby and has been accepted by Simon & Schuster, pending ethics committee
approval. A conservative member of Congress features in the book. Israel
says that he isn’t based on any real politician. Really? “Well, maybe a
former member of Congress.”

Over the years it took to produce, “Morris” remained Israel’s private
endeavor. It came as a surprise even to Rep. Adam Schiff, Israel’s closest
friend in Congress. “I was shocked,” says the California Democrat. “We are
so close, and we never talked about it. I walk into his office one day and
there’s a galley proof.”

Schiff, whose district includes Hollywood, where of course everyone is
working on a screenplay, is working on a screenplay. A thriller. He’s also
writing a novelization of the screenplay. Israel and Schiff are cosponsors
of the Congressional Writers Caucus, which will invite authors, agents and
editors to address politicians working on novels and screenplays.

Soon, Capitol Hill could resemble certain quarters of Brooklyn or Los
Angeles. Instead of mentioning their latest bills, members of Congress will
inquire, “Have you read my novel? Would you like to see my screenplay?”

Hollywood, as it happens, is interested in “Morris.” Israel has taken
meetings. He would love to see Larry David play his hero.

This being the entertainment business, however, folks have other ideas. Oh,
and they’d like to suggest a few changes.

Whatever. Anything is fine with Israel. He’s a published author.

“My best hope,” he says, smiling in his diner booth, “has actually, and
blessedly, been realized, with the publisher accepting my second book.”

*Fox News: “Jeb Bush filing paperwork Tuesday for new PAC, in big step
toward 2016 bid”
<http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/01/06/jeb-bush-filing-paperwork-tuesday-for-leadership-pac-in-big-step-toward-2016/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter>*

By Serafin Gomez

January 6, 2015

EXCLUSIVE: Jeb Bush plans to file paperwork on Tuesday to launch a new
organization allowing him to raise and spend money for political
activities, Fox News has learned, in the former Florida governor's most
direct step yet toward a 2016 presidential bid.

The new leadership political action committee will be called the Right to
Rise PAC.

"We will celebrate success and risk taking, protect liberty, cherish free
enterprise, strengthen our national defense, embrace the energy revolution,
fix our broken and obsolete immigration system, and give all children a
better future by transforming our education system through choice, high
standards and accountability," a source close to Bush said, describing the
PAC's mission.

In addition, the Right to Rise PAC likely would be used to pay the expenses
of a burgeoning staff, as well as to finance polling and Bush's trips
across the country as a possible 2016 contender. It would effectively serve
as a prelude to a formal presidential campaign should he take that step.

The formation of this leadership PAC -- as well as a separate super PAC by
Bush supporters -- could be used to flush other Republican potential
aspirants out of the 2016 field, by flexing the formidable financial
strength of the former governor's donor network.

Fundraising events already are being planned in Florida, the New York area,
and Washington, D.C., in the next few weeks, and meetings with major donors
are being organized.

As reported Monday by Fox News' Carl Cameron, Bush is holding a private
Greenwich, Conn., fundraiser on Wednesday with relatives. The money raised
at this event will go to his Right to Rise PAC.

A source close to Bush told Fox News the Right to Rise PAC also would
support candidates across the country "who share our optimistic,
conservative, positive vision for helping every American get ahead."

"We support candidates who embrace policies that create strong economic
growth for all and more opportunity for every American to create a better
life for themselves and their loved ones," the source said.

Bush announced last month in a Facebook post that he would "actively
explore" a 2016 bid and eventually form a PAC. He has since stepped down
from corporate boards and disentangled himself from other financial
investments as he considers a run.

By formally establishing the leadership PAC, Bush joins other potential GOP
candidates who also have taken that step: including fellow Floridian Sen.
Marco Rubio, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, outgoing Texas Gov. Rick Perry and
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.