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Legislative Walkout

By Brit Hume , Fox News
Published | Updated

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

Cabinet Coordination

President Bush is now requiring Cabinet secretaries to spend several hours a week at the White House compound. The administration says the new arrangement will help the President coordinate policy with his cabinet. Housing secretary Alphonso Jackson (search) called the move "absolutely great," adding, "I have had more interaction with the White House staff than I had in the previous three years."

But the Brookings Institution's Paul Light (search) tells the Washington Post it's "absolutely shocking" that cabinet heads would have regular office hours at the White House, calling it an attempt to "make sure Cabinet officers don't get too far out there."

Santorum a Liar?

DNC chairman Howard Dean has called Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum (search) a "liar" and says the Republican is too "right-wing" to stay in the U.S. At a rally in Philadelphia, Dean said Santorum voted to end government funding for Amtrak, then claimed to support Amtrak.

Dean also said Santorum should return the more than $100,000 that a Pennsylvania school district has paid to fund his children’s' home schooling, even though Santorum and his family live in Virginia. Santorum maintains that he's obeyed the law in the matter. Dean told his audience that the Pennsylvania Senator should "stay in Virginia" -- then said that Santorum is "too much of a right-winger for Virginia," adding, "How about Venezuela?"

Support for Accounts

A new FOX poll reveals that 60 percent of Americans support personal retirement accounts (search), a key component of the president's Social Security plan -- including 56 percent of Americans over age 55. What's more, 76 percent of respondents under 30 favor giving individuals the choice to put money in Personal investment accounts. And 32 percent of Americans say that Social Security must be fixed immediately to avoid a crisis. Just 9 percent say no changes are needed.

Legislative Walkout

Democratic lawmakers in Georgia and Indiana walked off the job this week to protest a bill that would require voters to show photo ID at the polls, saying the proposal represents a return to the days of Jim Crow (search). Republicans argue that the bill would restore voter confidence and eliminate fraud without burdening voters, most of whom already have photo IDs. But Indiana Democrat Gregory Porter says is designed to "break the spirit of the homeless. It's to break the spirit of the have-nots."

— FOX News' Michael Levine contributed to this report