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By ANDREW TAYLOR
WASHINGTON — Congress appears increasingly unlikely to meet its goal of approving President Bush's war funding request before Memorial Day as divisions deepened among Democrats and the White House issued a fresh veto threat. With only two full weeks remaining before the Memorial Day recess, the measure has yet to pass either the House or the Senate. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., pulled the bill from the schedule Wednesday night after conservative-to-moderate "Blue Dog" Democrats revolted over Democratic leaders' insistence on including in the war funding bill an unrelated provision to sharply increase education benefits for veterans under the GI Bill. The new GI Bill — designed to give Iraq war veterans enough help to finance a four-year stint at a public college — would cost $51 billion over 10 years. It runs afoul of a rule designed to prevent new benefit programs from causing the deficit to spiral.
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By LAURIE KELLMAN
WASHINGTON — The House voted for cheaper change Thursday, the kind that would make pennies and nickels worth more than they cost to make and save the country $100 million a year. The unanimous vote advances the legislation to the Senate, but it's prospects are muddled by objections from the Bush administration and some lawmakers. The bill would require the U.S. Mint to switch from a zinc and copper penny, which costs 1.26 cents each to make, to a copper-plated steel penny, which would cost 0.7 cents to make, according to statistics from the Mint and Rep. Zack Space, D-Ohio, one of the measure's sponsors. It also would require nickels, now made of copper and nickel and costing 7.7 cents to make, to be made primarily of steel, which would drop the cost to make the five-cent coin below its face value.
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By MATTHEW LEE
The Associated Press WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday the U.S. military was stepping up preparations for a relief mission in Myanmar, but he said he couldn't imagine air dropping aid without permission from the closed regime. His comments followed those earlier Thursday by Ky Luu, director of the U.S. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, that an air drop was one option being considered as Myanmar's junta continued to stall on accepting assistance from the United States. Gates said the military was moving aircraft, ships and Marines closer to Myanmar in case permission is granted to deliver humanitarian supplies.
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By BETH FOUHY
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Her voice raspy, her tone determined, Hillary Rodham Clinton urged her supporters on Thursday to ignore the political pundits who have declared her toast. The former first lady raced into a long West Virginia-to-the-West Coast campaign day, declaring she would move forward with her presidential effort and insisting anew that she, not rival Barack Obama, would be the stronger Democratic candidate to face Republican John McCain in November. At a rally under the dome of the West Virginia Capitol, Clinton dismissed calls for her to drop out as "deja vu all over again." She said she had faced similar pressure before going on to win in New Hampshire, Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania. She made her case for pressing on, even as she thanked her supporters for doing the same.
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By DEB RIECHMANN
CRAWFORD, Texas – President Bush stuck out his right elbow Thursday, jokingly demonstrating how he'll escort his daughter down the aisle at her wedding this weekend. He made the gesture at Andrews Air Force Base before boarding Air Force One for the flight to Texas, where Jenna Bush will be married Saturday before about 200 guests at the family's 1,600 acre, secluded ranch. Asked if he was excited, the president smiled and gave a thumbs-up. "He's looking forward to it," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe told reporters aboard the plane as it flew from rainy Washington to sunny Texas. "He's excited like any proud father is to see one of his daughters get married." "I think he's also going to make sure he gets a good night's sleep tonight so he can stay up late the rest of the weekend and enjoy all the activities."
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Jekyll Square renovation project 
