demonstrate that he has, one, the desire, and, two, the authority, to turn his words into deeds.

[Earlier, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer reiterated the administration's support for reforming the authority.] It is time for the Palestinian Authority to reform. That is what the president is watching, ... That is the heart of the matter.

a thankless job. . . . Always a flak-catching job.

My advice to the tea party freshmen: Slow the galloping horses to a trot. Big government was built over decades; it can't be dismantled in a year, especially when Democrats control the White House.

If you allow those who are the most vocal and most antagonistic to get a meeting with the president for fear that publicity will hurt you if you don't, you're creating incentives for your critics to become even more antagonistic and more vocal. Then, you're forever stuck in: Will you or won't you meet? You'll no longer lead. You'll just wrestle with meetings.

What you hear from Al Gore is not what you're going to get. He had overspent the surplus by $900 billion ... and his spending would leave Social Security high and dry.