FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2010


KLMNO


EZ SU


THE FED PAGE A big loss that could get bigger


AL KAMEN In the Loop


S


enior State Department officials, stunned by the sudden death of uber-


diplomat Richard Holbrooke, the special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, are concerned that the all-star team of experts he had assembled— all intensely loyal to him—may start drifting away. The teamincludes some of the


most highly regarded people in matters involving the AfPak region, unquestionably top authorities such as New York University’s Barnett Rubin; Vali Nasr, author of the definitive book “The Shia Revival”; Kabul-born Rina Amiri, formerly with the Soros Foundation’s Afghanistan program; and John Dempsey of the U.S. Institute of Peace, who has spent years in Kabul and is perhaps the top expert on rule-of-law issues. Holbrooke also lured counterinsurgency expert VikramSingh over fromthe office ofMichele Flournoy, undersecretary of defense for policy. Many onHolbrooke’s team


Richard Holbrooke


saw himas a change agent on Washington’s way of dealing with the troubled region. State Department officials worry that those who are not career government typesmay head back to other jobs now that he’s gone. That’s why top officials want


to find someone with, if not Holbrooke’s star power, then some serious bona fides. For now,Holbrooke’s deputy,


veteran diplomat Frank Ruggiero, is running the shop on an acting basis while a search goes on. Longtime regional experts such as Brookings Institution fellow Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer who ran an interagency AfPak policy review for the administration, and Jim Dobbins, special AfPak representative under GeorgeW. Bush, have the experience but not theHolbrooke aura. Highly regarded diplomat


AnneW. Patterson, who recently finished her tour as ambassador to Pakistan with an onward assignment to Cairo, might fit the bill. (No Senate confirmation required.) Perhaps a former deputy-


secretary-level type, someone like Strobe Talbott, now head of Brookings,might work, too. But he’s got a pretty good job. Ditto for Ryan Crocker, another former ambassador to Pakistan, who is now heading the George Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University. Not going to be easy.


After Summers Speaking of finding someone,


theWhiteHouse has yet to settle on a replacement for National Economic Council chief Larry Summers, who has gone back to Harvard. Gene Sperling, who headed the council during the Bill Clinton administration and is now a counselor to Treasury Secretary TimGeithner, was spotted at BlairHouse this week, sitting in when President Obamamet with a score of CEOs. “Auditioning for the job,” as one wag put it. There’s no doubt Sperling,


having done the job before, could acquit himself well in the role of coordinating the administration’s economic policies. But theWhiteHouse, which had been hellbent on impoverishing the wealthy by returning to those onerous Clinton-era tax rates, was looking for a CEO type, someone the business community and Wall Street would see as attuned to their needs. So now there’s talk of Sperling


Need an elephant in the room? The Republican club’s wares include what we prefer to call freedom ties.


running the NEC and perhaps investment banker Roger Altman, deputy Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration, serving in a “counselor” role.


A party Christmas? Been working your tail off


during the lame-duck and haven’t had time to shop for Christmas gifts for politically interested friends and family? Don’t worry. There’s still time— as long as youmove with some dispatch. Lots of local tourist shops and


online gift stores sell Republican and Democratic party wares. But buying in those places is pretty tacky if you’re a real inside-the- Beltway type. After all, you want your out-of-town relatives to


Administration unveils solar energy plans BY JULIET EILPERIN The Obama administration is-


sued proposed guidelines Thurs- day for solar development on public lands in the West, a move that could speed renewable-ener- gy projects that have been mired in environmental controversy. The detailed analysis, known


as Draft Solar Programmatic En- vironmental Impact Statement, identifies 24 “solar energy zones” in six states that Interior Secre- tary Ken Salazar said would be most suited “for environmentally sound, utility-scale solar energy production.” “We think it provides a com-


mon-sense and flexible frame- work through which to grow our nation’s renewable energy econo- my,” Salazar told reporters in a conference call. Under the 10,000-page plan,


which is now subject to public comment for 90 days, developers would have a higher level of confidence that they could re- ceive federal permits establish- ing solar ventures in specific areas in states includingArizona,


California, Colorado, Nevada, NewMexico and Utah. Right now, there is a serious


backlog of applications for proj- ects dating back to the GeorgeW. Bush administration. In the past three months, Interior has ap- proved eight utility-scale solar projects in California and Ne- vada that will collectively gener- ate 3,572megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 1 million homes. But there are 104 active solar applications pending at the Bureau of Land Management, covering 1 million acres, both inside and outside the proposed zones, that developers estimate could generate an additional 60,000megawatts of power. “There’ll be quite a bit of


incentive for the companies to focus on development” in the zones, said the bureau’s director, Bob Abbey, adding that he and his colleagues have tried to iden- tify areas that are less prone to conflicts over environmental concerns, such as harmto endan- gered species or drains on local water supplies. Companies that apply for per- mits in approved areas would


have the advantage of a pre-pre- pared National Environmental Policy Act analysis that would accelerate the permit process, according to Interior officials. A site-specific federal analysis would still take place. Solar Energy Industries Asso-


ciation PresidentRhoneA.Resch said in an interview that al- though he and his staff were still reviewing the document, “to- day’s announcement is a clear indication we have overcome a major hurdle.” Environmental groups praised


the proposal, although they cau- tioned against allowing develop- ers to construct outside specifi- cally identified zones. In addition to zones, the plan released Thursday also proposes to open an additional 21 million acres of land to potential solar develop- ment. The Bureau of Land Manage-


ment “has the authority and the opportunity to make the better choice and guide projects to zones,” said Alex Daue, renew- able-energy coordinator at the Wilderness Society. eilperinj@washpost.com


Steny Hoyer weighs in on Social Security House Majority Leader Steny


H.Hoyer (D-Md.),answersaques- tion on Social Security fromRob- ertWeiner, former chief of staff of theHouseAgingCommittee,at the National Press Club onMonday.


Weiner:Youmentionedthe fis-


cal commission’s provocative re- port. But they andmany [others] don’t acknowledge that Social Se- curity is solvent. . . . Social Securi- ty is solvent and paid for through 2037, and 25 percent short at the most even after that. It doesn’t contribute a dime to the deficit, even on paper. So it isn’t anything that the Deficit Commission can take advantage of, other than tak- ingmoney fromit.HowdidSocial Security become the symbol of savingthedeficitanddoingsome- thing, instead of the real costs of Iraq, Afghanistan and tax breaks for the rich? And will the Demo- crats, and Congress as a whole, resist the sound bite to save the budgetby cuttingSocialSecurity? Hoyer: Thank you. First of all let me say that Social Security


ought not to be looked at as away to reduce the deficit and your point iswell taken. However, at the same time we


need to make sure that Social Security is not only solvent through 2037, but solvent for fu- ture generations. Therefore, we must address its solvency within its own construct. I think that is what many have said, and there aremanyways to do that. Frankly Social Security is much easier to deal with than Medicare and Medicaid, which are a verymuch greater challenge interms of cost. Now you mention as well the


expenditureswe havemadewith- out paying for them. We have fought two wars that have in- curred about a trillion dollars in expenses — none of which has been paid for, it has all been borrowedmoney.When I said the civic virtues of self-discipline, I meant that we need tomake sure that we pay for what we buy. Therefore, we included in our budget a statutory pay-go. I think that is a return to what we did in


the ’90s, where we disciplined ourselves in terms of expendi- tures. I thinkwe need to continue to do that.What I have said, and many of youhaveheardme say, in the short term in an economic downturn you cannot do that be- cause what you need to do is to give stimulus to the economy, and you can’t depress it at the same time.Therefore, youneedtoincur debt at times of economic stress. However, we incurred great defi- cits at the time of economic well- being. That has been the problem thatwe confront today. But to your point — Social


Security is clearly something the Democratsaregoingtomake sure is in place, is solvent, is there for future generations, will not be privatized, and will be as genera- tionshavehadit torelyonintheir retirement.


Heard something interesting, provocative, funny about town? Send the transcript to davism@ washpost.com. Please put “Verbatim” in the subject field.


know they got genuine swag fromthe actual combatants. Both the Democratic and


RepublicanHouse campaign committees have a wide assortment ofmostly lower-end stuff: baby clothes, baseball caps, T-shirts,mugs, notepads, pens and such. The Democratic Senatorial


Campaign Committee has some similar items, but its GOP counterpart apparently doesn’t have a shop, at least nothing on theWeb. Formore upscale items, you


might want to try the two parties’ traditional watering holes on theHill: The Republicans’ CapitolHill Club and the National Democratic Club. Neither offers a particularly wide array of goods,


but they do have fine-quality ties, cuff links and such. One problemis that the


Democrats sell their stuff only at the club, and you’ve got to be a member or be with one to go in. (What happened to the party of the people, of inclusion and all that?) So it’s who you know. The GOP club, however, lets


you shop online and, even better, has a keen sense of its clientele’s tastes. Thus we find a “Limoges porcelain box” with elephants on the side selling for $45, a crystal paperweight for $45, and, yes, a “golf divot tool” embossed with a GOP seal for just $12. (A sure- fire dazzler at the Legends golf course inMassillon, Ohio.) The GOP club also hasmen’s


silk ties and women’s silk scarves with cavorting elephants


playingmusical instruments. They come in red, yellow or periwinkle, we are told, and are made in France. French ties?Have we


forgotten the Coalition of the Willing?


The talkers walk SenateMajority Leader Harry


Reid (D-Nev.) will be back in January in his same job.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will be back asminority leader. But the two spinmeisters who were key players in their offices won’t be with them. JimManley, one of themost


popular staffers in the Senate, is leaving after 20 years on the Hill.He started as a press assistant for GeorgeMitchell (D-Maine), the onetimemajority leader, and then was press secretary for 11 years for Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.).He’s spent the past six years as senior communications adviser to Reid. Manley hasn’t decided on next


moves. “I’mcasting as wide a net as possible,” he told us last week. “If there’s a rock star who needs some strategic advice,” he joked, “I’mwilling to consider it.” Brendan Daly, Pelosi’s highly


regarded communications director since 2002, Peace Corps press director during the Clinton administration and a reporter for nine years before that, is off to public relations firmOgilvy Washington to be executive vice president and national director for public affairs. kamena@washpost.com


The Federal Worker Money walks


Consider the effect a freeze might have on higher income employees and those eligible to retire. It could mean saying goodbye to Sam. Federal Diary, B3


In their own words


Since federal retirement payments are based on the three highest years of an employee’s pay, how would a two-year pay freeze affect workers’ retirement plans? B3


A31


CELEBRATE THE SEASON WITH SAVINGS.


SHOP BRILLIANTLY. ADIDAS, BANANA REPUBLIC FACTORY STORE, BCBGMAXAZRIA, GAP OUTLET, GUESS, J.CREW. THREE AREA LOCATIONS. KENNETH COLE, MICHAEL KORS, NIKE, SAKS FIFTH AVENUE OFF 5TH AND MORE. SAVINGS OF 25% TO 65% EVERY DAY.


STORESVARYPER CENTER. LEGENDARY BRANDS. ABUNDANT SELECTION. REAL SAVINGS.


Join theVIP ShopperClub at premiumoutlets.com/vipfor exclusiveholidaysavings. GIFT CARDS AVAILABLE ON-SITE AND ONLINE.


Shop the center nearest youoryour next travel destination: LEESBURG CORNER PREMIUM OUTLETS


LEESBURG,VA•110 STORES•INTERSECTION OF RTE7&15BYPASSNORTH, EXIT FORTEVANS RD •(703) 737-3071 HAGERSTOWNPREMIUM OUTLETS*


HAGERSTOWN,MD•100 STORES•I-70WTOEXIT 29 -RTE. 65 •(301) 790-0300 QUEENSTOWNPREMIUM OUTLETS*


QUEENSTOWN,MD•65STORES •EAST OF CHESAPEAKE BAYBRIDGE (ATROUTE 50/301 SPLIT) •(410) 827-8699 VISIT PREMIUMOUTLETS.COMFOR HOLIDAYHOURS *Formerly PrimeOutlets


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112