"Administration Trying to Build CAFTA Majority Vote by Vote", The Washington Post:
At a closed-door meeting of House Republicans yesterday, Rep. Bill Thomas (Calif.) sidled up to the lectern and hinted that the leadership might look more favorably on lawmakers' requests for highways and bridges if they vote for the Central American Free Trade Agreement, according to three GOP witnesses.
"Just to let you know, we're having some problems with the highway bill. It probably won't be finished until after the CAFTA vote," the deadly serious chairman of the Ways and Means Committee said to knowing laughter.
...
According to administration and House aides, the White House has authorized Republican leaders to secure votes with whatever is at hand, from amendments to the highway and energy bills to the still incomplete annual appropriations bills. Side deals may be in the works on textiles and sugar. House leaders have even approved a vote on a slate of punitive China trade provisions that risks alienating a trading partner that dwarfs Central America.
