Getting the Call

Obscure columnist Bob Novak reports the following interesting tidbit concerning the negotiations over the $87 billion:

Republican Rep. Zach Wamp of Tennessee, who had been demanding changes in the $87 billion appropriations bill for Iraq, ended up fully supporting the measure thanks to a heart-to-heart talk with President Bush.

Wamp, who usually is a dependable vote for the administration, wanted to turn the $20 billion appropriation for Iraqi reconstruction into loans. He changed his mind about loans, as the saying goes on Capitol Hill, when the White House "called him down to the principal's office." After being lectured by the president in the Oval Office, Wamp made a vigorous floor speech on behalf of the bill Thursday.

Word about getting dressed down by "the principal" may have impeded lobbying efforts to change the bill by conservative Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of California. Rank-and-file GOP lawmakers did not relish having to go through Wamp's experience.