President Bush rejected the idea of a windfall tax on oil company profits today, suggesting instead that companies voluntarily use increased cash flows to build more natural gas pipelines, expand refineries, and invest in renewable energy. OPEC has recently accused oil companies of failing to invest adequately in new facilities, thus driving up the price of oil worldwide.

Bush’s statement from the White House Rose Garden today came during a hastily called press conference to taut economic growth. The commerce department reported earlier that the gross domestic product of the United States grew at a rate of 4.8 percent in the first quarter. The growth was driven largely by consumer spending. Some economists said the growth reflected a catch-up from the end of last year, when the economy was suffering from the effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is refusing to provide routine media services to the Arkansas Times. The newspaper, which has written critically about Huckabee, was stricken from e-mail lists for news releases, public scheduling and other information lists that are widely disseminated to members of the public and the media. The governor’s spokeswoman, Alice Stewart, said “(we) don’t consider the Arkansas Times a news organization.” The Times is portraying the action as a First Amendment issue: "The governor has decided to punish us for our opinions by withholding a publicly-financed service. We don't think this practice can stand legal scrutiny and we intend to review our options in that regard."

The cost of the war in Iraq will reach $320 billion next month after the expected passage of an emergency spending bill before the Senate, says the Congressional Research Service. The analysis – distributed to members of congress on Tuesday night – provides “the most official cost estimate yet” of the war, said the Washington Post. This year, the war will consume nearly as much money as the departments of Education, Justice and Homeland Security combined, a total that is more than a quarter of this year's projected budget deficit. Amy Belasco, a defense specialist and the author of the CRS study, emphasized that the price tag can only be an estimate since the Defense Department has declined to separate the cost of the Iraqi war from the larger $435 billion cost of what the administration labels the global war on terrorism.

House Republican leaders struck a last-minute deal with GOP appropriators yesterday to avoid what could have been an embarrassing revolt against their lobbying reform bill. The House voted 216-207 to advance debate on the bill, after Republicans spent hours urging their members not to abandon the legislation. Twelve Republicans voted against the bill and Democrats were unanimously against it. “We’re losing our moral authority to lead this place,” said Christopher Shays, one of the dissenting Republicans. Earlier this month GOP leaders were unable to deliver on a $2.8 trillion budget blueprint because of a similar struggle between conservatives and the Appropriations Committee over budget reforms.