Consumer activist Ralph Nader voiced some skepticism Thursday with President Obama’s commitment to consumer protection.

In a brief interview with The Hill, Nader said Obama is not empowering investors and has yet to mention consumer protection in a speech.

Nader, a presidential candidate in the past four election cycles, was getting in a car on K Street when he stopped to take a question.

“What do you think about the job President Obama is doing?” the Hill reporter asked.

Nader turned to the car and said, “I have to go; the car is waiting.” He got in without answering the question.

But before pulling away, he opened his door and said, “The phase consumer protection hasn’t come out of any speech. He’s not empowering investors.”

He shut the door and the car pulled away.

Nadar’s 1965 study questioning the safety of many American automobiles led to the 1966 National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, which established the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and new safety standards including requirements for seat belts.

He was the Green Party candidate for president in 1996 and 2000, and ran as an independent candidate in 2004 and 2008. He won enough votes in Florida during the 2000 election to have many Democrats criticize him with helping George W. Bush pull away with the contested election.

Robert Gibbs, communications director for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, accused Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) of not telling the truth this week when he addressed the Republican National Convention.

Gibbs made the comments in an interview Wednesday night on CNN's Situation Room. Here's an excerpt of his interview with Wolf Blitzer.

On Sen. Joe Lieberman’s attack the Sen. Obama did not reach across party lines:

   GIBBS: It's actually — it's pathetic what Senator Lieberman did here last night.  He can pick whoever he wants to.  But do everybody in this country a favor, don't walk out on stage and make things up about another candidate because you can't fill your air time thinking of good things to say about the candidate you've decided to pick.

BLITZER:  Those are tough words.  But I hear you saying that Senator Lieberman is a liar?

GIBBS:  He walked out last night and didn't tell the American people the truth.

And here's what's worse about it, Wolf — he knows that.  He knows that he walked out last night and said things that just simply weren't true.  It's beneath Joe Lieberman, parts of that speech that he gave last night.  He can pick whoever he wants to vote for in this campaign.
But do us all a favor, do Americans a favor, and tell the truth about each of the candidates.

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will bring "more excitement to the convention" and "more excitement to Republicans around the country."

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Boehner praised Palin and said "she doesn't sound like a politician." He also discussed the alternative plans for the GOP convention, in response to Hurricane Gustav.

See the full video below.

Don’t count Sen. Richard Burr among those Republicans who feel let down by President Bush. The North Carolina senator and co-chairman of the Republican Platform Committee praised Bush Thursday for having a good impact on the party overall.

Speaking on C-Span’s Newmakers program, Burr told host Bill Press that given the “bucket of challenges” Bush faced during his tenure he thought that history would be kind to Bush.

Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Burr’s co-chairman who also appeared on the Newsmakers program, was less inclined to assess the Bush presidency. He said history would have the final say, but noted that Bush would be remembered for doing what he believed was right for the country, and not as someone who responded to polls.

Burr and McCarthy are in charge of facilitating the creation of the 2008 Republican platform that will be adopted the week before the Republican National Convention by 112 state delegates.

Other Republicans have not been so kind to the president this week. House Republicans have expressed their disappointment in Bush for not answering their calls for an emergency session of Congress in August to deal with rising energy costs.

House Policy Chairman Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.) accused "Beijing George" Bush of throwing House Republicans "under the bone-dry bus" on his way to the Olympics in China in a legislative update sent to GOP members and staff on Tuesday.

- Jackie Kucinich

The Club For Growth is planning to spend $400,000 on political ads attacking Democratic Rep. Mark Udall, who is running for the open Senate seat in Colorado. The group plans to run ads for two weeks across the state, criticizing Udall for supporting a number of "wasteful pork projects" in the House.

The Briefing Room has contacted the Udall campaign and will post its response upon hearing back.

Here's the ad.

Don't look for Sen. Ted Stevens at the Xcel Energy Center in Minnesota in September.

The indicted Alaska Republican won't attend the Republican Convention, planning instead to campaign ahead of his toughest reelection bid of his four-decade Senate career. His campaign says the senator hadn't planned on attending even before he was charged last week with seven felony counts of concealing $250,000 worth of gifts and home renovations from an oil-services company.

Stevens has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

His appearance with politicians facing voters in November could have given Democrats ammunition for the fall campaign. It also could have created some awkward situations since Republican leaders and their standard bearer, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), all have donated to charity the money Stevens has raised for them this election cycle.

One person not facing re-election who doesn't mind being seen with Stevens is President Bush, who held a photo opportunity Monday with the senator at Eielson Air Force Base in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Before he met with the president, Stevens held a rally with supporters at his campaign headquarters in Alaska, saying he was innocent of all charges and characterizing the day he was indicted as "one of the most difficult days of my life."

- Manu Raju 

The Senate on Monday failed to advance a package of 35 bills being blocked by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.).A procedural vote fell 52-40 - eight votes short of the 60 needed to call the "Coburn Omnibus" up. Most Republicans objected, insisting that the Senate re-open debate on an energy bill that also failed to achieve cloture on Friday.

GOP senators are pushing for a vote on an amendment that would lift a congressional moratorium on offshore oil drilling.

Coburn has more than 80 holds in effect on bills that he has refused to allow the Senate to pass by voice vote. In retaliation, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) had bundled 35 of the most popular proposals into a single package.Reid offered earlier Monday afternoon to allow four amendments by Republicans to the energy bill, a proposal to which Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) responded favorably. But a final agreement on that proposal has yet to be announced.

- J. Taylor Rushing

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) was taken to the hospital Friday.

"Dr. Coburn is having tests for a common arrhythmia and has not been admitted to the hospital," said John Hart, the senator's spokesman. Hart said Coburn expects to return to the Senate for Saturday's 11 a.m. vote on housing legislation.

The 60-year-old Coburn, originally from Casper, Wyo., is an obstetrician and two-time cancer survivor known in the Senate for his penchant for putting "holds" on legislation. More than 80 holds are currently in effect, and the practice became a focal point of Senate debate this week when Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced he was bundling 35 of the most popular bills into a "Coburn omnibus" and initially threatened to hold the chamber in session through the weekend.

Coburn has consistently defended his habit as necessary to ensure proposals receive proper discussion and debate.

- J. Taylor Rushing

Senate leaders skirmished late Monday over an AIDS funding bill, dismissing a stalling tactic by South Carolina Republican Jim DeMint that had briefly paralyzed the chamber.

The impasse, which shut down the chamber for several hours, arose when DeMint tried to push an amendment trimming the program from $50 billion to $35 billion and threatened an agreement made last Friday between the GOP and Democratic leaders to allow votes on 10 GOP amendments.

Although DeMint's amendment was among the 10 that Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) had agreed to, DeMint attempted a "second-degree amendment" that would have cut off U.S. funds to countries that force women to have abortions.

Reid called DeMint's move "a sucker punch" because it violated Friday's agreement but worked out a second agreement Monday with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) that would break the impasse without giving in to DeMint's tactic.

"Unless there's something that I don't understand that comes up, we're going to have all those 10 amendments debated and voted upon," Reid said.

McConnell returned the favor by saying the agreement was "a good way to go forward."

"This consent agreement was rather painfully achieved last week," he said.

Shortly thereafter, DeMint took the floor to say he initially voted for the AIDS program in 2003 and acknowledged it was "a worthy cause."

"But we cannot afford every worthy cause around the world," he said. "This is not generosity. I'm afraid it's thievery."

Reid said he planned to table DeMint's amendment Tuesday morning, which would end up killing it. The squabbling was over the President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief, a five-year program aimed at providing anti-retroviral medication to those infected with the disease, largely in Third World countries. The program is a top priority of President Bush.

- J. Taylor Rushing and Manu Raju

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday appeared to be blowing a kiss to the Republicans in the Senate chamber after Sen. Edward Kennedy's (D-Mass.) dramatic return helped Democrats clinch a major victory on Medicare.

But his spokesman, Brian Fallon, told The Hill on Thursday morning that Schumer was actually sending the kiss towards Kennedy's wife Victoria, who was sitting in the VIP section of the Senate gallery. Fallon said his boss was not trying to pour salt on the wound of Republicans shocked at the dramatic turn of events. Instead, he was moved by the return of Kennedy, who was diagnosed with brain cancer two months ago and has not returned to the Senate since.

The Medicare legislation had stalled on June 26 by one vote. Kennedy's presence and his vote helped end the stalemate - and flip 9 more Republicans - for a 69-30 vote on Wednesday.

- Manu Raju