Inside Politics

Rusher, former publisher of National Review, dies

SACRAMENTO, Calif. | William A. Rusher, a conservative strategist for more than 50 years who helped engineer Barry Goldwater’s nomination as the Republican candidate for president in 1964, has died, officials confirmed Monday. He was 87.

Mr. Rusher died Saturday in a nursing facility in San Francisco after a long illness. His death was confirmed by Richard Vetterli, a spokesman for the San Francisco Medical Examiner’s Office.

His influence was felt on decades of U.S. politics, from the 1961 stirrings of the “draft Goldwater” effort to opposing Richard Nixon’s overtures to China in the 1970s to advising Ronald Reagan’s administration in the 1980s.

Mr. Rusher also helped shape the public debate through syndicated columns in newspapers across the country. He spent 31 years as publisher of National Review, the magazine founded by William F. Buckley Jr. that was a postwar cornerstone of anti-communism and American conservative thought.

BUDGET

House GOP targets food aid programs

House Republicans resurrected a 1990s-era fight over food stamps in their budget approved last week, arguing that any serious attempt to cut spending must include an overhaul of government programs that help needy families pay for food.

Congress has started cutting some food programs, including reducing the Women, Infants and Children Program by $500 million as part of a deal on this year’s budget. And last year, more than $2 billion in future funding for food stamps was redirected to other programs.

On Friday, the House approved a Republican proposal to overhaul the $65 billion food stamp program - known officially as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP - by replacing it with capped block grants to states, which would pay for the aid but make it contingent on work or job training. That proposal was included in a 2012 budget plan put forward by Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, Wisconsin Republican.

WHITE HOUSE

Obama extends Passover greetings

The White House says President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed cooperation on counterterrorism, the Middle East peace process and violence in the Gaza Strip during a telephone conversation Monday.

Mr. Obama also extended best wishes to Mr. Netanyahu before the start of Passover. The weeklong holiday begins Monday night with a traditional seder meal and marks the biblical story of the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt.

Mr. Obama also was hosting a seder at the White House for the third straight year.

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