Cabinet Secretaries Lunch

January 17, 2007

For more than 20 years, we have had a Holiday Luncheon for Cabinet members. It started in the Reagan Administration. Only 6 of us attended the first one in 1982, including Vice President Bush. The tradition has continued and grown over the years. We now invite all current and former Cabinet members -- both parties.

This past Holiday season, 42 Cabinet members enjoyed a festive lunch at the historic Blair House. In years past, we have had members dating back to the Kennedy and Johnson years. The farthest back we could look this year was Bill Usury -- he served as Secretary of Labor for President Ford, who just recently passed away.

Each year, I serve as the MC and solicit predictions from all attendees. An example of those predictions:

Ed Harper (worked for Ronald Reagan) predicted the St. Louis Cardinals would win the World Series again in '07.

Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns predicted that the current front runners for the '08 Presidential election will not be in front at the end of the year. That sounds like trouble for Hillary Clinton and John McCain.

Frank Carlucci (Secretary of Defense for Ronald Reagan) predicted his wife would have her credit card stolen and he would not report it because the robber would never be able to spend as much as his wife.

John Sununu from New Hampshire suggested Mr. Carlucci would have to sleep in a hotel room tonight after his prediction. Looking at the Presidential primary contest, Mr. Sununu, coming from New Hampshire, offered the smarty remark that" Iowa picks corn -- New Hampshire picks Presidents."

Spence Abraham (former Secretary of Energy) said we would "see $80 oil this year." Going the other way now.

Jim Woolsey (CIA for President Clinton) said "we can expect more incentives to encourage us to move away from reliance on oil and gas." He's talking about turning to ethanol and wind.

I said, "President Bush will lose fast track trade authority and $3 corn is here to stay."

It was great fun, and we'll be back at the Blair House again next year.

Until next week, I am John Block from Washington.