WEEK IN REVIEW: WASHINGTON, D.C.

Sunday, Dec. 2, 2007 | 1:14 a.m.

WASHINGTON - More often than not, it's the story behind the story that says so much about what's going on in Washington. This week we have three stories.

First: When U.S. Sen. Trent Lott, the Republican whip and second in party leadership, announced last week he would resign by year's end, there was immediate buzz that he was cashing in. Quitting now enables him to snare a lucrative lobbying job before new ethics rules take effect Jan. 1 that would force him to sit out an extra year.

All of that is probably true enough. But what also seemed clear is that Lott might not have seen many chances to do what he does best - being the consummate deal maker - in this partisan Congress, said Barbara Sinclair, a professor of political science at UCLA.

In his autobiography, "Herding Cats: A Life in Politics," Lott writes with pride about his secret dealings with then-White House adviser Dick Morris to secure a deal on welfare reform with the Clinton administration. Not even his own Senate majority leader at the time, Bob Dole, was in the Clinton-Morris-Lott loop, Lott wrote.

It seems as though Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid could do worse than to have a few deal makers like that around. These days, such partnerships, across the aisles of the Senate or from one end of Pennsylvania Avenue to the other, seem impossible.

Our second story: Like clockwork, just as Congress is preparing to return to work Monday for the final push of the legislative year, the Iraq war rhetoric is heating up.

President Bush is pressuring congressional Democrats to send him war funding. Democrats gave no indication they would give him the cash without the condition that troops start returning home.

But as the war debate continues, The Washington Post says a deal might be close on energy legislation, which lawmakers are eager to pass before recessing for the holidays.

A breakthrough couldn't come soon enough for John O'Donnell, executive vice president at Ausra, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based solar power company looking to do business in Nevada.

Making the rounds in Washington last week, O'Donnell explained that his company is trying to decide on Las Vegas or Phoenix for its 50-employee factory to produce solar power plant materials. But like the rest of the solar energy industry, Ausra is waiting for word on federal tax credits needed to make the investment worthwhile.

Republican Sen. John Ensign voted against the tax credits when the tax package fell three votes short of passage this year in the Senate. The senator has said he disapproves of the Democrats' plan to pay for the renewable energy tax credits by doing away with some of the credits going to oil and gas producers.

O'Donnell, an engineer and a businessman, is baffled by the idea that when faced with the business opportunity he is offering, which he believes would be good for Nevada and the nation, the two sides in Washington can't figure it out.

And this final story that sneaked under the radar last week: A comment by Republican Rep. Jon Porter during an interview in Las Vegas on "Face to Face With Jon Ralston."

Porter made headlines when he told Ralston he would have to give some thought before welcoming President Bush on the campaign trail as he seeks reelection. The comment signaled Porter's continued distancing from the president he once strongly backed as he faces Deputy District Attorney Robert Daskas, the Democrats' preferred candidate in 2008.

But another Porter comment got less notice.

Discussing Iraq, Porter said "many members of the opposing party have said the war is lost."

In fact, as Ralston rightly interjected, "only one Democrat has, that I know of, and he happens to be from Nevada."

Porter had just taken a not-so-subtle swipe at Reid, distinguishing himself again as the only member of the Nevada delegation willing to do so.

Reid had been scorned by some (and praised by a few) for blurting out this year that he believed the war was lost. Unlike Nevada's two senators, Porter and Reid have no nonaggression pact.

Porter has never been shy about going after the top Democratic leader. Porter raised eyebrows in 2006 when he said the senator should return campaign contributions tied to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Reid's subsequent decision to support his press secretary's late entry as the Democratic candidate against Porter that year was seen by some as payback.

Porter might be brushing up for taking on Reid in 2010, as many believe he will.

But first Porter has to win reelection in 2008. And judging by the first volley from Daskas, it's going to be a long campaign.

In announcing his candidacy last week, Daskas criticized Porter's changed vote on a children's health insurance bill this year, saying in a news release, "The time is always right to do what is right. Not only when your political career is on the line."

The congressman initially opposed the legislation but voted in favor after changes were made to ensure seniors would not have Medicare cut - something he was explaining to Ralston the night before, but that didn't make the headlines.