Who Says Politicians Are Out of Touch?
(theatlanticwire.com) - Democrats completely understand mainstream America.
Democrats Weigh Best Use Of Obama In Midterms
(npr.org) - What's the highest and best use of a sitting president in an election year when he's not on the ballot himself?
Some would argue it's what the current president is doing Tuesday night in San Francisco — raising big bucks for his party's candidates. President Obama headed to More...
Grayson files 'War is Making You Poor' bill
(blogs.tampabay.com) - Rep. Alan Grayson, Florida's most colorful member of Congress, files a lot of bills with eye-catching names. They have no chance of passing but the idea is to provoke thought. Today he announced the “War Is Making You Poor Act."
According to his office it:
Limits the amount of More...
Federal Debt-to-GDP
(dshort.com) - Graph of the usa federal debt to GDP ratio. Highlights when republicans and democrats where president as well as who was in control of congress. Pretty interesting info.
Rand Paul and Civil Rights: The End of the Tea Party?
(theatlantic.com) - Just to be clear what we're talking about, Paul does not oppose the 1964 Civil Rights Act on the whole. He disagrees with the provision that required businesses to serve people equally. He says this is a matter of speech, and that to support such limitations on More...
Senate Adopts Sanders' 'Audit The Fed' Amendment
(tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com) - The Senate today voted overwhelmingly to adopt an amendment, authored by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), forcing a comprehensive review of the Federal Reserve's emergency lending activities. The amendment passed by a 96-0 vote.
Poll: Majority Backs Arizona Immigration Bill
(cbsnews.com) - Fifty-one percent of those surveyed say the law, which critics say essentially mandates racial profiling, takes the right approach, and nine percent say it should go even further.
Thirty-six percent say the law goes too far.
'This Is Alabama. We Speak English.'
(gawker.com) - Republican Tim James is running for governor of Alabama, and he hates foreign languages. In this ad, he sneeringly announces, "This is Alabama. We speak English. If you want to live here, learn it."
Why the GOP blocked financial reform
(theweek.com) - A new poll suggests the public are overwhelmingly in favor of stricter regulations on Wall Street banks. So why are the Republicans still fighting against it?
Poll: 78 percent don't trust big government
(msnbc.msn.com) - Nearly 80 percent of Americans say they can't and they have little faith that the massive federal bureaucracy can solve the nation's ills, according to a survey from the Pew Research Center that shows public confidence in the federal government at one of the lowest points in a half-century.
Financial Reform: Five Fights to Watch
(motherjones.com) - Back in action after its two-week recess, Congress will soon take up
its latest daunting legislative battle: rewriting
the rules of the American financial system. In their nearly
year-long debate, lawmakers have clashed over everything from the
creation of a new
consumer protection agency to More...
Obama in dead heat with Ron Paul: Rasmussen poll
(rawstory.com) - Ron Paul is a long-shot for the Republican nomination for president by
any standard, but a Rasmussen poll finds him in a statistical tie with
President Barack Obama.
Confirmed: Obama authorizes assassination of U.S. citizen
(salon.com) - Today, both The New
York Times and The Washington Post
confirm that the Obama White House has now expressly authorized the CIA
to kill al-Alwaki no matter where he is found, no matter his distance
from a battlefield. I wrote at length about the extreme dangers and
lawlessness of allowing More...
Fed in hot water over secret bailouts
(csmonitor.com) - The Fed has finally came clean. It now admits it bailed out Bear Stearns
– taking on tens of billions of dollars of the bank’s bad loans – in
order to smooth Bear Stearns’ takeover by JPMorgan Chase. The secret Fed
bailout came months before Congress authorized More...
Why Voters Hate Congress
(kiplinger.com) - Most members of Congress, of course, won’t tell you this. They’re afraid
you’re too selfish or too weak to face the truth, and they’re afraid
you’ll punish them at the polls if they treat you as an adult. They
can’t even agree on passing the buck to More...
Why Is Conservative Media Crushing Liberal Media?
(businessinsider.com) - In the light of the recent ratings news--CNN implodes, FOX soars, MSNBC
does okay--it's worth asking a question that no one seems to have a good
answer to:
Why is conservative media crushing liberal media?
It's crushing it in ratings, crushing it in profits, crushing it in
influence.
U.S. take if it sells its Citi stake to settle cost of bailout: $8 billion
(washingtonpost.com) - The Obama administration is making final preparations to sell its stake
in the New York bank, according to industry and federal sources. At
today's prices, the sale would net more than $8 billion, by far the
largest profit returned from any firm that accepted bailout funds, and More...
With health bill, Obama has sown the seeds of a budget crisis
(washingtonpost.com) - When historians recount the momentous events of recent weeks, they will
note a curious coincidence. On March 15, Moody's Investors Service -- the bond rating agency --
published a paper warning that the exploding U.S. government debt could
cause a downgrade of Treasury bonds. More...
The war on WikiLeaks and why it matters
(salon.com) - ...All of this has made WikiLeaks an increasingly hated target of numerous
government and economic elites around the world, including the U.S.
Government. As The New York
Times put it last week: "To the list of the enemies
threatening the security of the United States, the Pentagon has More...
Obama announces 15 recess appointments, scolds GOP
(apnews.myway.com) - Fed up with waiting, President Barack Obama announced Saturday he would bypass a
vacationing Senate and name 15 people to key administration jobs,
wielding for the first time the blunt political tool known as the recess
appointment.
The move immediately deepened the divide between the More...
Can This Man Save the GOP?
(thedailybeast.com) - Calling all Republicans: Pay attention to Paul Ryan. You need him. You
are in quicksand. And he’s got the policy and rhetorical ropes to save
the party from being perceived as insular and irrelevant on the issues—most notably the implementation of
Obamacare—which will drive the
next couple of election cycles.
Health care reform reveals Dems' true colors
(articles.sfgate.com) - The most visible Democratic domestic priority of the last 40 years
must be smuggled into law, lest too many Americans notice. Politicians
claiming the idealism of saints have adopted the tactics of burglars.
Liberals
tend to blame this state of affairs on the brilliance of Republican
fear-mongering.
The More...
10 states line up to sue over health bill, Florida AG says
(cnn.com) - Ten states plan to file a federal lawsuit challenging the
constitutionality of the new health care reform bill, Florida's attorney
general announced Monday.
Is ObamaCare Headed for a Supreme Court Smackdown?
(americanthinker.com) - Now that the House Democrats
have rammed ObamaCare down the throats of the nation by a vote of
219-212, the situation is indeed bleak. But Conservatives and Tea
Partiers despondent over the fact that liberal Democrats just passed a
massive encroachment on our liberties over their More...
FACT CHECK: Premiums would rise under Obama plan
(google.com) - Buyers, beware: President Barack Obama says his health care overhaul will lower premiums by double digits, but check the fine print.
Premiums are likely to keep going up even if the health care bill passes, experts say. If cost controls work as advertised, annual increases would level More...
Democrats Consider New Moves for Health Bill
(nytimes.com) - As lawmakers clashed fiercely over major health care legislation on the House floor, Democrats struggled Tuesday to defend procedural shortcuts they might use to win approval for their proposals in the next few days.
NY Times Reporter Confirms Obama Made Deal to Kill Public Option
(huffingtonpost.com) - On Monday, Ed Shultz interviewed New York Times Washington reporter David Kirkpatrick on his MSNBC TV show, and Kirkpatrick confirmed the existence of the deal. Shultz quoted Chip Kahn, chief lobbyist for the for-profit hospital industry on Kahn's confidence that the White House would honor the no public option deal, and Kirkpatrick responded:
Barack Obama to be interviewed on Fox News
(thrfeed.com) - Barack Obama must really want health care to pass.
Barack Obama threatens to withdraw support from wavering Democrats
(telegraph.co.uk) - Barack Obama has said he will not campaign for any Democratic congressmen who fails to support health care reform.
Senate, Obama spar over health plan's pet projects
(news.yahoo.com) - President Barack Obama says he wants projects helping specific states yanked from the health care bill Congress is writing. Democratic senators, being senators, beg to differ.
House bans earmarks to for-profit companies
(washingtonpost.com) - Facing an election-year backlash over runaway spending and ethics scandals, House Democrats moved Wednesday to ban earmarks for private companies, sparking a war between the parties over which would embrace the most dramatic steps to change the way business is done in Washington.
Kucinich willing to cast the vote that kills health reform
(rawstory.com) - Facing razor-thin margins in the House, Democratic leaders are hoping to convert the sole liberal who opposes their health care bill, but it seems they have their work cut out because he isn't budging.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) on Monday defended his opposition to the proposal in an appearance on MSNBC's More...
Stupak: 12 Dems ready to oppose health care bill
(news.yahoo.com) - A congressman who has played a key role in the long-running health care debate says he and 11 other Democrats will vote against the overhaul unless a provision subsidizing abortion is removed.
Obama outlines final health care plan, urges Congress to act
(us.cnn.com) - President Obama outlined his final version of a health care bill Wednesday and urged Congress to bring the plan to a conclusive vote within the next few weeks.
President Obama to Say Democrats Will Use Reconciliation to Pass Senate Health Care Reform Fix, If Not Given Up or Down Vote
(blogs.abcnews.com) - White House officials tell ABC News that in his remarks tomorrow President Obama will indicate a willingness to work with Republicans on some issue to get a health care reform bill passed but will suggest that if it is necessary, Democrats will use the controversial "reconciliation" rules requiring only 51 Senate More...
Opinion: Has America Already Had 'O-nough'?
(aolnews.com) - Yet only one year after electing him to office, voters have grown tired of President Barack Obama, or more precisely, his agenda to "transform" the United States. So much so, in fact, that the 1946 slogan is again finding traction. With a nod to the ubiquitous Obama campaign logo, the More...
Senate easily approves jobs bill
(washingtonpost.com) - The Senate easily approved a $15 billion jobs bill Wednesday that would give tax breaks to companies for hiring new employees, one of two legislative victories that showcased a new Democratic strategy of winning Republican support by advancing popular measures.
Obama urges repeal of insurers antitrust exemption
(news.yahoo.com) - President Barack Obama urged Congress on Tuesday to strip health insurers of their decades-old exemption from federal antitrust laws - hardening his stand against the industry as he tries to revive his stalled health care overhaul.
Conservatives, Fired Up
(thedailybeast.com) - A frisky, fun keynote by Beck, an encouraging straw poll that left Palin with a happily meager 7 percent - CPAC showed that for better or worse, the GOP is fired up and ready to go.
Ron Paul Wins 2010 CPAC Straw Poll
(tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com) - Libertarian darling Ron Paul won the CPAC straw poll tonight, taking 31% of the vote in the multi-candidate field. Mitt Romney came in a distant second place. Sarah Palin came in third, drawing single-digits.
Presidential Spending: Expenditures by Year
(visualeconomics.com) - A statistical breakdown of presidential spending to GDP ratio from 1981 to present day.
Let's Make a Deal - Healthcare Edition
(nytimes.com) - High-profile summit meetings flop more often than they succeed. But Barack Obama's promised health care conference with Republican leaders, if it actually comes off, promises to be a particularly depressing exercise in grandstanding and gamesmanship.
That's because both sides believe they're on the verge of a comprehensive victory. The Republicans are More...
Obama Making Plans to Use Executive Power
(nytimes.com) - With much of his legislative agenda stalled in Congress, President Obama and his team are preparing an array of actions using his executive power to advance energy, environmental, fiscal and other domestic policy priorities.
White House Launches Report Card on Government Openness
(switched.com) - Yesterday, U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra and Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra unveiled what they call the Open Government Dashboard, a sort of report card for government agencies and their abilities to meet objectives set forth in the Open Government Directive. The Dashboard makes it easy to see at More...
What Conservatism Is--and Isn't - The Oregon Catalyst
(oregoncatalyst.com) - Much of what is now called conservatism is nothing but right-wing liberalism. Conservatism is not opposition to homosexual marriage or abortion or premarital sex or post-modernism or socialism. It is not fundamentalism, six-day creationism, Republicanism, or even the commitment to spread democracy. Conservatism is not reactionary—it is traditional, but not for tradition’s own sake.
House GOP Responds to Summit Invite
(corner.nationalreview.com) - House GOP Leader John Boehner (R., Ohio) and Whip Eric Cantor (R., Va.) just sent White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel a letter regarding the upcoming health-care summit.
China warns Obama not to meet Dalai Lama
(news.bbc.co.uk) - China has warned that ties with the US would be undermined if US President Barack Obama met the Dalai Lama.
There is speculation that Mr Obama will meet the Tibetan spiritual leader in Washington later this month, but no date has been confirmed.
President Obama's administration may take action on BCS
(sportsillustrated.cnn.com) - The Obama administration is considering several steps that would review the legality of the controversial Bowl Championship Series, the Justice Department said in a letter Friday to a senator who had asked for an antitrust review.
The Dream Deferred
(thedailybeast.com) - Obama used bipartisan appeals to help sell liberal causes. But he seemed to abandon some of his most important fights.
Fact Checking Obama's State of the Union Address
(news.yahoo.com) - His rhetoric may have been popular, but how likely is it to actually come into fruition?
Video - Universal Health Care Reality?
(cnn.com) - Is it just mean, or do all I hear is "distribution of wealth," "distribution of wealth," "distribution of wealth"?
Video - Battling pre-existing conditions
(cnn.com) - Unreal - having a friend that has Crohn's disease, it is good to know they have medical coverage. How in the world are people supposed to live any life at all if they can't get medical coverage...though, just to be fair, this lady falls into "pre-existing" likely because she didn't More...
Video - Living Life on Medicare
(cnn.com) - A different perspective on medicare coverage - one of the biggest arguments against the government running these social programs. Medicare is great for many people, but the fact that it actually encourages people to under-perform is undeniably ridiculous.
Poll: Fox most trusted name in news
(politico.com) - Fox is the most trusted television news network in the country, according to a new poll out Tuesday.
A Public Policy Polling nationwide survey of 1,151 registered voters Jan. 18-19 found that 49 percent of Americans trusted Fox News, 10 percentage points more than any other network.
Too Much of a Bad Thing by Mark Steyn on National Review Online
(article.nationalreview.com) - “The same thing that swept Scott Brown into office swept me into office,” said Obama. “People are angry and they’re frustrated, not just because of what’s happened in the last year or two years but what’s happened over the last eight years.”
Got it. People are so angry and frustrated at More...
Buffett: Against Bank Tax, for Higher 'Rich Guy' Taxes
(abcnews.go.com) - Legendary investor Warren Buffett today came out against the Obama administration's plan to tax major banks to recoup losses from the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program.
Obama's health care bid hangs in limbo as dispirited House Democrats reject quick fix
(startribune.com) - Though reeling from a political body blow, House Democrats rejected the quickest fix to their health care dilemma Thursday and signaled that any agreement on President Barack Obama's signature issue will come slowly, if at all.
The lesson of Massachusetts? Anger
(latimes.com) - You can bet that political strategists in both parties will be parsing the meaning of the Massachusetts senatorial struggle for some time to come. If there was a slam dunk left in American politics, it should've been the Democrats' ability to easily retain a Senate seat they'd held for 57 More...
White House Downplays Scott Brown Victory
(cbsnews.com) - The White House doesn't dispute that it's easy to see yesterday's election results as a referendum on Mr. Obama and health care. But an official is quick to add that voters "very much like" Mr. Obama and that candidate Brown "never ran an ad on health care."
Google v. China: the Chinese government reacts
(arstechnica.com) - The Google/China story has enough legs to qualify as a "centipede" at this point. After saying that it would no longer censor Chinese search results and that it was ready to pull out of China, Google also admitted to being the victim of a sophisticated cyberattack that went after more More...
Analysis: GOP sees Mass. win as stop sign for Dems
(news.yahoo.com) - Reeling from the loss of a long-held Massachusetts Senate seat, Democrats are rethinking the lessons of Barack Obama's 2008 election, with the GOP cheerfully suggesting they scale back their ambitions and agenda.
Official Google Blog: A new approach to China
(googleblog.blogspot.com) - Is Google going to completely cut ties with China?!?
Obama Reneges on Health Care Transparency
(cbsnews.com) - President Obama wants the final negotiations on health care reform - a reconciliation of the House and Senate versions of the bill - put on a fast track, even if that means breaking an explicit campaign promise.
"The House and Senate plan to put together the final health care reform More...
Arnold Schwarzenegger: 'Bribes' infect health reform
(politico.com) -
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger savaged congressional plans for health reform in his 2010 State of the State address on Wednesday, calling the legislation "health care to nowhere" that's infected with "bribes, deals and loopholes."
With the nation's largest state enduring a fiscal crisis, Schwarzenegger said California's lawmakers should vote against the More...
Dems' Only Hope For 2010: Make The Race About The Other Guy
(huffingtonpost.com) - Democratic incumbents face the most threatening political environment since the Republican landslide of 1994 -- and they know it.
The trends are all moving in the wrong direction. Voters are shifting to the right; white antipathy to the President has intensified; the popular consensus backing Obama and his agenda has collapsed More...
Liberals Wake Up: ObamaCare Stinks
(commentarymagazine.com) - How could Democrats come up with such a scheme? Well, as Herbert points out, the idea is that those “Cadillac” plans will get slashed and changed, thereby avoiding the excise tax. But alas, “it makes a mockery of President Obama’s repeated pledge that if you like the health coverage you More...
ObamaCare and the Liberal Obsession
(online.wsj.com) - Every Democratic president since FDR has failed to pass national health insurance. The current legislation in Congress is likely the last chance to enact it.
Whole Foods Republicans
(online.wsj.com) - What's needed is a full-fledged effort to cultivate "Whole Foods Republicans"—independent-minded voters who embrace a progressive lifestyle but not progressive politics. These highly-educated individuals appreciate diversity and would never tell racist or homophobic jokes; they like living in walkable urban environments; they believe in environmental stewardship, community service and a More...
Democrats to lift debt ceiling by $1.8 trillion, fear 2010 backlash
(politico.com) - In a bold but risky year-end strategy, Democrats are preparing to raise the federal debt ceiling by as much as $1.8 trillion before New Year’s rather than have to face the issue again prior to the 2010 elections.
“We’ve incurred this debt. We have to pay our bills,” House Majority Leader Steny More...
All Harry Reid Wants for Christmas Is Health Care: Albert Hunt - Bloomberg.com
(bloomberg.com) - "Victory has a thousand fathers," John F. Kennedy said, "defeat is an orphan." U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid soon will rediscover this wisdom.
Tax refugees staging escape from New York
(nypost.com) - New Yorkers are fleeing the state and city in alarming numbers -- and costing a fortune in lost tax dollars, a new study shows.
Big bonuses and bigger deficits are driving new waves of populist anger
(dailyfinance.com) - Americans express conflicting goals: many want more capitalism and less government, while others want a safety net for those who have lost their jobs and their health coverage.
Barack Obama sees worst poll rating drop in 50 years
(telegraph.co.uk) - The decline in Barack Obama's popularity since July has been the steepest of any president at the same stage of his first term for more than 50 years.
The Democrats' fickle-and-dime health strategy
(washingtonpost.com) - "Iwill not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits, either now or in the future -- period," President Obama told Congress in a health-care address last month.
Well, that depends on what the meaning of "plan" is.
Senate Democrats wanted to protect doctors from scheduled cuts in Medicare payments More...
Utah senator urges Obama to investigate BCS
(sportingnews.com) - A senator whose undefeated home state school was bypassed for the college football national championship last season urged President Barack Obama on Wednesday to ask the Justice Department to investigate the Bowl Championship Series, citing Obama's own concerns about the way the top team is crowned in building a case More...
Senate panel OKs health reform bill; Obama: 'We're not there yet'
(cnn.com) - The health care reform debate reached a new milestone Tuesday as a key congressional committee passed an $829 billion plan projected to extend coverage to an additional 29 million Americans.
The Senate Finance Committee's bill would subsidize insurance for poorer Americans, establish nonprofit health care cooperatives, and create health insurance exchanges More...
AT&T vs. Google Voice: Sex, money, the feds, and your phone bill
(dailyfinance.com) - Despite what a handful of lawmakers may say, the dispute between Google and AT&T over the search giant's Google Voice application is not so much about fairness or rural access as it is about steamy phone sex and piles of money. These lawmakers, including Steve Buyer, an Indiana Republican and More...
What happened to global warming?
(news.bbc.co.uk) - This headline may come as a bit of a surprise, so too might that fact that the warmest year recorded globally was not in 2008 or 2007, but in 1998.
Obama wins 2009 Nobel Peace Prize
(news.bbc.co.uk) - The Nobel Committee said he won it for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples".
The committee highlighted Mr Obama's efforts to support international bodies and promote nuclear disarmament.
Mr Obama's spokesman said the president was "humbled" to have won the prize. He said he woke Mr Obama up with the news early on Friday.
Ron Paul on The Daily Show Tuesday, Sept. 29
(indecisionforever.com) - Don't look now, but Ron Paul — Texas congressperson, former presidential candidate, libertarian about town — will be sitting down with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show next Tuesday, September 29th to discuss his new book End the Fed.
Debate Arises on 3 Wheeler
(online.wsj.com) - Is a three-wheeled vehicle an automobile? That question is at the center of a vigorous lobbying effort in Washington.
Thomas Frank: Why Democrats Are Losing on Health Care
(online.wsj.com) - Answer: They won't debate the proper role of government.
Under fire, President Obama shifts strategy
(politico.com) - Obama is considering detailing his health-care demands in a major speech as soon as next week, when Congress returns from the August recess. And although House leaders have said their members will demand the inclusion of a public insurance option, Obama has no plans to insist on it himself, the officials said
A Radical Solution to End the Drug War: Legalize Everything
(esquire.com) - One cop straight out of The Wire crunches the numbers with Esquire.com's political columnist to discover that America's prohibition of narcotics may be costing more lives than Mexico's — and nearly enough dollars for universal health care. So why not repeal our drug laws? Because cops are making money off them, too.
Read more: http://www.esquire.com/the-side/richardson-report/drug-war-facts-090109?src=digg#ixzz0PxbiNBUT
Hitler: Lets clear something up right now
(img521.imageshack.us) - let's hold off on the name calling.
Frank: Bill Mandating "Complete Audit" Of The Fed Will Pass House In Fall
(huffingtonpost.com) - Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, told a Massachusetts audience at a recent town hall that the House will pass legislation this fall mandating a "complete audit" of the Federal Reserve.
Warren Buffet: America Has Hit The Panic Buttonv
(fortunewatch.com) - Warren Buffet a highly influential American has finally hit the panic button, saying that we are going to be crushed under a mountain of debt taking into consideration the amount of debt the country is piling up.
Liberals complain over Obama concession
(news.yahoo.com) - President Barack Obama's weekend concession on a health care "government option" drew complaints from liberals and scarce interest from Republicans and other critics on Monday, a fresh sign of the challenge in finding middle ground in an increasingly partisan political struggle.
Political Spectrum Quiz - Your Political Label
(gotoquiz.com) - Discover your place on the political spectrum! This quiz will let you know where you fall on social liberties, economics, foreign policy-- even the culture war. In truth, this isn't a quiz so much as a set of statements that you More...
Obama Slams Health Care Critics For Spreading "Outlandish Rumors"
(huffingtonpost.com) - Using better-than-expected jobs numbers to press his top domestic priority, President Barack Obama is arguing that overhauling the health care system is essential to the country's economic well-being.
Republicans said the high unemployment rate – 9.4 percent in July – shows how families and businesses are struggling and that Obama's reliance More...
Obama: Don't Want the Folks Who Created the Mess to Do a Lot of Talking
(breitbart.tv) - Obama: "But I don't want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking. I want them to get out of the way so we can clean up the mess. I don't mind cleaning up after them, but don't do a lot of talking."
Ex-coach Lou Holtz considering running for Congress
(orlandosentinel.com) - After earning nearly 250 wins on the college gridiron, former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz is eyeing another competition -- as a candidate for Congress in Central Florida.
The famed skipper and ESPN analyst met with top Republicans here last week and said he was interested in challenging first-term U.S. Rep. More...
New Anti-Obama 'Joker' Poster
(blogs.laweekly.com) - A new poster depicting President Obama as a version of Heath Ledger's Joker character in The Dark Knight has appeared in Los Angeles.
Larry Flynt to Obama "Grow a Pair"
(thedailybeast.com) - As for disloyal Democrats, you need to yank the carpet out from under them. Remind them that their survival is dependent upon yours. Don’t pull punches, Mr. President. You need some gonads, and if you don’t have any, as Hillary would say, you’d better grow some.
NPR Poll Finds Tough Sledding For Obama
(npr.org) - The nation is close to evenly split in its assessment of the president's policies to date, and there is great intensity on both sides of the debate with dwindling numbers in the middle.
Those are the chief findings of the latest NPR poll of 850 registered voters conducted nationwide Wednesday through More...
US Rep. Murtha believes F22 deal can be reached
(reuters.com) - Congress and the Obama administration can still strike a deal on funding new F-22s made by Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) despite a presidential threat to veto military spending legislation if the fighter jet program is not terminated, a senior lawmaker said on Thursday.
Online Poker - Upcoming "Battle of the OK Corral" in federal court
(sports.espn.go.com) - In the next few months, online poker players in the United States will be wagering in one of their highest-stakes hands, but this showdown won't take place at the World Series of Poker final table in November.
At issue is a federal lawsuit that could decide whether Internet poker players -- More...
Replacing the Dollar: China's Big Plans for Its Currency
(time.com) - China's swipes at the U.S. dollar have been spilling out of Beijing with almost mundane regularity. Every time there is an international economic summit, it seems that some Chinese mandarin reiterates the now familiar complaint that the greenback needs to be replaced as the world's de facto reserve currency. China More...
Sebelius: Possible tax on rich for healthcare
(cnn.com) - Appearing on the NBC program "Meet the Press," Sebelius said a tax surcharge on wealthy Americans is "a legitimate way to go forward."
The taxes would start with people making $350,000.
Obama feels the heat, changes the play
(news.yahoo.com) - Finally, we’re starting to see him sweat.
President Barack Obama made his personal icy cool the trademark of his campaign, the tenor of his White House and the hallmark of an early run of successes at home and abroad. But as the glamour wears off and a long, frustrating summer wears More...
Republicans embrace Ron Paul on domestic policy
(politico.com) - No sooner does the representative from Texas’ 14th Congressional District, nicknamed “Dr. No” by his detractors, find himself embraced by mainstream Republicans (and even some Democrats) on domestic policy issues, then he pivots his focus to foreign affairs.
Obama, Paul told POLITICO during a sit-down in his office this week, “has More...
What Did the Xbox Ever Do to Obama?
(blogs.wsj.com) - In a speech to the NAACP Thursday night, President Barack Obama exhorted parents to play a more active role in raising and educating their children, including “putting away the Xbox” when it’s bedtime.
Understanding the California Budget Crisis
(mint.com) - Living beyond your means is a sure way to guarantee financial ruin. Today, millions are dealing with the fallout from artificially-inflated real estate values and accessible, unsecured credit. For those recently (or still) in this situation, a number of temporary solutions were once readily available - refinancing, taking out home More...
Ron Paul's bipartisan attack on the Fed
(msnbc.msn.com) - Legislators are sick of not knowing what's going on inside Bernanke's fortress, especially as the Fed becomes further enmeshed in the nation's fiscal policy. Paul's little bill has become emblematic of a larger movement, one that could spell trouble for Obama's troubled regulatory plan. Ron Paul — always an enemy More...
Is Obama losing his Mojo?
(nypost.com) - During his golden year and a half, Obama caught a wave of change that propelled him into the White House, a wave that only grew stronger when he took office amid an economic crisis. When challenged, Obama has resorted to his rhetorical prowess to defuse controversies (the Rev. Wright), champion More...
Obama Picks Camp David Church -- Not a D.C. Congregation
(news.yahoo.com) - For the past five months, White House aides and friends of the Obamas have been quietly visiting local churches and vetting the sermons of prospective first ministers in a search for a new - and uncontroversial - church home. Obama has even sampled a few himself, attending services at 19th More...
Iran's Ahmadinejad compares Obama to Bush
(news.yahoo.com) - TEHRAN (Reuters) – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused Barack Obama on Thursday of behaving like his predecessor toward Iran and said there was not much point in talking to Washington unless the U.S. president apologized.
(EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to More...
Leave Iran Alone! by Ron Paul
(lewrockwell.com) - Statement before the US House of Representatives opposing resolution on Iran, June 19, 2009
I rise in reluctant More...
North Korea threatens merciless attack if it is provoked
(guardian.co.uk) - North Korea today warned that it would launch a "merciless" attack if provoked by the US and its allies, hours after President Barack Obama described the state's nuclear and missile programmes as a "grave threat" to the world.
"If the US and its followers infringe upon our republic's sovereignty even a More...
Obama to Limit Fed Lending Power
(bloomberg.com) - The Obama administration plans to restrict the Federal Reserve’s emergency-lending powers while endowing it with authority overseeing systemic risk, ushering in what may become the Fed’s biggest overhaul in decades.
US House to debate Ron Paul's "Audit the Fed" bill
(rawstory.com) - After months of activism and lobbying by Congressman Ron Paul’s supporters, House Resolution 1207, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act, will move out of committee to be debated by the full House of Representatives.
In a show of cross-party unity, Ohio Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich became the bill’s 218th co-sponsor, pushing it over the threshold for debate in Congress.
Canadians angered over Buy American rule
(reuters.com) - Canadian municipal leaders threatened to retaliate against the "Buy America" movement in the United States on Saturday, warning trade restrictions will hurt both countries' economies.
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities endorsed a controversial proposal to support communities that refuse to buy products from countries that put trade restrictions on products and services from Canada.
CNN fades in prime-time picture
(politico.com) - CNN, which just took home a Peabody Award for its 2008 election coverage, and dominated cable-news ratings on days when politics took center stage, is having trouble getting those viewers back on other nights.
Since Obama took office, CNN’s prime-time audience has dropped sharply, raising doubts about whether the network’s middle-of-the-road More...
The Obama Motor Co.
(online.wsj.com) - Back in December, in an economy far, far away, then-CEO Rick Wagoner tossed out the scary cost to taxpayers of $100 billion if General Motors wasn't saved by the government. Well, GM was saved in December and again in March, and as early as today the feds will rescue it More...
Obama Revises Campaign Promise Of 'Change' To 'Relatively Minor Readjustments In Certain Favorable Policy Areas'
(theonion.com) - In a slight shift from his campaign trail promise, President Obama announced Monday that his administration's message of "Change" has been modified to the somewhat more restrained slogan "Relatively Minor Readjustments in Certain Favorable Policy Areas." "Today, Americans face a great many challenges, and I hear your desperate calls for More...
Millionaires Go Missing
(online.wsj.com) - Maryland couldn't balance its budget last year, so the state tried to close the shortfall by fleecing the wealthy. Politicians in Annapolis created a millionaire tax bracket, raising the top marginal income-tax rate to 6.25%. And because cities such as Baltimore and Bethesda also impose income taxes, the state-local tax More...
California high court upholds gay marriage ban but allows existing same-sex marriages to stand
(breitbart.com) - California high court upholds gay marriage ban but allows existing same-sex marriages to stand.
Momentum Builds For Ron Paul's "Fed Transparency" Act
(businessinsider.com) - It's baby steps, of course. Paul is the sponsor of the Federal Reserve Transparency act of 2009, which demands a GAO audit of the Fed, and a full report to Congress sometime next year. And it's gaining steam. It already has 175 co-sponsors in the House, and now a major More...
GM bankruptcy plan eyes quick sale to gov't
(reuters.com) - General Motors Corp's plan for a bankruptcy filing involves a quick sale of the company's healthy assets to a new company initially owned by the U.S. government, a source familiar with the situation said on Tuesday.
Some on left souring on Obama
(politico.com) - When President Barack Obama speaks to the Notre Dame commencement Sunday afternoon, television cameras will search the sea of graduates, looking for turned backs and defaced mortar boards that abortion opponents will likely use to register their disagreement with the president.
Drama at GE shareholders meeting
(hollywoodreporter.com) - The hostility between Fox News Channel and MSNBC reached a fever pitch Wednesday when a Fox producer infiltrated the GE shareholders meeting.
Just before GE re-elected board members, company brass were hit with questions from shareholders critical of an alleged leftward political slant at MSNBC.
China vs United States: A Visual Comparison
(mint.com) - As we discussed in yesterday’s post, whether the United States and China like it or not, the economic futures of both countries are intertwined. Everyone knows that China’s got more people and that its importance as an economic superpower has escalated in recent years. What you might not understand is More...
Warming gases are health threat
(msnbc.msn.com) - Having received White House backing, the Environmental Protection Agency declared Friday that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are a significant threat to human health and thus will be listed as pollutants under the Clean Air Act — a policy the Bush administration rejected.
Earning six figures and just scraping by
(blogs.moneycentral.msn.com) - It's a little hard for me to feel sorry for the people making $400,000 a year and saying they're "barely getting by." Yep, people actually say that in this Wall Street Journal article about the Obama administration's push to raise rates for the highest tax brackets.
Obama's High Speed Rail Initiaitve
(nytimes.com) - President Obama on Thursday highlighted his ambition for the development of high-speed passenger rail lines in at least 10 regions, expressing confidence in the future of train travel even as he acknowledged that the American rail network, compared with the rest of the world’s, remains a caboose.
We Still Need a Simpler Tax Code
(online.wsj.com) - The law should be plain enough that most people can compute their own liabilities on a single form.
GM told to prepare for bankruptcy
(news.com.au) - The US Treasury Department is directing General Motors to lay the groundwork for a bankruptcy filing by June 1, even though the automaker has publicly stated it could reorganize outside of court, The New York Times reported.
Did Obama bow to Saudi king?
(suntimes.com) - Yes.
“It wasn’t a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he’s taller than King Abdullah,” the aide was quoted as saying by Politco.com Wednesday.
Would a Global Currency work? Probably not, here's why
(msnbc.msn.com) - With the value of the dollar jumping up and down against other countries' currencies, what if the world just agreed to use the same currency? It sounds like a simple idea. But like many simple ideas, it would come with all kinds of unintended consequences.
Gingrich warns of third party in 2012
(politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com) - Former House speaker Newt Gingrich is warning of a third party mutiny in 2012 if Republicans don’t figure out a way to shape up.
China Vies to Be World’s Leader in Electric Cars
(nytimes.com) - Chinese leaders have adopted a plan aimed at turning the country into one of the leading producers of hybrid and all-electric vehicles within three years, and making it the world leader in electric cars and buses after that.
AP Stretches Credibility On Obama Cigarette Tax Hike
(donklephant.com) - As I’ve said before, all the press ultimately cares about is conflict. They want to stir the pot because it sells papers and that’s fine. But claiming they have an inherent bias is pointless.
Yet another example…this roundabout claim that Obama is taxing those making under $200,000…
WASHINGTON -One of President Barack More...
GM asks U.S. gov't for $2.6 bln to build hybrids
(reuters.com) - General Motors Corp (GM.N) has asked for $2.6 billion of low interest government loans to support the development of three new hybrid vehicles, according to a business plan update released on Wednesday.
Bob Lutz: Volt Will Survive and Propser
(gm-volt.com) - “As the White House has said, they do not intend to run a car company, much less make product decisions. They recognize the Volt for the game changer it is. And yes, no kidding, that costs money up front. But, this is a long term play for us.” GM spokesperson More...
Marijuana issue suddenly smoking hot
(politico.com) - Smoking pot doesn’t cause schizophrenia, but marijuana as an issue sure gives our political system the symptoms. We have just elected our third president in a row who at least tried marijuana in early adulthood, yet it remains illegal.
As we discovered again this week, President Obama, like his two More...
Mexican Drug Lord Officially Thanks American Lawmakers for Keeping Drugs Illegal
(huffingtonpost.com) - "I couldn't have gotten so stinking rich without George Bush, George Bush Jr., Ronald Reagan, even El Presidente Obama, none of them have the cajones to stand up to all the big money that wants to keep this stuff illegal. From the bottom of my heart, I want to say, Gracias amigos, I owe my whole empire to you."
How much gold is REALLY in Fort Knox? No audit since Eisenhower
(rinf.com) - “It has been several decades since the gold in Fort Knox was independently audited or properly accounted for,” said Ron Paul, the Texas Congressman and former Republican presidential candidate. “The American people deserve to know the truth.”
Mr Paul has so far attracted 21 co-sponsors for a Bill to conduct an More...
In Minnesota, it's still November
(politico.com) - Texas Sen. John Cornyn is threatening “World War III” if Democrats try to seat Al Franken in the Senate before Norm Coleman can pursue his case through the federal courts.
Bank of America May Increase Salaries for Investment Bankers
(bloomberg.com) - So instead of controversial bonuses, they just increase their pay?!?
Senate Dems propose cutting Obama budget by billions
(cnn.com) - Hours before President Obama was to hold a prime time news conference -- in part to boost his $3.6 trillion budget plan -- a key Democratic senator Tuesday unveiled a scaled-down budget proposal.
China, Russia call to replace dollar as global reserve currency
(business2press.com) - Zhou Xiaochuan, the governor of the Chinese Central Bank, is calling to replace the dollar as the main global reserve currency, citing the dangers of the current economic crisis on heavily relying on one currency essentially controlled by the west.
Friendly fire: NYT hits Obama
(politico.com) - The leading liberal voices of the New York Times editorial pages all criticized—and, in some cases, clobbered—President Obama on Sunday for his handling of the economy and national security.
Obama Sides With RIAA, Supports $150,000 Fine per Music Track
(blog.wired.com) - The Obama administration for the first time is weighing in on a Recording Industry Association of America file sharing lawsuit and is supporting hefty awards of as much as $150,000 per purloined music track.
Not change you can believe in...
Why It's Getting Harder to Evade Taxes
(time.com) - Politicians don't usually like being interrupted during interviews. But sometimes it's worth making an exception. During a sit-down conversation with TIME last week, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown happily broke off to read a faxed letter handed to him by an aide. As anticipated, the note, from the Swiss President, More...
Ron Paul: Predicts 15-year depression
(ft.com) - Pension trustees and insurance company portfolio managers look away now. Your increased commitment to government bond holdings in recent times is about to blow up spectacularly.
At least, that is the view of Ron Paul, the US congressman who ran against John McCain in last year’s Republican Party presidential nomination.
A.I.G. Sues U.S. for Return of $306 Million in Tax Payments
(nytimes.com) - A.I.G. is effectively suing its majority owner, the government, which has an 80 percent stake and has poured nearly $200 billion into the insurer in a bid to avert its collapse and avoid troubling the global financial markets. The company is in effect asking for even more money, in the More...
Senate Tackles AIG Bonus Bill After House Approves Its Version
(foxnews.com) - Lawmakers are preparing to slap heavy taxes on employee bonuses at insurance giant AIG and at other companies that have received large bailout packages from the government.
President Obama Announces $2.4 Billion in Funding for Electric Vehicles
(gas2.org) - President Obama announced today that $2.4 billion will be made available for the US-based development of plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles.
Dodd: Administration pushed for language protecting bonuses
(cnn.com) - Senate Banking committee Chairman Christopher Dodd told CNN Wednesday that he was responsible for language added to the federal stimulus bill to make sure that already-existing contracts for bonuses at companies receiving federal bailout money were honored.
Dodd acknowledged his role in the change after a Treasury Department official told CNN the administration pushed for the language.
Obama Received a $101,332 Bonus from AIG
(examiner.com) - Senator Barack Obama received a $101,332 bonus from American International Group in the form of political contributions according to Opensecrets.org. The two biggest Congressional recipients of bonuses from the A.I.G. are - Senators Chris Dodd and Senator Barack Obama.
Poll: Frustration Growing Over Bailouts
(cbsnews.com) - A growing number of Americans are opposed to providing government assistance to ailing financial institutions, according to a new CBS News poll.
The poll also shows that the public clearly blames the management of the banks for the crisis and that many Americans are feel resentful that irresponsible banking executives could More...
The Case for Letting AIG Fail
(time.com) - There's an uproar about whether the government should let AIG fail, a debate re-energized by the latest revelation of bonus payments going to AIG's executives. In fact, there's a good case to be made that AIG should fail, and it has nothing to do with bonuses.
Push to audit Federal Reserve gains steam
(worldnetdaily.com) - A bill calling for the comptroller general of the United States to audit the private Federal Reserve is gaining momentum in Washington, D.C., as more and more representatives add their names to its bipartisan support.
New bill would tax AIG bonuses at 100 percent
(newsday.com) - The sponsor of the new bill, Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington), said Tuesday that "if we can't kill the bonuses, we'll tax the bonuses."
IMF poised to print billions of dollars in 'global quantitative easing'
(telegraph.co.uk) - The International Monetary Fund is poised to embark on what analysts have described as "global quantitative easing" by printing billions of dollars worth of a global "super-currency" in an unprecedented new effort to address the economic crisis.
The 6 Drinkiest Politicians in U.S. History
(blog.indecisionforever.com) - Overindulging in alcohol can lead to all sorts of trouble. And yet, there are some who have battled their demons with the bottle while rising to some of the highest levels of public service. So, I might actually still get a chance to be somebody before my liver falls out. More...
Outrage over AIG dominates US media
(news.bbc.co.uk) - "Inside, death threats and angry letters flooded e-mail inboxes. Irate callers lit up the phone lines. Senior managers submitted their resignations. Some employees didn't show up at all," the paper reports.
Obama Orders Treasury Chief to Try to Block A.I.G. Bonuses
(nytimes.com) - President Obama vowed to try to stop the faltering insurance giant American International Group from paying out hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses to executives, as the administration scrambled to avert a populist backlash against banks and Wall Street that could complicate Mr. Obama’s economic recovery agenda.
Euro chiefs ban 'Miss' and 'Mrs'
(telegraph.co.uk) - The European Parliament has banned the terms 'Miss' and 'Mrs' in case they offend female MEPs.
Bonus Money at Troubled A.I.G. Draws Heavy Criticism
(nytimes.com) - Obama administration officials and Republicans alike were nearly universal in condemning the $165 million in bonuses that the American International Group, which has received more than $170 billion in taxpayer bailout money from the Treasury and Federal Reserve, is to pay executives in the business unit that brought the company to the brink of collapse last year.
Can Obama Keep Moderate Democrats from Bailing on His Budget?
(time.com) - First there was last winter's $168 billion economic stimulus package, followed by a $300 billion fund in June to help distressed mortgage holders. Then came $350 billion for the banks (and a little of that for the car companies), another $350 billion for the banks, $787 billion in economic stimulus More...
Mr. Obama’s Trade Agenda
(nytimes.com) - In tough times, there is a strong temptation to turn inward. With so many Americans already out of work, why shouldn’t the country raise trade barriers to protect its workers from foreign competition?
The answer is clear: Trade will play an important role in the world’s eventual recovery, transmitting economic growth More...
Democrats to Obama: Hurry up and fix the economy
(cnn.com) - Some Democrats are increasingly concerned about President Obama's $787 billion financial fix for the ailing economy, and are demanding greater transparency on further spending.
With the White House seemingly comparing the nation's economy to a house on fire, some congressional Democrats are asking, where's the fire truck?
Ron Paul, Bill to Audit the Fed
(freedomworks.org) - Ron Paul has introduced H.R.1207: Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009 to Congress and it’s been referred to the House Committee on Financial Services. According to Campaign for Liberty, “The Fed has so far resisted attempts to provide information on how it is spending the bailout money and currently More...
Liberal Nonprofits, Universities and Charities Oppose Barack Obama's Tax Increases on Rich Donors
(online.wsj.com) - Among those shocked by President Obama's 2010 budget, the most surprising are the true-blue liberals who run most of America's nonprofits, universities and charities. How dare he limit tax deductions for charitable giving! They're afraid they'll get fewer donations, but they should be more concerned that Mr. Obama's policies will shove them aside in favor of the New Charity State.
Change We Can Believe In: How About the End of Farmers Markets? Say Hello to H.R. 875: Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009
(cryptogon.com) - What this will do is force anyone who produces food of any kind, and then transports it to a different location for sale, to register with a new federal agency called the “Food Safety Administration.” Even growers who only sell only fruit and/or vegetables at farmers markets would not only More...
Tongue-tied Clinton gets warm welcome
(news.yahoo.com) - Hillary Clinton raised eyebrows on her first visit to Europe as secretary of state when she mispronounced her EU counterparts' names and claimed U.S. democracy was older than Europe's.
Clinton has set herself a grueling pace on visits to Egypt, Israel and Brussels soon after touring the Far East, attending dozens More...
Chinese ships 'harass' US vessel
(news.bbc.co.uk) - Five Chinese ships have manoeuvred dangerously close to an unarmed US navy surveillance vessel in the South China Sea, the US government says.
US officials said the incident on Sunday came after days of "increasingly aggressive" acts by Chinese ships.
Who Does Obama’s Foreclosure Fix Really Help?
(mint.com) - For millions of homeowners, the past few months (or years) have been very confusing and frustrating as multiple government ‘fixes’ have turned out to be both inaccessible and, in many cases, downright imaginary. With estimates that one in five homes has a mortgage that is underwater, it is important to More...
Scary: 34% Of Americans Don't Think It's Possible To Live Without Government Help
(sayanythingblog.com) - George Lakoff, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley, recently stated that “the moral mission of government is simple: no one can earn a living in America or live an American life without protection and empowerment by the government.”
Thirty-four percent (34%) of voters nationwide agree with Lakoff’s assertion More...
Travel Industry Slams Obama, Congress Proposals in New Ads
(online.wsj.com) - The travel industry is taking aim at Democrats' efforts to limit luxury travel by companies that accept government bailouts with a new advertising campaign that says the attacks on travel are costing jobs.
One of four print ads in the campaign includes a photograph of the back of President Barack Obama's More...
Jim Rogers: Let AIG Go Bankrupt, Not America
(cnbc.com) - American International Group should be allowed to go bankrupt because keeping it and other sick financials alive on government support risks ruining the US economy, legendary investor Jim Rogers told CNBC Tuesday.
Genachowski named to head FCC
(uk.reuters.com) - President Barack Obama on Tuesday nominated Julius Genachowski, a law school friend and technology industry executive, to head the Federal Communications Commission.
Genachowski's expected priorities include the expansion of broadband service fueled by the recent economic stimulus package and "net neutrality" to prevent Internet service providers from giving preference to certain content.
1 in 31 Americans in Jail - Cost of locking them up too high
(reuters.com) - One in every 31 U.S. adults is in the corrections system, which includes jail, prison, probation and supervision, more than double the rate of a quarter century ago, according to a report released on Monday by the Pew Center on the States.
The study, which said the current rate compares to More...
How Obama Will Change Your Taxes
(forbes.com) - The $787 billion stimulus package passed in February and President Barack Obama's budget plan released on Thursday contain a confusing assortment of changes to the tax code.
Some will see their taxes go down this year, especially those earning less than $100,000 a year. Beginning in 2011, when Obama hopes the More...
Merrill Lynch CEO: "Nothing Happened In The World Or The Economy" That Would Justify Suspending Bonuses
(consumerist.com) - You know how Merrill Lynch recently lost $15 billion? Remember how we're in a unbelievably huge global financial crisis that threatens to unravel the fabric of our economy? John Thain says that's no reason not to pay billions of dollars in bonuses.
US STOCKS-Wall St rises as Bernanke eases fears on banks
(uk.reuters.com) - U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday, gaining more than 2 percent a day after hitting 12-year lows, after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke signaled that nationalization of major banks was not at hand.
How the three-tiered beer distribution system works
(fermentarium.com) - If you are a starting brewery looking to get your beer to market, the three-tiered distribution system can be dizzying. Here's how everything works, and in some cases doesn't work.
44 Republicans Support Fair Tax Act of 2009
(opencongress.org) - To promote freedom, fairness, and economic opportunity by repealing the income tax and other taxes, abolishing the Internal Revenue Service, and enacting a national sales tax to be administered primarily by the States.
The Housing Chart That's Worth 1000 Words
(businessinsider.com) - Here's the big problem with almost all the current rhetoric about the housing crisis: It presumes that the goal should be to get house prices rising again. The problem with that idea is that, even after a 25% decline, house prices are still way too high.
Michael Bloomberg Objects to Income-Tax Hikes for New York Households
(online.wsj.com) - Let us now praise New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has learned a few things about tax rates and incentives.
Why the White House's Embrace of Drupal Matters
(techpresident.com) - Drupal developers are abuzz with the realization that the White House's new Recovery.gov site was built using the free and open-source content management platform Drupal. Pre-Recovery.gov, the perhaps highest-profile use of Drupal had been the Onion website. But that's not the only reason that Drupal fans are excited. I asked More...
Iran holds enough uranium for bomb
(ft.com) - Iran has built up a stockpile of enough enriched uranium for one nuclear bomb, United Nations officials acknowledged on Thursday.
In a development that comes as the Obama administration is drawing up its policy on negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear programme, UN officials said Iran had produced more nuclear material than previously thought.
How Much Will You Benefit From the Stimulus Package?
(mint.com) - President Obama will sign the $787 billion stimulus package into law this week, with approximately 35% going towards tax cuts and the rest going towards stimulus spending. Just about everyone stands to benefit from the stimulus in some fashion in the short-term, but a few demographics have an opportunity to More...
Obama unveils $75B mortgage relief plan
(msnbc.msn.com) - Seeking to tackle “a crisis unlike any we’ve ever known,” President Barack Obama unveiled an ambitious $75 billion plan Wednesday to keep as many as 9 million Americans from losing their homes to foreclosure.
With no budget, California to cut 20,000 state jobs
(news.yahoo.com) - California, which is on the brink of running out of cash, will notify 20,000 state workers on Tuesday their jobs may be eliminated, a spokesman for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said on Monday.
The announcement came a day after California lawmakers narrowly failed to pass a $40 billion budget that would have More...
If election were held today, GOP would likely win back Congress?
(examiner.com) - Let's call it Stimulated Backlash. I wonder how long the MSM will ignore even the possibility that Americans might dislike (nevermind loathe) this spending insanity.
McCain: Stimulus is 'generational theft'
(thehill.com) - President Barack Obama’s Republican rival for the White House last year hardened his opposition to the administration’s planned economic recovery package Sunday.
“I think this can only be described as generational theft. What we are doing is amassing multi-trillions of dollars,” said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), speaking on CBS’s “Face The Nation” with Bob Schieffer.
Obama Plans $500,000 Cap on Executive Pay in Bailouts
(nytimes.com) - The Obama administration is expected to impose a cap of $500,000 for top executives at companies that receive large amounts of bailout money, according to people familiar with the plan.
Obama nominates Republican Gregg for Commerce job
(reuters.com) - President Barack Obama named a third prominent Republican to his cabinet on Tuesday, nominating Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire as commerce secretary.
Crime Pays...If you need top-notch medical care
(rd.com) - James Wolfe was doing hard time in Pennsylvania for raping an eight-year-old girl when he discovered that prison can be a pretty good deal. It seems James had always wanted to be a woman (he had even changed his name to Jessica), and a doctor labeled his condition "gender identity More...
'Buy American' Provision Draws Fire
(abcnews.go.com) - Sparks Fly on 'This Week' as CEOs and Legislators Debate Stimulus Package
Obama touts middle-class task force led by Biden
(news.yahoo.com) - President Barack Obama signed a series of executive orders Friday that he said should "level the playing field" for labor unions in their struggles with management. Obama also used the occasion at the White House to announce formally a new White House task force on the problems of middle-class Americans. He named Vice President Joe Biden as its chairman.
Tracking the $700 Billion Bailout
(projects.nytimes.com) - Hundreds of banks and a handful of insurers and automakers have applied for funds from the Treasury Department as part of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. The Treasury Department has transferred capital to the majority of these companies.
Illinois to Blagojevich: cya
(news.bbc.co.uk) - Mr Blagojevich said he was "saddened and disappointed" by the verdict but "not at all surprised" and would fight to clear his name.
Stimulus 101: What's in the bills
(money.cnn.com) - You've probably noticed: The Obama administration and Congress are talking about spending an unprecedented sum of money to try to revive the economy.
President Obama and House Democrats laid down the marker with an $825 billion package of spending and tax cuts. The Senate version will be taken up by two committees on Tuesday.
House Passes $819 Billion Stimulus Plan, Bill Passes 244-188 With No Republican Support
(cbsnews.com) - Senate Version Taking Shape But No Clear Timetable For Reaching Obama's Desk.
House fails to pass DTV delay bill
(tech.yahoo.com) - The House of Representatives on Wednesday failed to pass a bill to delay the nationwide switch to digital television signals by about four months.
Interestingly, it was expected to easily pass with support from both sides.
Russian prime minister tells Dell CEO: 'We don't need help. We are not invalids.'
(money.cnn.com) - Ever since Vladimir Putin rose to power in 2000, his political opponents and entire countries have learned to their cost that he has a tough, demeaning streak. Wednesday it was Michael Dell's turn.
Iceland govt has collapsed
(news.bbc.co.uk) - Iceland's coalition government has collapsed under the strain of an escalating economic crisis.
Obama orders air strikes on villages in tribal area
(guardian.co.uk) - Barack Obama gave the go-ahead for his first military action yesterday, missile strikes against suspected militants in Pakistan which killed at least 18 people.
Caroline Kennedy withdraws Senate bid
(reuters.com) - Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of slain President John F. Kennedy, on Thursday withdrew her bid to fill the Senate seat for New York vacated by Hillary Clinton.
Kennedy cited personal reasons in a brief statement.
Obama overturns secrecy on former president's records
(whitehouse.gov) - By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to establish policies and procedures governing the assertion of executive privilege by incumbent and former Presidents in connection with the release of Presidential records by the National More...
Obama signs order to shut Guantanamo
(msnbc.msn.com) - On Day Two of his administration, President Barack Obama began overhauling U.S. treatment of terror suspects, signing orders to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center, review military trials of suspects and ban the harshest interrogation methods.
China censors Obama's inauguration address
(news.yahoo.com) - China censored its translation of President Barack Obama's inauguration speech, removing references to communism and dissent, and quickly halted state television's live broadcast of the address when Cold War-era animosities were mentioned.
One television official tried to downplay the cutaway as a normal break in programming while an editor with the More...
Obama freezes salaries of some White House aides
(sfgate.com) - President Barack Obama's first public act in office Wednesday was to institute new limits on lobbyists in his White House and to freeze the salaries of high-paid aides, in a nod to the country's economic turmoil.
Obama retakes oath of office
(msnbc.msn.com) - After the flub heard around the world, President Barack Obama has taken the oath of office. Again. Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the oath to Obama on Wednesday night at the White House — a rare do-ove
Bush's notes from Obama's speech.
(cdn.holytaco.com) - Valentine's Day Stuff: Don't tell Laura you got her "Deez Nutz" again. She no likey.
FULL TRANSCRIPT: President Barack Obama's Inaugural Address
(abcnews.go.com) - Full transcript as prepared for delivery of President Barack Obama's inaugural remarks on Jan. 20, 2009, at the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.
10 Weirdest Inauguration Day Blunders
(encarta.msn.com) - A very historic Inauguration Day is approaching. But a few presidential inaugurations became historic for less-than-flattering reasons. From extravagant parties and unruly mobs to streets littered with poisoned pigeons, let's revisit history's most memorable Inauguration Day mishaps.
How Obama found his voice - Books
(nytimes.com) - Much has been made of Mr. Obama’s eloquence — his ability to use words in his speeches to persuade and uplift and inspire. But his appreciation of the magic of language and his ardent love of reading have not only endowed him with a rare ability to communicate his ideas More...
Attack of the Celebs: Stars Descend on Inauguration
(nbcbayarea.com) - Celebrities by the dozen descended on Washington, DC to participate in inauguration activities.
How to move a president in a few hours
(cnn.com) - On January 20, the Obamas move in -- a side of Inauguration Day that most people never see: a grueling, precisely timed workday involving scores of staffers that follows six months of careful planning.
Weirdest Taxes of All Time
(knowyourmoney.co.uk) - Tax is a hot topic at the moment. The economic downturn has pushed it to the top of the political agenda in many countries (not that it's ever too far down the list). Recently, a UK thinktank, the Fabian Society, released figures indicating a backlash against the rich and a More...
The Best Inaugural Addresses Ever
(livescience.com) - When he delivers his historic inaugural address on Jan. 20, President-elect and noted public speaker Barack Obama will be continuing a 220-year-old oratorical tradition begun by George Washington.
A set of spoken words hasn' t been so hotly anticipated by so many people since perhaps Obama's victory speech on election night.
Security at Obama inauguration is tight and high-tech
(latimes.com) - As the multitudes arrive for the historic inauguration of Barack Obama, the most high-tech security bubble ever created is in place to protect the incoming president from any foreseeable act of God, nature or man.
But authorities say they still dread the "X factor" -- intangibles that they cannot control and More...
You can't fire me, I'm drunk!
(reuters.com) - Peru's top court has ruled that workers cannot be fired for being drunk on the job, a decision that was criticized by the government on Wednesday for setting a dangerous precedent.
How Obama Won the Election
(esquire.com) - In his new Esquire column, The Data, statistical analysis guru Nate Silver reveals for the first time the secret behind November 4, 2008.
Why Big Tax Cuts Are Essential
(businessweek.com) - Let’s get this straight right away. I’m not a dogmatic supply-sider, who believes that tax cuts are the solution to all economic ills.
But I believe that Obama’s $300 billion tax cut is essential to ‘recapitalize’ the American consumer, just like the banks are being recapitalized.
Porn Industry looking for a "Bailout"
(tmz.com) - Joe Francis and Larry Flynt claim the economy has made America's sexual appetite go limp, so they're going to the one place where sex is always rampant -- Congress.
Flynt (the "Hustler" guy) and Francis (the "Girls Gone Wild" dude) are asking the government for a $5 billion bailout, claiming the More...
Obama's Cyber Czar - Private, Government, or Military?
(forbes.com) - For weeks, blogs have been buzzing about which Silicon Valley luminary will be tapped as President-elect Barack Obama's chief technology officer, the most innovation-focused position in what has been touted as a hyper-innovative regime.
Bush shoe thrower beaten, but judge dismisses torture allegations
(rawstory.com) - "I met my brother for around an hour. He has been tortured while in detention for 36 hours continuously. He has been hit with iron rods and cables," the brother said.
Bush Gives Emergency $17.4B Loans to Automakers
(nytimes.com) - President Bush announced $13.4 billion in emergency loans on Friday to prevent the collapse of General Motors and Chrysler, and said another $4 billion would be available for the hobbled automakers in February. The entire bailout is conditioned on the companies undertaking sweeping reorganizations to show that they can return to profitability.
Barack Obama is Time's Person of the Year
(time.com) - In one of the craziest elections in American history, he overcame a lack of experience, a funny name, two candidates who are political institutions and the racial divide to become the 44th President of the United States.
