Huffington Post - Obama's News?

Liberal bloggers came to a quick verdict on the Huffington Post’s announcement Tuesday that it was hiring Dan Froomkin, the recently fired Washington Post blogger who made a name for himself criticizing former president George W. Bush: Old media’s loss is new media’s gain.

Coming after the recent Beltway debate over coordination between Huffington Post’s senior news editor, Nico Pitney, and the White House over a question about Iran at a recent presidential news conference as well as President Obama’s decision to call on another Huffington Post reporter at his first White House press conference, the choice of Froomkin to oversee reporters as Washington bureau chief seemed to solidify the site’s identity as a progressive voice heavily invested in Obama’s success.

Arianna Huffington, the site’s founder, would agree on the progressive part. But in a recent interview with POLITICO, she also defined what she says the site is not: “There’s absolutely no way you’d call the Huffington Post a partisan defender of the Obama White House,” she said. - Politico Story

Stimulus Signs Everywhere at a cost of $500-$3000 per Sign

Thanks to stimulus funding, there are signs of progress across the country -- literally.

Signs with the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act logo are plastered at stimulus-funded construction project sites around America. The costs of these signs -- some of them reaching into the thousands of dollars -- are drawing sharp criticism from one member of Congress.

"The folks who support the stimulus package, basically this administration, want to get out there and blow their own horn with taxpayers' money," said Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H. "I mean, they have a lot of campaign money. Why don't they use the campaign money?"

The signs cost $500 apiece in Maryland and New Hampshire, $1,700 in Georgia, $2,000 in Pennsylvania and New York, and $3,000 per project in New Jersey. For the price of one $2,000 sign, 40 potholes could be repaired.

The costs of the signs are adding up for some states. New York alone is spending about $1 million on signs, and in most states, the signs are made before projects are started. While New Jersey has used only 3 percent of its designated $650,000,000 in stimulus money for road construction, 5 percent of what it's spent has gone to signs -- at a cost of $12,000, or 240 potholes.

New Jersey has awarded more than $270 million in stimulus projects, but so far has spent only $225,000. - ABC News Story

Second Stimulus? What about the Waste in the First One?

As the Obama administration tests the waters for a second massive government stimulus, critics are questioning the effectiveness of the first $787 billion program, which they say is moving at a turtle's pace and includes some absurd and wasteful pork projects.The president's economic advisors said that the administration did not anticipate the severity of the recession and that it might now be necessary for the government to pump more money into the economy to prevent further job losses.

But critics say that the $787 billion stimulus isn't being spent fast enough and some of the projects approved are frivolous and do nothing to stimulate the economy. Before we dig the country further into debt, they argue, we should wait and see how the first stimulus plan works.

"I don't think we need to have another stimulus bill. I think we need to change this one so that we spend the money right now," said Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who has been critical of the plan.

Then there are the questionable projects.

For instance, the Florida Department of Transportation wants to spend $3.4 million in stimulus money for a turtle tunnel. That's right, $3.4 million to help turtles cross under a highway. Each year, 1,035 turtles are killed on a half-mile stretch of highway north of Tallahassee, according to The Lake Jackson Ecopassage Alliance, a group advocating for the tunnel. They are hoping to use the stimulus dough to save the turtles.

Across the country in Montana, a border crossing that averages fewer than two passenger cars a day and two to three trucks a month is slated to get $15 million in stimulus funds for upgrades. - ABC News Story

Polls Show Republicans Trusted more Than Democrats

Voters now trust Republicans more than Democrats on eight out of 10 key electoral issues, including, for the second straight month, the top issue of the economy. They've also narrowed the gap on the remaining two issues, the traditionally Democratic strong suits of health care and education.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that voters trust the GOP more on economic issues 46% to 41%, showing little change from the six-point lead the party held last month. This is just the second time in over two years of polling the GOP has held the advantage on economic issues. The parties were close on the issue in May, with the Democrats holding a one-point lead.

Voters not affiliated with either party trust Republicans more to handle the economy by a 46% to 32% margin. - Rasmussen Reports Story

Democrats Stall Health Care Bill

WASHINGTON -- The drive to remake the nation's health care system suffered yet another setback in Congress on Thursday when a pivotal group of House Democrats demanded numerous changes in legislation the leadership was drafting on a fast track.

The emerging bill "lacks a number of elements essential to preserving what works and fixing what is broken," 40 members of the Blue Dog Coalition of moderate to conservative Democrats wrote in a letter to party leaders.

To win their support, they said, any legislation would need to be much more aggressive in reining in the growth of health care.

The letter addressed to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer also called for greater protections for small businesses and rural health care providers. It did not specify how much additional time the group wanted, but Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., said he believes no vote should take place until September.

That is well past a midsummer informal deadline set by Pelosi, D-Calif. "I promised the president that we would have legislation out of the House before we went on an August break," Pelosi said earlier in the day. "That is still my goal."

The group issued its letter as Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee were laboring to put the final pieces in place on a bill that the White House has praised. The party's leadership had hoped to unveil it Friday and push it through committee next week, a timetable that fell apart later in the day. Making the bill public was put off until Monday. - FOX News Story

Harry Potter Cast Answer Questions

Obama Checks out the Booty?

TAX the RICH - PAY FOR HEALTH CARE!!!!

WASHINGTON -- An income tax surcharge on highly paid Americans emerged as the leading option Wednesday night as House Democrats sought ways to pay for health care legislation that President Obama favors, several officials said.

As discussed in the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, the surtax would apply to individuals with adjusted gross income of more than $200,000 and couples over $250,000, they added.

In addition, key lawmakers are expected to call for a tax or fee equal to a percentage of a worker's salary on employers who do not offer health benefits.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., a member of the panel, said the proposed surtax on high-income taxpayers appealed to her and others as a way to avoid a "nickel-and-dime" approach involving numerous smaller tax increases. She added that other earlier options had fallen away, including an increase in the payroll tax.

Berkley and others cautioned that no final decisions have been made, either by the tax-writing committee or by the Democratic leadership, which hopes to have legislation drafted by Friday and through the House by month's end.

Aside from Berkley, other officials discussed the private discussions only on condition of anonymity.

The developments stood in contrast to the Senate, where Democrats edged away from their goal of passing ambitious health care legislation by early August amid heightening partisan controversy over tax increases and a proposed new government role in providing insurance to consumers.

"I think the ultimate goal is to have a bill by the end of this year" that is signed into law by the president, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in an interview with The Associated Press. He said Democrats would make "every effort to stick to the timetable" that included initial Senate action by August. - FOX News Story

Obama Ditches Clinton on Foreign Trips

When the president travels out of country, his secretary of state customarily follows.

Not so with Hillary Clinton.

More and more, President Obama is ditching his top diplomat when he travels abroad. By the time Obama returns from Ghana on Sunday, the last stop on his latest three-country tour, he will have visited nine countries without Clinton.

That's highly unusual for a new secretary of state. Though Clinton has accompanied Obama on several key international visits this year, including Egypt and Trinidad and Tobago, Obama has spent far more time than his predecessors without his foreign policy point person.

Some analysts say this could be a product of Obama's acute interest in diplomacy and international affairs, or perhaps his wariness to promote on the world stage a former rival whose star power could detract from his.

But they wonder whether Clinton, who as first lady traveled the world, is being used to her fullest potential at a time when crises are flaring all over the globe.

"Whenever the president is on foreign travel, it's typical that the secretary of state would travel with the president," said a former top State Department official in the Bush administration. "It seems that (Clinton has) had a bit lower profile over the past couple months as opposed to when she entered office."

The former official said Clinton entered the post with the "widest public recognition" of any secretary of state, but that she's since drifted more into the background. - FOX News Story

Obama's Free Fall Continues in Polls

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday shows that 30% of the nation's voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-eight percent (38%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of –8. The President’s Approval Index rating has fallen six points since release of a disappointing jobs report last week (see trends).

....

Overall, 51% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance so far. Forty-eight percent (48%) now disapprove. For other barometers of the President’s performance, see Obama By the Numbers or review recent demographic highlights from the tracking polls. - Rasmussen Reports Story

Murder, Suicide in McNair Case?

Gunpowder Found On McNair Girlfriend's Hands
Nashville's assistant medical examiner says gunpowder residue was found on the
hands of Steve McNair's girlfriend, who was found dead alongside the slain
former NFL star.

MORE DETAILS: <http://www.wisn.com/tu/5I7xYTth6.html>

Palin still has Good Support for 2012

PRINCETON, NJ -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's resignation -- announced last Friday -- fueled speculation that she may be setting up a run for president in 2012. A new USA Today/Gallup poll conducted Monday night finds a core of 19% of U.S. voters who say they are "very likely" to vote for her should she run, and an additional 24% who are somewhat likely to do so, giving her a decent reservoir of potential support to build upon. However, nearly as many voters (41%) currently say they would be not at all likely to vote for her.

By way of comparison, when Gallup in 2005 asked a similar question about Hillary Clinton running for president in 2008, 52% of registered voters said they were at least somewhat likely to vote for her, including 28% who said they were very likely to do so. - Gallup Story

That really isn't too bad if you were to see where Obama's numbers would have been. No one gave him a chance at all to win and look where we are today.

Campaign Finance Reform Going to Collapse on Obama's Watch?

Decades of lawmaking and court decisions restricting the flow of cash into U.S. elections are on the verge of coming undone, placing President Barack Obama in the unexpected position of presiding over the possible demise of the modern campaign finance regime.

Most of the developments now threatening to reverse efforts to reduce the influence of money in politics were set in motion during George W. Bush’s presidency. But Obama is nevertheless poised to watch the regulatory regime crumble around him as his administration follows a cautious approach that mostly ignores calls for more activist steps to salvage the troubled campaign finance system

The irony that the system could collapse on Obama’s watch, after he convinced the advocates for stricter regulations that he was one of their own, is not lost on those who support limits on the flow of money into the American political system.

“I would like to see the president make good on his campaign promises to change the way Washington works,” said Paul Ryan, a lawyer with the Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit that pushes Congress, the White House, the Federal Election Commission and the courts to enact, enforce and uphold strict limits. “With respect to the campaign finance laws and the FEC, the only change we’ve seen has been a change for the worse,” said Ryan, who stressed, “I’m not blaming the president. I’m just stating it as a factual matter.” - Politico Story

Economist - America's Fiscal Train Wreck Under way

If you thought last week’s job numbers were bad, take a look at the latest from Morgan Stanley’s chief economist, Richard Berner.

In a research note that’s been making the rounds of economics blogs this week, Berner declares that “America’s long-awaited fiscal train wreck is now under way.”

By “train wreck,” he means out-of-control federal budget deficits that he’s sure will finally drag the economy under — as if we weren’t already feeling badly enough about its shaky state.

“Depending on policy actions taken now and over the next few years, federal deficits will likely average as much as 6 percent of [the gross domestic product] through 2019, contributing to a jump in debt held by the public to as high as 82 percent of GDP by then — a doubling over the next decade,” Berner writes on Morgan Stanley’s online Global Economic Forum.

“Worse, barring aggressive policy actions, deficits and debt will rise even more sharply thereafter as entitlement spending accelerates relative to GDP. Keeping entitlement promises would require unsustainable borrowing, taxes or both, severely testing the credibility of our policies and hurting our long-term ability to finance investment and sustain growth,” he adds. “And soaring debt will force up real interest rates, reducing capital and productivity and boosting debt service.”

“Not only will those factors steadily lower our standard of living,” Berner concludes, “but they will imperil economic and financial stability.” - Politico

Jeb Bush - Obama Wouldn't have Won if We knew his Secret Plan

Jeb Bush gave a loose, interesting interview to Tucker Carlson for Esquire, lamenting his party's failures with Hispanics and outlining his critique of Obama: Barack Obama would not have gotten elected if he'd let us in on his secret plan prior to the election. He would not have gotten elected if he'd said, "My idea is to create a $1.8 trillion deficit for the next fiscal year. My idea is to spend $750 billion [the president's budget estimate puts this figure at $630 billion] over the next ten years on a government-sponsored, government-subsidized health care policy. My idea is to create a massive cap-and-trade system [based on the idea] that CO2 is [a] pollutant and we need to tax it in a massive way to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions." - CNN

Biden Lying about Economy?

Vice President Joe Biden is invading House Minority Leader John Boehner’s back yard tomorrow to tout the success of the stimulus package, but Boehner is redoubling his attacks, accusing the vice president of lying about the economy.

“I found it ... interesting over the last couple of days to hear Vice President Biden and the president mention the fact that they didn’t realize how difficult an economic circumstance we were in,” Boehner said. “Now this is the greatest fabrication I have seen since I’ve been in Congress.”

“I’ve sat in meetings in the White House with the vice president and the president. There’s not one person that sat in those rooms that didn’t understand how serious our economic crisis was,” Boehner said.

Boehner also took a shot at the idea of a second stimulus – something Biden said he was open to last week.

“All of this talk of a second stimulus bill, I think, is an admission on the part of the administration that their stimulus plan is not working,” Boehner said. - Politico Story

Obama Housing Plan Drastically Failing

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Mr. President, help us get one of your mortgage workouts now.

That's what many borrowers are saying nearly five months after President Obama unveiled his housing rescue plan. The program is beset with problems, say borrowers, housing counselors and even the president himself.

Loan servicers are overwhelmed by the numbers of homeowners applying for loan modifications or refinancing. Borrowers are frustrated that their paperwork is being lost, and calls are not returned. Administration officials are racing to roll out new features to improve the program.

Even Obama acknowledges that the program is failing to stem the foreclosure tidal wave. - CNN

White House Taking heat from Democrats on Health Care Plan

WASHINGTON (CNN) — The president's health care reform package — which has faced resistance from conservatives who oppose a public insurance option — came under attack from liberals yesterday, with most of the fire focused on White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

Emanuel's apparent suggestion in a Wall Street Journal article published Tuesday that the White House would be willing to consider a "trigger" clause on a public option — to delay full implementation of the plan if insurance companies met certain conditions on coverage and cost — drew outrage from liberal members of Congress and MoveOn.org, which has poured millions of dollars into a campaign supporting the president's health care proposal.

Progressive Caucus co-chair Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Arizona immediately sent a letter to President Obama denouncing the idea. And MoveOn — which has launched ad campaigns in recent weeks pressuring equivocal senators to support the president's plan, and a public option — quickly turned its criticism on the White House. - CNN

Department of Homeland Security Asleep on the Job

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Plainclothes investigators sent to test security at federal buildings in four U.S. cities were successful in smuggling bomb components through guard posts at all 10 of the sites they visited, according to a government report.

A GAO report cites lax security in federal buildings after investigators got bomb components past guards.

The investigators then assembled the bombs in restrooms and freely entered numerous government offices while carrying the devices in briefcases, the report said.

The buildings contained offices of several federal lawmakers as well as agencies within the departments of State, Justice and Homeland Security, which is responsible for safeguarding federal office buildings.

CNN obtained the report late Tuesday, ahead of its expected release Wednesday at a hearing of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

The Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, conducted the tests to check on the effectiveness of the Federal Protective Service .The FPS protects federal buildings by having about 1,200 federal law enforcement officers oversee an army of 13,000 private security guards.

In a videotape obtained by CNN, a covert GAO inspector places a bag containing bomb components on an X-ray machine conveyor belt and then walks through a magnetometer at an unidentified federal building. Unlike some covert tests that use simulated explosives, the GAO used actual bomb components in the test and publicly available information "to identify a type of device that a terrorist could use" to damage a building. - CNN News Story

It is a good thing that when the Obama Administration took over they got rid of the War on Terror. It looks like they actually did! We can now chalk this up to a promise kept.

Former Figure Skating Champ Nicole Bobek Busted in Meth Ring

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Former figure skating champion Nicole Bobek has been charged with being part of a Northern New Jersey drug ring.

The 31-year-old Bobek made her first court appearance Monday by video from the Hudson County Jail. Bobek, who has homes in New York and Jupiter, Fla., was arrested in Florida last week. She is charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Hudson County.

Attorney Sam DeLuca entered a not guilty plea for Bobek. She was held on $200,000 bail and faces up to 10 years in prison if she's convicted. A telephone call to DeLuca's office rang unanswered Monday afternoon.

Prosecutor Edward DeFazio says 20 people have been arrested in connection with the ring.

Bobek won the women's U.S. figure skating title in 1995. - FOX News

Biden Announces Hospital Support as Democrats Rebel

WASHINGTON -- Vice President Biden has announced a White House deal with the hospitals to help pay for President Obama's overhaul of health care.

Biden made the announcement Wednesday morning at the White House with hospital administrators and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
Biden said "reform is coming."

Biden said the hospitals are ready to give up about $155 billion over 10 years in government payments. The money could then be used to help pay for covering millions of uninsured.

Despite the deal, some Democrats are rebelling over taxing generous health insurance benefits to pay for any overhaul, jeopardizing bipartisan legislation in the Senate and Obama's ambitious timetable. - Fox News Story

Obama Continues to Drop in Polls - Fast

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows that 32% of the nation's voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-seven percent (37%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of –5.

The number who strongly disapprove inched up another point to the highest level measured to date and the overall Approval Index is at the lowest level yet for Obama (see trends).

....

Overall, 52% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance so far. Yesterday and today are the first time that the number of voters who approve of the President’s performance has slipped below the 53% share of the vote he won last November. Forty-eight percent (48%) now disapprove. For other barometers of the President’s performance, see Obama By the Numbers or review recent demographic highlights from the tracking polls. - Rasmussen Reports Story

Democrats Thinking about Second Stimulus?

President Barack Obama says there’s “nothing” he “would have done differently” about his economic stimulus plan, but one of his top outside economic advisers says the plan was “a bit too small.”

Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill says the idea of a second stimulus is a “non-starter,” but Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse says it “should be on the table.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says there’s “no showing that a second stimulus is needed,” but House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer says Congress needs to be “open to whether we need additional action.”

Democrats are all over the map on the stimulus and the possibility of a sequel, and it’s not hard to see why: When it comes to a second stimulus, they may be damned if they do and damned if they don’t.

“Right now every headline across the board is the stimulus isn’t enough, states are in bankruptcy, states aren’t paying their bills,” says Wendy Schiller, a Brown University political scientist “This is really deadly for the Democratic party, because what it suggests is the Democratic Party cannot run the country.”

At the same time, however, polls show that voters have little appetite for a second stimulus, and Democrats fear that any attempt to pass one will provide Republicans too much ammunition to argue that Democrats are profligate spenders who can’t reverse the job-loss trend. - Politico Story

Congressman Waxman - GOP Rooting against USA

"It appears that the Republican party leadership in the Congress has made a decision that they want to deny President Obama success — which means, in my mind, they are rooting against the country as well," the powerful House Energy and Commerce chairman told WAMU-NPR host Diane Rehm this morning in an hourlong appearance promoting his new book, "The Waxman Report."

The full interview [the "rooting" quote comes at the 19:30 mark]

Still, he said that one House Republican leader, speaking to him after the climate-change squeaker, predicted that "a lot" of GOPers would vote for the (presumably) weakened bill when it emerged from the Senate.

Waxman — an ardent supporter of the "public option" in upcoming health care reform legislation — also took several shots at Senate Democrats who are seeking compromise to head of opposition to the public plan in their own ranks.

When asked about Sen. Kent Conrad's effort to create a a "co-op" system — he quipped, "I don't know what it means."

And he repeatedly referred to a plan put forward by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), which doesn't include a public option, as "radical," even though Wyden says he's open to the option. - Politico Story

I don't know if I would say they are rooting against the USA. They went against the Stimulus and so far they have been proven right, that really hasn't done anything more than drive up the National Debt.

As for the Climate Change, there is a big movement out there to shut it down also, not by the GOP.

College Football's BCS Under Scrutiny in Congress

“There is no shortage of opinion and ideas on how the BCS system should be changed,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch, opening the Senate’s Antitrust Subcommittee Tuesday hearing on college football’s Bowl Championship Series.

In a packed hearing room, four individuals testified about the controversial and largely unpopular system by which college football selects its national champion. (A 2007 Gallup poll put the systems popularity at 15 percent of fans, making it one of the few things that are less popular than Congress itself.)

The 12-year-old BCS uses a combination of both polls and computer selections to determine team rankings and narrows the field to two teams that then play in the BCS National Championship Game. Critics of the system contend that it leaves out teams worthy of a title shot by only allowing the six major conferences to have automatic bids to the big games.

Two individuals — Barry Brett, from the law firm of Troutman Sanders, and Michael Young, president of the University of Utah — whipped off a series of complaints against the current system.

Among Young’s statements: “The BCS is perpetuating an unfair system;" "Without a doubt, the BCS embraces favoritism, rather than fairness;" "These other universities have no realistic chance even before their seasons begin to win a national championship;" "In this country, we should decide championships by competition and not by conspiracy;" "Instead, the BCS system, with its stranglehold on college football, sends the message that economic power, rather than athletic ability, is key to success.” - Politico Story

Obama's Approval Ratings Crash in Ohio

A new Quinnipiac poll shows President Obama’s approval rating has dropped 13 points over the last two months in Ohio, a key battleground state with plenty of critical Congressional contests in 2010.

Obama now only holds a 49 percent approval rating, with 44 percent of voters disapproving. It’s his lowest approval rating in any Quinnipiac statewide poll taken since Obama’s inauguration. In May, Obama held a 62 percent approval rating in the Buckeye state.

Meanwhile, a 48 percent plurality of Ohio voters disapprove of the way Obama is handling the economy, with 46 percent approving. Two-thirds of Ohio voters are dissatisfied with the way things are going in the state.

"The economy in Ohio is as bad as anywhere in America. These numbers indicate that for the first time voters have decided that President Barack Obama bears some responsibility for their problems," said Quinnipiac pollster Peter Brown.

Those results should be concerning to Democratic Senate candidates Lee Fisher and Jennifer Brunner, both of whom are competing for the party’s nomination – likely against Republican Rob Portman. The poll showed Portman narrowing his deficits against both Democrats to low single-digits.

Fisher leads Portman by four points, 37 to 33 percent. Brunner leads Portman by just one point, 35 to 34 percent. In May, Fisher held a double-digit lead over Portman, and Brunner led Portman by eight points.

And Gov. Ted Strickland, who was one of the country's most popular chief executives, saw his approval rating drop to 46 percent in the Quinnipiac survey. He now barely leads former GOP congressman John Kasich, 43 to 38 percent. - Politico Story

Congress Tells DHS how to Spend Budget

Try as it might, the Department of Homeland Security can’t get no respect on the floor of the House. In the parlance of Vietnam, it’s a “kill zone” for management.

Impatient with the agency’s decision process, lawmakers have grabbed power for themselves by earmarking 25 percent of new pre-disaster funds to speed along the grant process. But when the department dared this spring to beef up its management

budget, the House turned around and cut 32 percent from President Barack Obama’s request, leaving major administrative offices with fewer dollars than they got last year.

Senate Democrats hope to restore the money in their version of the same $42.6 billion bill, which will be taken up Tuesday. But DHS is the poster child for an increasingly common phenomenon for Congress: cutting agency management budgets and then bellyaching that government isn’t being effectively managed. - Politico Story

Ward Churchill Will Not get His Job Back

DENVER — A judge refused Tuesday to reinstate a University of Colorado professor who was fired on plagiarism charges after he likened some Sept. 11 terrorist attack victims to a Nazi leader.

If it stands, the ruling means Ward Churchill cannot return to the classroom even though a jury ruled in April that his firing was politically motivated.

Churchill wrote an essay after the 2001 terrorist attacks calling the World Trade Center victims "little Eichmanns," a reference to Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi leader who orchestrated the Holocaust.

University officials were pressured to fire Churchill after that essay gained wide attention in 2005, but they concluded they couldn't because of First Amendment protections.

However, they launched an investigation into the research behind his other writings, and in 2007 he was fired on the plagiarism charges and other research misconduct allegations. Churchill sued, and jurors ruled in his favor. - FOX News Story

State Department - No Green Light for Israel on Iran

Vice President Biden's remarks that Israel can decide for itself whether to strike Iran's nuclear installations was not a "green light" to go for it, a State Department spokesman said Monday.

"I certainly would not want to give a green light to any kind of military action," Spokesman Ian Kelly said. "But ... Israel is a sovereign country and we're not going to dictate its actions."

Kelly was responding after Biden said in an interview broadcast Sunday on that the United States "cannot dictate to another sovereign nation what they can and cannot do."

"Israel can determine for itself -- it's a sovereign nation -- what's in their interest and what they decide to do relative to Iran and anyone else," Biden said Sunday on ABC's "This Week" about the possibility of an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear installations.

He added that what's in U.S. interests should be in Israel's interests, and suggested the United States would decide whether Israel's actions hurt U.S. goals.

"Israel has a right to determine what's in its interests, and we have a right and we will determine what's in our interests," Biden said. - FOX News Story

Ex-Titan McNair Likely Killed in Murder-Suicide

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee's state medical examiner said Tuesday that investigators have been hesitant to conclude that Steve McNair's girlfriend killed the NFL star and herself because she didn't appear to have a motive, but that murder-suicide is the most likely scenario.

After the couple was discovered shot to death on Saturday, police were quick to label McNair's death a homicide. He had been shot twice in the head and twice in the chest, while 20-year-old Sahel Kazemi was dead from a single gunshot to the head. Under her body was a gun she had purchased less than two days before the killings.

Investigators were waiting on ballistics tests on the weapon before issuing a ruling on Kazemi's death, which medical examiner Bruce Levy said could come in the next few days. Kazemi's gun purchase, which was revealed on Monday, is a strong indication that she was responsible, he said.

"If we had known on Sunday about the gun I think we would have been very comfortable in ruling murder-suicide," he said. "I'll be very surprised now if they rule it isn't." - FOX News Story

Small Business Uniting to Fight Climate Bill

The revolution will not be televised: it's been blinking along on a giant bakery sign in St. Louis, Mo., instead.

Fed up with his congressman's vote on a sweeping climate-change bill that passed the House of Representatives in late June, the proprietor of McArthur's Bakery took to his street sign and posted a clear message to all passersby:

"Russ Carnahan voted to ... close us and other ... small business."

David McArthur, vice president of the 52-year-old family operation, a Gateway City institution, is one of a growing number of business owners and taxpayers nationwide who are mobilizing against the so-called cap-and-trade bill, which would levy harsh fines on energy consumption that harms the environment.

McArthur told FOXNews.com that every aspect of his business relies on the forms of energy targeted by the American Clean Energy and Security Act, and that his congressman, Carnahan, was supporting "a direct tax increase on small business" by voting for it.

"We make (our product) with electricity, we bake it with gas, we refrigerate and freeze it with electricity and we distribute it with gas and oil," said McArthur, who said he worries that high prices could cost his company up to $15,000 a year in an industry with a very tight margin for profit. - FOX News Story

Al Gore Compares Climate Change Battle to the Battle with the Nazis

Al Gore on Tuesday compared the battle against climate change with the struggle against the Nazis.

The former vice president said the world lacked the political will to act and invoked the spirit of Winston Churchill by encouraging leaders to unite their nations to fight climate change.

He also accused politicians around the world of exploiting ignorance about the dangers of global warming to avoid difficult decisions.

Speaking at Britain's Oxford University at the Smith School World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment, sponsored by the Times of London, Gore said, "Winston Churchill aroused this nation in heroic fashion to save civilization in World War II."

He added, "We have everything we need except political will, but political will is a renewable resource."

Gore admitted that it was difficult to persuade the public that the threat from climate change was as urgent as the threat from Nazi Germany. - Fox News

Obama's Approval Ratings Continue to Fall

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that 33% of the nation's voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-six percent (36%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of –3. Those figures reflect the highest level of strong disapproval measured to date and the lowest level recorded for the overall Approval Index (see trends).

It remains to be seen whether this decline in the President’s numbers is a temporary aberration, statistical noise, or something more significant. Tomorrow (Wednesday) will be the first update based entirely upon interviews conducted since last week’s report showing higher than expected job losses in June.

.......

Overall, 52% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance so far. That, too, is a new low for the President. Forty-seen percent (47%) now disapprove. For other barometers of the President’s performance, see Obama By the Numbers or review recent demographic highlights from the tracking polls. - Rasmussen Reports Story

It appears to be that the honeymoon is over for Mr. Charismatic. He made it to the White House on his Charisma, his promises of Change, his Salesmanship. Now the American People had very High Expectations, in which he set for himself, and it appears that he is falling far short of those expectations.

He sold the American People on the Stimulus Package, he sold a Massive Budget, he sold the Plan to close Gitmo, he sold the Plan to withdraw from Iraq, he sold the plan to add more troops to Afghanistan. None of these are working out for a President whom is just getting started. People are already tired of being sold on things that don't appear to be working.

He is now trying to sell us on Health Care. All the meanwhile North Korea is ramping up it's Military and not being held in Check, Iran has just pushed through a Sham Election with little outrage from the White House, Violence in Iran and Afghanistan is getting Much Worse and no new ideas or plans.

I wonder why his numbers are starting to fall?

Strong, Severe and Damaging Storms on Tap Tuesday for Upper Midwest

Some heavy weather will hit the North Central states Tuesday and Tuesday night. The severe thunderstorms will be riding the crest of a heat wave coming out of the Southwest. This type of hot air forcing typically creates strong to severe thunderstorms and sometimes those large MCCs that form at night. So just exactly what is an MCC?

Nighttime thunderstorms form in a somewhat different way than their daytime counterparts. At night, the sun's heating has been turned off, so a storm must find a different source of fuel. This comes from warm, humid air being injected through the lower portions of the atmosphere. This combined with a colder flow aloft produces the instability necessary for thunderstorm growth. At night, thunderstorms will often gather in a massive cluster. These monsters are called MCCs which is short for Mesoscale Convective Complex. These systems are self sustaining and often have a life span of several hours.

Story by AccuWeather.com Expert Senior Meteorologist John Kocet.

Polls Show North Korea and China Biggest Security Threats

In a survey taken just before North Korea conducted a series of Fourth of July missile tests, 38% of likely voters say the rogue Communist nation remains the biggest threat to U.S. national security. This is the second month in a row for that finding, which puts North Korea at the head of the list of those nations voters view as national security concerns.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that voters think Russia, which President Obama is now visiting, is near the bottom of that list, with just three percent (3%) who see it as America's biggest threat.

Eighteen percent (18%) of voters now name China as the biggest danger to the United States, up six points from mid-June. Nuclear wannabe Iran falls just behind, with 17% of voters who see it as the biggest threat, showing no change from the last survey despite weeks of public unrest following disputed elections there.

Just eight percent (8%) say Pakistan is the biggest threat, while Afghanistan ties Russia with three percent (3%) concern. Only two percent (2%) view Iraq as the nation’s biggest national security threat. - Rasmussen Story

Isn't that interesting. North Korea hasn't even drawn much attention from the Obama Administration. Sure, we follow their ships around and intimidate them a little with our Military, but Obama seems intimidated himself. He has yet to engage them, instead falling behind the UN.

Then there is China. At the rate of our spending, using loans from China, they will own us soon enough. Obama is obviously in tune with this threat!?

Obama's Russian Nuclear Arms Deal - Not Really a Deal

MOSCOW — President Barack Obama’s efforts to “reset” relations with Russia were in full view Monday in his joint news conference with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev — but if their first summit is any indication, the two leaders are going to have to hit control-alt-delete a few more times.

Obama, admittedly, faces a daunting task. On top of 50 years of icy Cold War mistrust, he has to deal with the aftermath of high-level U.S.-Russia turbulence during the Bush years, a period that began with the former U.S. president adoringly gazing into Vladimir Putin’s soul and ended with the Russians furious over the Iraq war, missile defense and a general feeling from Washington that Moscow didn’t much matter in the neoconservative view of the cosmos.

Add to that the ongoing high-wire act that U.S. officials have to walk between engaging Russia and expressing alarm at its increasingly authoritarian character, and even the immensely charismatic Obama couldn’t wave a wand and magically change the mood no matter how hard he seemed to be trying on the grand stage at the Kremlin.

The biggest achievement touted from the summit — and the only document the two men signed — was a nonbinding “joint understanding” setting target ranges for a new round of nuclear arms reductions.

But a look at the fine print shows the deal is less than meets the eye, experts said. The two presidents punted on how to count total weapons or total warheads — a crucial detail in the mathematics of arms reductions. And they committed in writing only to finish the deal “at the earliest possible date,” though Obama said it would be done by year’s end, when the current Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty expires. - Politico Story

Social Security Number - Code Cracked?

For all the concern about identity theft, researchers say there's a surprisingly easy way for the technology-savvy to figure out the precious nine digits of Americans' Social Security numbers.

"It's good that we found it before the bad guys," Alessandro Acquisti of Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh said of the method for predicting the numbers.

Acquisti and Ralph Gross report in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that they were able to make the predictions using data available in public records as well as information such as birthdates cheerfully provided on social networks such as Facebook.

For people born after 1988 — when the government began issuing numbers at birth — the researchers were able to identify, in a single attempt, the first five Social Security digits for 44 percent of individuals. And they got all nine digits for 8.5 percent of those people in fewer than 1,000 attempts.

Social Security spokesman Mark Lassiter said the public should not be alarmed by the report "because there is no foolproof method for predicting a person's Social Security number."

"The suggestion that Mr. Acquisti has cracked a code for predicting an SSN is a dramatic exaggeration," Lassiter said via e-mail. - ABC News Story

I don't know about you, but Mr. Lassiter had better wake up and smell the coffee. I am sure that Banks, Microsoft, The Department of Defense, The Energy Department, and everyone else that has been hacked into thought it wasn't possible.

7th Grader Sues over Pro Life Shirt

A California mom says her public school administrators violated her daughter's First Amendment rights when they ordered the seventh-grader to take off her pro-life T-shirt.

Anna Amador has gone to court on behalf of her daughter, who she says was ordered by her principal to change her shirt on "National Pro-Life T-Shirt Day." The shirt the girl was wearing displays two graphic pictures of a fetus growing in the womb.

The incident occurred in April 2008 at McSwain Elementary School, a K-8 school in Merced, Calif. Amador alleges in her legal complaint that school Principal Terrie Rohrer, Assistant Principal C.W. Smith and office clerk Martha Hernandez mistreated her daughter and denied the girl her First Amendment rights when they ordered her to leave the cafeteria and change her shirt.

"Before Plaintiff could eat [breakfast] she was ordered by a school staff member to throw her food out and report immediately to Defendant Smith's office, located in the main office of McSwain Elementary School," the complaint reads.

"Upon arriving at the main office, Defendant Hernandez, intentionally and without Plaintiff's consent, grabbed Plaintiff's arm and forcibly escorted her toward Smith's office, at all times maintaining a vice-like grip on Plaintiff's arm. Hernandez only released Plaintiff's arm after physically locating her in front of Smith and Defendant Rohrer...

"Smith and Rohrer ordered Plaintiff to remove her pro-life T-shirt and instructed Plaintiff to never wear her pro-life T-shirt at McSwain Elementary School ever again... - FOX News Story

I find it always amazing at how School Administrator find it in their job description to decide what is right and wrong politically.

I took issued with the Teachers who openly supported Obama in the School, yet hey you can't openly support Pro Life?

Obama Remains Quiet on North Korea

Obama was mum all weekend after North Korea again fired off Missiles in violation of the UN. Obama's staff said that he didn't want to give them TV Time on America's Holiday.

Well, here we are on Monday and I have yet to hear or read any real comment from the White House on North Korea.

Mum is the word.

Where is our Leadership?

Economy in America - From Bad to Worse

Since the Reagan era, some conservatives have hoped to shrink government by "starving the beast." Refuse to raise taxes, they figured, and eventually spending would have to fall.

It's beginning to look as though the new team may have a similar strategy, in reverse: Increase spending, and eventually taxes will have to be raised.

No official has articulated that to me as a strategy. But look at the evidence.

George Bush bequeathed to President Obama a nation heading slowly but surely toward fiscal disaster. Because of an aging population and rising health-care costs, spending -- primarily on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security -- will steadily rise in coming years, as the nonpartisan and authoritative Congressional Budget Office explained in a report last month. Revenue is not projected to rise nearly as quickly. The result, if the government does not alter course: crushing debt that could lead to hyperinflation, prolonged depression, or both. Poor people would suffer most, and there would be many more of them.

"The systematic widening of budget shortfalls projected under CBO's long-term scenarios has never been observed in U.S. history," the CBO pointed out in its usual dry style. And: "All in all, the U.S. economy could contract sharply for a long period."

Obama's response has been to acknowledge the seriousness of the problem -- and make it worse. I'm not talking about his record-breaking stimulus plan, which was essential (if not ideally shaped) given the recession he also inherited. Rather, it is Obama's long-term budget that would more than double the projected deficit over the next 10 years, to $9 trillion, by extending most of the Bush tax cuts and limiting the alternative minimum tax while creating new programs and entitlements (to college tuition scholarships, for example) and refusing to cut back on existing ones. - Washington Post Story

Obamanomics - The Downfall of the American Economy?

July 6 (Bloomberg) -- Last week, we discovered that the state of California will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.

With California mired in a budget crisis, largely the result of a political impasse that makes spending cuts and tax increases impossible, Controller John Chiang said the state planned to issue $3.3 billion in IOU’s in July alone. Instead of cash, those who do business with California will get slips of paper.

The California morass has Democrats in Washington trembling. The reason is simple. If Obama’s health-care plan passes, then we may well end up paying for it with federal slips of paper worth less than California’s. Obama has bet everything on passing health care this year. The publicity surrounding the California debt fiasco almost assures his resounding defeat.

It takes years and years to make a mess as terrible as the California debacle, but the recipe is simple. All that you need is two political parties that are always willing to offer easy government solutions for every need of the voters, but never willing to make the tough decisions necessary to finance the government largess that results. Voters will occasionally change their allegiance from one party to the other, but the bacchanal will continue regardless of the names on the office doors.

California has engaged in an orgy of spending, but, compared with our federal government, its legislators should feel chaste. The California deficit this year is now north of $26 billion. The U.S. federal deficit will be, according to the latest numbers, almost 70 times larger.

Bleak Picture

The federal picture is so bleak because the Obama administration is the most fiscally irresponsible in the history of the U.S. I would imagine that he would be the intergalactic champion as well, if we could gather the data on deficits on other worlds. Obama has taken George W. Bush’s inattention to deficits and elevated it to an art form. - Bloomberg Story

Government Run Health Care - A Glimpse into our Future?

KINGSTON, Ontario (CNN) -- For Shona Holmes, simple pleasures such as playing with her dog or walking in her plush garden are a gift.

After suffering from crushing headaches and vision problems, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor four years ago. She was told if it wasn't removed, she could go blind or even die.

"They said to me that you had a brain tumor and it was pressing on your optic chasm and that it needed to come out immediately," Holmes said.

Holmes is Canadian, but the "they" she refers to are doctors at the Mayo Clinic in the United States, where she turned after specialists in her own government-run health care system would not see her fast enough.

"My family doctor at that time tried to get me in to see an endocrinologist and a neurologist," Holmes recalled. "It was going to be four months for one specialist and six months for the other." Watch Holmes talk about her experience in getting treatment »

Even with the warning from U.S. doctors in hand, Holmes said she still couldn't get in to see Canadian specialists. Because the government system is the only health care option for Canadians, she says she had no choice but to have the surgery in the U.S.

Her treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona cost $100,000, and she and her husband put a second mortgage on their home and borrowed from family and friends to pay for it.

When she recounts that part of her painful story, she weeps. - CNN News Story

Taliban Claim to Have Captured US Serviceman

CAIRO — The Taliban's Web site claims it has captured a missing U.S. soldier American authorities had earlier said may have been kidnapped.

The Web site said Monday that the Taliban had "arrested a drunken American soldier" five days ago.

They said the soldier was still in their custody but would not elaborate on his whereabouts or their plans for him.

The Web site provided no proof of their claim.

The soldier is believed to be the first U.S. serviceman captured in Afghanistan.

The U.S. military earlier said it had intercepted communications in which insurgents talked about holding an American.

Meanwhile, a U.S. military spokesman says two more U.S. troops have been killed in a blast in southern Afghanistan, bringing to six the number of Americans killed Monday.

Navy Chief Petty Officer Brian Naranjo says all six American troops were killed in two roadside bomb attacks. Four American soldiers were killed in the north of the country. They were involved in the training of the Afghan security forces. - FOX News Story

Rep. John Conyers Caught in Wife's Bribery Scandal

Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) is at the center of a brewing political storm in Detroit that involves his jail-bound wife, a predicament that some insiders think has left him more vulnerable to challenge than ever before.

Late last month, former Detroit City Councilwoman Monica Conyers pleaded guilty to federal bribery charges in connection with a city sludge-hauling scandal. After her plea, the former councilwoman’s onetime chief of staff, Sam Riddle, told a Detroit newspaper that Monica Conyers had previously helped get him a consulting job with Detroit businessman Dimitrios Papas and then proceeded to demand half of Riddle’s $20,000 fee.

Riddle also said John Conyers signed a July 2007 letter to the Environmental Protection Agency in support of Papas’s efforts to restart a waste injection well in the city of Romulus — and that Monica Conyers personally approved the letter.

As a result, critics are demanding an explanation from John Conyers, who is described in news accounts as publicly opposed to the toxic well site prior to 2007.

“Rep. John Conyers (D-Detroit) needs to join the long line of Detroit pols who’ve apparently sat down recently with the U.S. attorney in Detroit,” the Detroit Free Press wrote in an editorial.
- Politico Story

FBI - Palin Not under Investigation

(CNN) -- The FBI, in a rare response to rampant rumors on the Internet, said it is not investigating Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on public corruption charges.

Alaska's Sarah Palin is stepping down as governor at the end of the month.

"Normally, we don't confirm or deny those kind of allegations out there. But, by not doing so, it just casts her in a very bad light," said FBI Special Agent Eric Gonzalez, who confirmed for CNN the statement he made to the Anchorage Daily News. "There is just no truth to those rumors out there in the blogosphere."

Gonzalez told The Los Angeles Times that there was "no wiggle room" in his comments for any kind of inquiry.

The speculation began almost immediately after Palin's unexpected announcement on Friday that she would step down as Alaska's chief executive with 18 months left in her term.

Palin, who was John McCain's surprise vice presidential candidate in the 2008 election, said she already knew she would not seek a second term and decided against being a lame duck governor for the next 18 months.

She also said too much time and taxpayer expense were going toward fighting ethics investigations, and that the mainstream media were continuing with unfair attacks on her and her family.

Some analysts think Palin will seek the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, and that her resignation is intended to free her to prepare. - CNN News Story

Harry Potter Star Recovering from Swine Flu

LONDON (AP) -- The agent for "Harry Potter" star Rupert Grint says the actor is recovering from a mild case of swine flu.

Grint plays the boy wizard's best friend Ron Weasley in the hit film franchise.

Superfans: Check out the new Harry Potter blog

Christian Hodell of Hamilton Hodell management said Saturday that Grint took a few days away from the set of the latest film, but has now been able to return to work. - MSN

Obama Receives Prayer Via Blackberry

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama says he gets a prayer every morning on his BlackBerry.

Obama told reporters from religious news organizations on Thursday that White House faith director Joshua DuBois sends him a morning devotional every day to his e-mail device. He says it's a "wonderful practice" that started during the campaign.

Tech-savvy Obama is the first president to use e-mail while in office and is seldom seen without his BlackBerry. Only a handful of aides and personal friends have the e-mail address for the handheld device. - MSNBC Story

Oh my goodness, ban the blackberry!!!! We are undoubtedly paying for it and he is receiving Religion on a Government Device!!!!

Seriously, I am only kidding. That is good that he has faith. But, you know that the nut jobs are out there.

Leading Democrat Questions Obama's Stimulus Plan

(CNN) — A leading congressional Democrat and Republican both expressed disappointment Sunday with the pace of the government's economic stimulus program, but offered differing views on whether it was a good idea.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said allocating the $787 billion in the stimulus package pushed by President Barack Obama to create jobs was taking too long.

"We're disappointed," Hoyer, D-Maryland, told "FOX News Sunday." "We're looking at ways to get the money out more quickly."

Hoyer's Republican counterpart, Rep. John Boehner, said on the same program that the stimulus bill passed by Congress in February was flawed.

"You can't spend $800 billion of taxpayer money and not create jobs, when you say that's what the bill was for," Boehner, of Ohio, complained. Boehner said the bill only funds more government, rather than creating private sector jobs. - CNN

WOW! How long has it taken for these people to step up and figure out what many Republicans were saying while the Democrats passed the Stupid Stimulus Package?

Now we know they aren't brain surgeons, but are they really this stupid?

Wisconsin Governor Fails to Provide Proper Accounting for Trips

Madison — Gov. Jim Doyle and his staff failed to properly account for 145 travel expenses over two years, including a $5,200 business-class flight to Ireland and a $654-a-night stay in a London hotel.

Nearly three-fourths of the time in 2007 and 2008, Doyle and his staff didn't supply receipts as required under state travel policy. By comparison, Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton and her staff didn't provide receipts one-third of the time during the same period.

Travel records also showed Doyle spent more than $1,500 on two chauffeured vehicles in Canada. That expenditure did not violate state travel policy, however.

State policy requires employees to provide receipts for purchases made with their state-issued credit cards for flights, hotels and other expenses. That documentation was often missing from hundreds of pages of Doyle's travel records obtained under the state's open records law.

"The governor, as the leader of the state, needs to set an example on austerity and accountability, and his staff has not been instructed to keep good records - and they need to do that," said Sen. Rob Cowles (R-Green Bay), a member of the Joint Audit Committee who is often critical of government spending.

But Susan Goodwin, Doyle's chief of staff, said the governor's office acted appropriately in all cases.

"We are careful," she said. "We are frugal. We minimize costs. If you stepped back and looked at the bigger picture instead of the tiny details of following some (Department of Administration) policies, you would look at that list and say, 'Wow, how many times did he actually have dinner somewhere? . . . How little did he travel?' - JSOnline Story

I don't know, how about the Taxing arm of the Wisconsin Government look at the big picture when I don't provide any receipts? I didn't take as many deductions as my neighbor?

That is the Problem with Government, especially this useless Governor, they think that rules don't apply to them.

I wonder how many of those expenses were for something that actually helped the State?

Powell to Obama - SLOW DOWN!!!

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell cautioned President Obama to slow down his ambitious agenda, out of concern for spiraling budget deficits.

Obama is hoping to pass legislation that would overhaul the health care system and implement a cap-and-trade energy program -- in the face of a recession and significant budget deficits.

"I think one of the cautions that has to be given to the president — and I've talked to some of his people about this — is that you can't have so many things on the table that you can't absorb it all. And we can't pay for it all," Powell said on CNN's "State of the Union."

"I think the president, as he moves forward with his initiatives, has to start really taking a very, very hard look at what the cost of all this is," Powell said. "And how much additional bureaucracy and will it be effective bureaucracy be needed to make all of this happen."

More Powell: "I never would have believed that we would have budgets that are running into the multi-trillions of dollars, and we are amassing a huge, huge national debt that, if we don't pay for in our lifetime, our kids and grandkids and great grandchildren will have to pay for it." - Politico Story