Obama's Rookie Mistakes Could Help Take Down Dems

Bill Clinton’s picture is again a fixture on cable news.

Republicans are sternly demanding a special prosecutor.

And legal commentators are bickering over the finer points of federal criminal statutes on bribery and graft.

It feels like 1997 — but it’s 2010. And Barack Obama can’t be happy.

The White House’s confirmation Friday that it enlisted former President Bill Clinton in an effort to get Rep. Joe Sestak out of the Pennsylvania Senate primary has sent the regular players in Washington’s scandal industry to their battle stations — to pick over the very sort of insider special dealing that Obama had promised to make a thing of the past.

“That’s not the image he wants to project right now with all the things that are going on,” said Mark Rozell, a George Mason University professor who has written at length on the Clinton-era scandals.

The use of Clinton as the conduit to offer Sestak an advisory board position is like catnip for cable television and for Republicans who have plenty of experience painting the former president as ethically challenged.

“I’m sure there’s substantial precedent for an administration to subtly suggest to a potential candidate, ‘Maybe you’d like to step aside.’ But [the fact that] this controversy involves a former president who just happens to be married to a member of his Cabinet just moves this to a whole different level,” Rozell said. “Clinton’s administration was involved in a number of ethics controversies and investigations just like this. ... This looks like a rookie administration type of mistake.” - Politico Story

Obama on The Hot Seat with Sestak Job Offer

President Obama said at his press conference today that he "can assure the public that nothing improper took place" in conversations between the White House and Rep. Joe Sestak, who suggested earlier this year he was offered a White House job in exchange for dropping his primary challenge against Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter.

Sestak stayed in the race and eventually defeated Specter, at which point Republicans made a renewed push for the White House and Sestak to reveal the nature of the conversations.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Ranking Member Darrell Issa, who has been pressing this issue for months, called for a special prosecutor in April. He alleges that the White House may have violated anti-bribery provisions of the federal criminal code as well as prohibitions on government officials interfering in elections and using federal jobs for a political purpose if it made the offer.

(Credit: AP)

Yesterday, the seven Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee joined that call, and some Democrats, among them Sen. Dick Durbin and Rep. Anthony Weiner, have called on the White House to make clear exactly what took place. - CBS News Story

Small Donors Support Republicans over Democrats

For the first time in a decade, Republican candidates for Congress are raising more than Democrats from small donors.

GOP candidates for the House and Senate this year have raised $70 million from small donors, compared with $44 million brought in by Democratic candidates, according to a Washington Post analysis of campaign finance data.

The trend is another sign that Republicans have turned their political momentum into money. Reports covering the first quarter had shown that GOP candidates were closing the gap or exceeding Democrats in key races and that corporations have started to shift behind the party.

The giving also fits a pattern in which small contributors loyal to the opposition are more motivated to give while their party is out of power. The last time Republicans received more small donations than Democrats was during the 1998 midterms, when Democrat Bill Clinton held the presidency.

In suburban Detroit, for example, 70 percent of the $450,000 raised by Republican House candidate Rocky Raczkowski has come in checks of less than $200.

"We have our own MoveOn dot Rocky," said Raczkowski, who is competing in the GOP primary and hopes to face freshman Democratic Rep. Gary Peters. "These aren't rich people, they are just committed -- and angry." - CBS News Story

Obama Approval across the Arab World is Declining quickly

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Taking back some of the gains U.S. leadership enjoyed in 2009, four out of six Arab League countries Gallup has surveyed each year since 2008 are now less approving of U.S. leadership than they were in fall 2009. Egyptians' approval ratings have declined the most since last fall (18 percentage points), followed by Algerians' (13 points). Approval did not decline significantly in Iraq or the Palestinian Territories as the changes are within the margin of error. - Gallup Poll

The most telling in this poll is that Obama hasn't been able to sustain the relations in many Arab Nations. What is worse, is that it is lower in Iraq than it was in 2008.

Obama Seems Out of the Loop in BP Oil Spill

It was a remarkable moment in President Barack Obama’s press conference Thursday: just hours before, the head of the Minerals Management Service had left the top post at the agency that oversees offshore oil drilling.

And yet, the president said he didn’t know whether Liz Birnbaum had resigned or been fired.

“Now, with respect to Ms. Birnbaum, I found out about her resignation today,” Obama said. “So I don't know the circumstances in which this occurred.”

That explanation flummoxed reporters in the room, who seemed surprised to learn that the president wouldn’t know exactly what had happened to one of the key figures in an ongoing federal emergency – the one he was holding a news conference on at that very moment.

The news of Birnbaum’s departure broke publicly more than two hours before Obama stepped into the East Room.

The New York Times’ Jackie Calmes pressed for an answer.

“I'm also curious as how it is that you didn't know about Ms. Birnbaum's resignation/firing before,” Calmes said.

“Well, you're assuming it was a firing,” the president responded. “If it was a resignation, then she would have submitted a letter to Mr. Salazar this morning at a time when I had a whole bunch of other stuff going on.”

“So you rule out that she was fired?” Calmes asked.

“I'm — come on, I don't know,” Obama replied. “I'm telling you the — I found out about it this morning. So I don't yet know the circumstances, and Ken Salazar has been in testimony on the Hill.”

An administration official explained after the press conference that Salazar told the President Wednesday night that he had decided to replace Birnbaum at the Minerals Management Service after the President told the Secretary to make sure that every person under him was “capable of doing the job he or she had.” - Politico Story

Obama's Secret Plan to Lock Up 13 Million Acres of Land

A leaked partial document produced by the Bureau of Land Management

and obtained by Fox News

suggests the Obama administration is considering a plan to lock up 13 million acres of land -- and the Department of Interior is refusing to answer questions.

First, a little background: The federal government owns about one-third of the land in the United States -- most of it in western states. For example, 84 percent of Nevada is owned by Uncle Sam.

But the government leases large parcels of federal land for all sorts of things -- grazing, mining, exploration, recreation.

Those commercial activities create jobs and tax revenue for the states. Tax revenues from commercial activity on federal lands often pays for local schools. However, with the single stroke

of his pen, President Obama can use the Antiquities of Act of 1906 to turn federal land into National Monuments.

That would effectively lock up the land from any kind of private use or development.

The plan may actually be more than 13 million acres. Republican members of the House have asked for the rest of the memo, but the Department of the Interior is refusing to hand it over.

Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., said he is worried.

"When the administration is, for lack of a better word, stiffing us -- you know that causes concern," Hastings said during a hallway interview on Capitol Hill. "We do have responsibilities to our constituents to make sure that when there is a huge change on federal lands in their area, that they are part of that process. We are afraid that that process is going to be taken away from them and that's why we're asking for these documents." - FOX News Story

Obama Needs Time to Prepare Answer to Sestak Claim - WHY? Just tell the Truth

President Obama said Thursday that the White House is preparing to issue a formal explanation regarding the allegation that it offered Rep. Joe Sestak a job to drop out of the Democratic primary race against Sen. Arlen Specter.

The president, addressing the matter in public for the first time since the Pennsylvania congressman leveled the claim in February, said the statement should answer questions about the claim and insisted "nothing improper" happened.

"There will be an official response shortly on the Sestak matter," Obama said, when asked about the issue by Fox News at the president's press conference. "I mean shortly -- I don't mean weeks or months. ... I can assure the public that nothing improper took place."

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has also said nothing improper happened, but refused to elaborate when asked repeatedly about the charge at Thursday's briefing. - FOX News Story

Senate Democrat - Obama will pay a political price

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) says President Barack Obama will pay a political price for his lack of visibility in the Gulf region during the catastrophic BP oil spill.

“The president has not been as visible as he should have been on this, and he’s going to pay a political price for it unfortunately,” Landrieu told POLITICO. “But he’s going down tomorrow, he’s made some good announcements today, and if he personally steps up his activity, I think that would be very helpful.”

Landrieu’s comments came as Obama spoke to reporters in the East Room of the White House, defending his administration’s response to the ecological disaster. The president plans to head to the Gulf to inspect the oil spill on Friday.

“Those who think that we were either slow in our responses or lacked urgency don’t know the facts,” Obama said Thursday. “This has been our highest priority since this crisis occurred.”

But Landrieu, who is seeing her home state’s economy decimated by the spill, said she’s “absolutely not” satisfied with the administration’s response so far. She added, though, that Thad Allen, a former Coast Guard commandant who is overseeing response to the spill, said that he has support from Republicans and Democrats “across the board.”

"The federal government is fully engaged, and I'm fully engaged," Obama said. - Politico Story

Obama Admits it - Lack of Results in Stopping Oil is His Fault

Tackling an environmental crisis quickly becoming one of the most serious political threats to his presidency, President Barack Obama insisted Thursday that critics of the federal government’s response to the oil spill in the gulf “don’t know the facts.”

“Those who think that we were either slow in our responses or lacked urgency don’t know the facts. This has been our highest priority since this crisis occurred,” Obama said during a rare news conference in the White House East Room. “We understood from day one the potential enormity of this crisis and acted accordingly.”

Amid escalating complaints of buck-passing between the well’s owner, BP, and federal officials, Obama also said that he understands that, when it comes to ending the spill, the buck stops with him.

“In case you were wondering who’s responsible? I take responsibility. It is my job to make sure everything is done to shut this down,” Obama said, directly addressing criticism that he hasn’t been more personally involved.

“There shouldn’t be any confusion here: the federal government is fully engaged and I’m fully engaged,” he said.

Obama also tried to address critics of the government’s role by making an unequivocal declaration: the federal government is heading up the relief and cleanup response.

“The American people should know that from the moment this disaster began the federal government has been in charge of the response effort,” he said. “Make no mistake: BP is operating at our direction.” - Politico Story

Threats to US at All time High

(CBS/AP) With attempted terror attacks in the U.S. at an all-time high, the U.S. should operate under the premise that other operatives are currently in the country and could plot an attack "with little or no warning," according to a Department of Homeland Security report obtained by CBS News.

The four-page report, "Evolving Threats to the Homeland," was prepared by the Office of Infrastructure Protection, says that "the number and pace of attempted attacks in the U.S. over the past nine months have surpassed the number of attempts during any other previous one-year period."

The report highlights the growing threat of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), many of which are now delivered in vehicles - such as the recent Times Square bomb plot. - CBS News Story

Wisconsin Democrat Vulnerable in Re-Election

Businessman Ron Johnson, endorsed at last weekend’s state Republican Convention, is now running virtually even against incumbent Democrat Russ Feingold in Wisconsin’s race for the U.S. Senate.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in Wisconsin shows Feingold with 46% support to Johnson’s 44%. Three percent (3%) prefer some other candidate, and six percent (6%) remain undecided.

As he has in surveys since the beginning of the year, Feingold continues to fall just short of 50% regardless of which Republican he’s matched against. Incumbents who earn less than 50% of the vote at this stage of a campaign are considered potentially vulnerable. Feingold was reelected to a third term in 2004 with 56% of the vote.

This is the first survey to include Johnson, the latest entrant in Wisconsin’s topsy-turvy GOP Senate field. Former Governor Tommy Thompson froze the field for months with speculation that he would run, and Rasmussen Reports surveys consistently showed him running even or better against Feingold.

Then in April Thompson announced he wasn’t running, and Richard Leinenkugel, the state’s Commerce secretary, jumped in. But Feingold outdistanced Leinenkugel and two longtime candidates in the race, real estate entrepreneur Terrence Wall and businessman Dave Westlake, in a survey last month.

Johnson has entered the contest since then and won the party endorsement on the first ballot of the convention, after Leinenkugel in a surprise move threw his support to the newcomer. State Republicans will pick their nominee in a September 14 primary, but Johnson for now is widely expected to win. - Rasmussen Reports

Obama's DOJ to Challenge AZ Immigration Law

A team of Justice Department attorneys reviewing the new immigration law in Arizona has recommended that the U.S. government challenge the state law in federal court, but the recommendation faces an uncertain future and tough scrutiny from others in the Justice Department, sources with knowledge of the process tell Fox News.

Staff attorneys within the Justice Department recently sent higher-ups the recommendation. At the same time, the Justice Department's Civil Division, which oversees the majority of immigration enforcement issues for the department, has drafted a "civil complaint" that would be filed in federal court in Arizona, sources said.

The draft complaint challenges the Arizona law as unconstitutional, saying it is illegal because it impedes federal law, according to the sources, who would not offer any more details about the draft complaint or the arguments made in it.

Two weeks ago, Attorney General Eric Holder told lawmakers such an issue was being considered by Justice Department lawyers reviewing the new law, which outlines and possibly broadens the authority of police to detain those suspected of being in the country illegally.

"We are examining the [Arizona] law and trying to determine if it contravenes the federal responsibility [toward] immigration, whether or not what the Arizona legislature has tried to do is actually preempted by federal law, by federal statutes." he told the House Judiciary Committee on May 13. "The regulation of our borders and the immigration that occurs by crossing our borders is something that is inherently something I believe for the national government to take responsibility for." - FOX News Story

Obama Administration Supports Vatican in Sex Abuse Case

The Obama administration reportedly has sided with the Vatican in a case involving a man who says he was sexually abused decades ago by a priest from Oregon.

AFP reported that the solicitor general's office submitted a brief to the Supreme Court supporting the Vatican's claim that it should be immune from litigation connected with sex abuse cases against U.S. priests.

The office, headed by Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, argued that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals -- which lifted the Vatican's immunity in the Oregon priest case -- should not have treated the case as an exception to a 1976 federal law that limits when foreign countries can face charges in the U.S. judicial system.

The Vatican is seeking an appeal, and the solicitor general's office reportedly urged the Supreme Court to consider throwing out the lower court ruling.

The plaintiff in the case claims the Vatican should be held accountable for transferring the priest to Oregon after he was accused of abusing children in Ireland and then Chicago. The priest in the case died nearly 20 years ago. - FOX News Story

Obama's Hot Seat Getting Hotter - Possible Illegal Action

Rep. Joe Sestak's allegation that the White House offered him a job to drop out of the Pennsylvania Senate primary race against Arlen Specter is a crime that could lead to the impeachment of President Obama, Rep. Darrell Issa said.

But the decision by the Pennsylvania congressman not to elaborate on a so-called deal also could become a political problem as Sestak tries for the U.S. Senate seat.

The White House reportedly is going to formally address the allegation in the next few days. In the meantime, Issa, R-Calif., is one of many inside and outside Washington who want the Democratic Senate primary candidate to explain in detail what offer the White House made.

"It's very clear that allegation is one that everyone from Arlen Spector to Dick Morris has said is in fact a crime, and could be impeachable," said Issa, who is threatening to file an ethics compliant if Sestak doesn't provide more details about the alleged job offer.

Sestak, a former vice admiral in the Navy, first alleged in February that the White House offered him a high-ranking position in the administration last summer if he would sit out the primary against Specter, who won the backing of the White House and state Democratic leaders for switching parties. - FOX News Story

Obama - The Most Partisan President?

SAN FRANCISCO — President Barack Obama traveled to one of the most liberal enclaves in the country to deliver some of his harshest criticism yet of the Republican Party — attacking the GOP on points where Democrats sense vulnerability, such as energy legislation and immigration reform.

Noting that sometimes conservative activists portray him with a Hitler mustache, Obama seemed to put to rest any notion that there could be broad-based bipartisan cooperation — something he promised to try to bring to Washington during his 2008 campaign.

“There are members of their base who think if somebody even smiles at me, they think, ‘You’re a traitor. You smiled at Obama,’” the president said at a fundraiser for Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). “The day has passed when I expected this to be a full partnership.”

There is hardly any “room for cooperation” in the Republican Party, Obama said.

At the same time, he said he understands why the GOP is “sitting on the sidelines.”

“Politically it hasn’t been bad for them,” he said — an apparent reference to the Republicans’ expected gains in the midterm congressional elections this fall. - Politico Story

Bipartisanship Goes to Work to fight EPA

A bipartisan group of senators will move after the Memorial Day recess on a resolution to block the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulation of greenhouse gases.

It is uncertain whether the group will have the votes by the time the resolution comes to the Senate floor June 10, but it has stirred concern among environmentalists and the EPA.

The disapproval resolution, introduced by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), has 41 co-sponsors, including Democrats Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas. Other co-sponsors include Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and Judd Gregg (R-N.H.).

The resolution, which is part of the Congressional Review Act, cannot be filibustered or amended. It also would need approval in the House and a presidential signature to go into effect. To pass the Senate, it needs only 51 votes. - Politico Story

Republicans Call Obama Out

President Barack Obama battled with Senate Republicans in a tense closed-door meeting Tuesday, facing tough criticism from his GOP adversaries — including John McCain — on issues ranging from health care to border security.

Senators and other sources inside the meeting described the gathering as “testy” and “direct” — and Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) accused Obama of acting two-faced by asking for GOP support on regulatory reform only to push forward with a bill supported mainly by Democrats. Others felt that the meeting may have made already tense relations between the two parties even worse.

"The more he talked, the more he got upset," Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) said. “He needs to take a valium before he comes in and talks to Republicans and just calm down, and don’t take anything so seriously. If you disagree with someone, it doesn’t mean you’re attacking their motives — and he takes it that way and tends then to lecture and then gets upset.”

The White House said that Obama made a plea for bipartisanship on some of the country’s most pressing issues — and he urged Republicans to stand up to their base and compromise with the Democratic Party.

Bill Burton, a White House spokesman who attended the meeting, later told reporters that the meeting was “civil in tone” and not as contentious as Republicans have made it out to be. But he said Obama directly challenged the GOP to work in a bipartisan fashion on immigration and energy – or risk seeing those two major issues fall apart this year.

Inside the lunch meeting, Obama squared off with his old rival McCain (R-Ariz.) over border security, sources said. Sources described Obama’s conversation with McCain as rather direct.

McCain said he told Obama: "We need to secure the borders first. He didn't agree." A McCain spokeswoman said their exchange was “frank but respectful.”

Shortly after the meeting, Obama called for 1,200 National Guard troops to be deployed to the border, and McCain quickly one-upped the president, asking for 6,000.

Obama also called for a comprehensive immigration plan, an idea McCain seemed to rebuff. And McCain also challenged Obama over constitutional concerns he's raised over Arizona’s controversial immigration law, saying administration officials needed to read the law first. - Politico Story

Obama Approval Rating at Lowest Level

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that 24% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Forty-four percent (44%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -20 (see trends).

The Presidential Approval Index is calculated by subtracting the number who Strongly Disapprove from the number who Strongly Approve. It is updated daily at 9:30 a.m. Eastern (sign up for free daily e-mail update). Updates are also available on Twitter and Facebook.

Overall, 42% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the president's performance. That is the lowest level of approval yet measured for this president. Fifty-six percent (56%) now disapprove of his performance. - Rasmussen Reports Poll

Vast Majority of Americans Support Repeal of Health Care Bill

Support for repeal of the new national health care plan has jumped to its highest level ever. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 63% of U.S. voters now favor repeal of the plan passed by congressional Democrats and signed into law by President Obama in March.

Prior to today, weekly polling had shown support for repeal ranging from 54% to 58%.

Currently, just 32% oppose repeal.

The new findings include 46% who Strongly Favor repeal of the health care bill and 25% who Strongly Oppose it.

While opposition to the bill has remained as consistent since its passage as it was beforehand, this marks the first time that support for repeal has climbed into the 60s. It will be interesting to see whether this marks a brief bounce or indicates a trend of growing opposition. - Rasmussen Reports Poll

Obama Increases Terror Detainee Program - Not Closing it Down

President Barack Obama pledged to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility during his campaign and again after his Inauguration.

For many voters, this signaled an end to the policy of indefinite detention, one questionable legal legacy of the Bush administration.

Given this inferred promise, it looks bad enough that the Obama administration has announced plans to continue to hold indefinitely 48 current Guantanamo detainees.

But even worse, the administration is reportedly considering an international expansion of the practice of indefinite detention.

There is already a classified draft of the policy that lays out rules permitting suspected terrorists captured in the future to be detained indefinitely without charge and interrogated in overseas prisons, according to the Los Angeles Times.

This report becomes all the more troubling in light of a D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals decision Friday.

The court decided in favor of the administration when it ruled that detainees held at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan have no right to challenge the lawfulness of their detention.

According to the court, this ruling even covers detainees captured far from any war zone and brought to Bagram for detention. - Politico Story

Dept. of Justice Covering Up for Obama?

The Justice Department has rejected a Republican request to appoint a special counsel to investigate allegations that the White House offered a job to Rep. Joe Sestak if he would drop out of the Pennsylvania Senate Democratic primary.

In a letter sent Friday to Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) — but not publicly released — a Justice Department official said there was no need to have a special counsel to look into the allegations. Republicans have been pressing the issue for months, but the White House has insisted nothing inappropriate happened. Sestak himself has been the source of the allegation, stating publicly he was offered a job in order to clear the field for Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.).

Sestak ended up defeating Specter in last week’s primary, but Republicans are still pushing for a full-blown investigation of the job offer allegation. Sestak has refused to say specifically what administration job he was offered, but many think it was secretary of the Navy.

In the letter to Issa, Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich wrote that the DOJ could handle the allegations without creating a special counsel. But Weich gave no indication that the department was looking into the Sestak matter.

“We assure you that the Department of Justice takes very seriously allegations of criminal conduct by public officials. All such matters are reviewed carefully by career prosecutors and law enforcement agents, and appropriate action, if warranted, is taken,” Weich wrote in the letter, which was obtained by POLITICO. “The Department of Justice, however, has a long history of handling investigations of high-level officials professionally and independently, without the need to appoint a special counsel.” - Politico Story

Obama Oil Spill - Same Problems Bush Had in Katrina

Billy Nungesser, the president of Plaquemines Parish on the Louisiana Gulf Coast, has a blunt message for Barack Obama: Cut out the middleman, Mr. President.

“There’s been a failure of leadership on all levels. Who in the hell is in charge?” said Nungesser, who is prodding the administration to back a controversial plan to build sand barriers to block the oil.

“I’m a big Republican, but the president spent two hours with me and really impressed me. ... He really seems to care, but I don’t think he’s getting good advice,” he told POLITICO. “I don’t think they’re telling him the truth about what’s going on around here. He needs to get more personally involved.”

Until this week, the Obama administration had largely managed to deflect responsibility for the Deepwater Horizon disaster onto others — vowing to keep a “boot on the throat” of BP, while slamming lax oversight on the part of federal regulators during the Bush administration.

But now, with crude lapping into the bayou, even Obama’s defenders have turned critical. A White House that prides itself on operational competence and message discipline has been frustrated by an environmental catastrophe it can’t predict, can’t control and can’t out-message — and the strain is showing.

A majority of Americans, by 51 percent to 46 percent, now disapprove of Obama’s handling of the crisis, according to a new CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll. An Associated Press-GfK survey taken less than two weeks ago showed that only one-third of those polled gave Obama low marks for his response. - Politico Story

Obama Administration - Drill Baby Drill - No Stoppage in Oil Drilling

The Obama administration is dialing up the pressure on BP as the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico continues to spread, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar held a news conference outside the oil company's Houston offices Sunday, calling himself "angry and frustrated that BP has been unable to stop this oil from leaking and stop the pollution from spreading."

"We are 33 days into this effort and deadline after deadline has been missed," he said.

But even as the administration hits BP rhetorically, it continues to issue drilling permits in the Gulf despite President Obama's announcement of a moratorium on new drilling projects, according to the New York Times.

The Times reports that seven new drilling permits have been granted, along with five waivers allowing companies to bypass certain environmental concerns. From the paper: "Asked about the permits and waivers, officials at the Department of the Interior and the Minerals Management Service, which regulates drilling, pointed to public statements by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, reiterating that the agency had no intention of stopping all new oil and gas production in the gulf." - Politico Story

Obama Criticized Bush for doing it - Now He's Doing it

A year after President Obama pledged to end the practice of funding the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq with "emergency" spending bills, the Senate is taking up a $60 billion request that would do exactly that.

The spending bill, which includes $33 billion for the two wars in addition to disaster relief funds and aid for Haiti, is running headlong into concern from war-weary Democrats and deficit-conscious Republicans.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called the bill a "heavy lift" in her chamber. But the Senate, which is taking up the request first, could be the scene of a spending stand-off between Democrats and Republicans.

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., plans to offer an amendment requiring Congress to offset the cost of the package with spending cuts elsewhere. He slammed the administration for continuing to use the "emergency" supplemental to fund the wars -- by designating the spending bill as "emergency," Congress avoids having to find a way to pay for it. - FOX News Story

If White House Did Nothing Wrong - Why Keep it Quiet?

A top-ranking Republican over the weekend accused the White House of handing a "bribe" to Rep. Joe Sestak, as the Pennsylvania congressman held firm to his claim that the Obama administration offered him a job to sit out the Senate primary race against Sen. Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., ranking Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is threatening to file an ethics complaint if Sestak doesn't provide more details about the alleged job offer

, including the name of the person who offered it.

Sestak repeatedly dodged questions about the incident in an interview Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," but was willing to repeat the allegation.

"I was offered a job. I answered that," he said.

Sestak, who ultimately stayed in the race and last week beat Specter for the Democratic nomination, has avoided discussing the job offer allegation since he first made the claim in an interview in February.

In a separate interview, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said that lawyers reviewed conversations and found "nothing inappropriate." - FOX News Story

US Military Preparing for North Korea

WASHINGTON -- The White House said Monday that President Barack Obama "fully supports" the South Korean president and his response to the torpedo attack by North Korea that killed 46 South Korean sailors.

The administration said it endorsed President Lee Myung-bak's demand that "North Korea immediately apologize and punish those responsible for the attack, and, most importantly, stop its belligerent and threatening behavior."

Seoul can continue to count on the full backing of the United States, the White House said.

"U.S. support for South Korea's defense is unequivocal, and the president has directed his military commanders to coordinate closely with their Republic of Korea counterparts to ensure readiness and to deter future aggression," the White House said.

The South Korean president said Monday that his nation would no longer tolerate the North's "brutality" and said the repressive communist regime would pay for the surprise March 26 torpedo attack. - FOX News Story

Obama Continues to Hide Job Offer to Sestak

The White House continues to avoid discussing details on whether Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak was offered a job if he skipped the Pennsylvania Senate primary but spokesman Robert Gibbs said Sunday that lawyers reviewed conversations and found "nothing inappropriate."

"I'm not a lawyer. But lawyers in the White House and others have looked into conversations that were had with Congressman Sestak. And nothing inappropriate happened," Gibbs told CBS' "Face the Nation."

"I'm not going to get further into what the conversations were. People that have looked into them assure me that they weren't inappropriate in any way," he said.

Sestak, a former Navy vice admiral who defeated Sen. Arlen Specter in the Democratic Senate primary last week, months ago said that the White House offered him a job to stay out of the race.

Sestak refused to bow out then, and still refuses to say now what job was offered.

"I was offered a job. I answered that," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press. "Anybody else has to decide for themselves what to say upon their role. And that's their responsibility."

Gibbs said Republicans continue to "dredge this up" because Pat Toomey, the GOP nominee challenging Sestak is "already behind in a very important Senate race."

The latest Rasmussen Reports poll taken one day after Tuesday's primary election showed Sestak leading Toomey 46-42 percent with 1 4.5 percent margin of error among 500 likely voters.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said if Sestak were offered a job, it would behoove the White House to "either corroborate that or call him a liar." - FOX News Story

Obama - BP's Biggest Recepient of Campaign Money

President Obama's oversight of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill may have been hampered by his relationship to BP, former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said Sunday in the opening salvo of a verbal cage match with White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.

Appearing on "Fox News Sunday," Palin suggested that the White House is too cozy with the oil industry because of contributions to candidate Obama during the 2008 presidential race.

"I don't know why the question isn't asked by the mainstream media and by others if there's any connection with the contributions made to President Obama and his administration and the support by the oil companies to the administration,” Palin, a Fox News Channel contributor, said on "Fox News Sunday."

“If there's any connection there to President Obama taking so doggone long to get in there, to dive in there, and grasp the complexity and the potential tragedy that we are seeing here in the Gulf of Mexico -- now, if this was President Bush or if this were a Republican in office who hadn't received as much support even as President Obama has from B.P. and other oil companies, you know the mainstream media would be all over his case," she said.

Gibbs fired back that the former Alaska governor needs a lesson in how the oil industry works.

"Sarah Palin was involved in that election but, I don't think she was paying a whole lot of attention," Gibbs said on CBS' "Face the Nation."

"I'm almost sure that the oil companies don't consider the Obama administration a huge ally," he said, adding, "My suggestion to Sarah Palin would be to get slightly more informed as to what's going on in and around oil drilling in this country."

Palin used Twitter shortly thereafter to respond to Gibbs.

"Obama is the top recipient of BP PAC & individual money over the past 20 years. Dispute these facts," she wrote, linking to a Politico article citing campaign finance reporting showing more than $3.5 million given to candidates by BP since 1990.

The largest single donation by BP -- $77,051 -- went to Obama. - Fox News Story

Sestak Admits that Obama White House Offered Job to Drop out of Race

Rep. Joe Sestak, winner of the Pennsylvania Democratic Senate primary, is refusing to provide more information on what job he was offered by a White House official to drop of that race, although he confirmed again that the incident occurred.

The White House was backing incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) in the primary. Sestak acknowledged in an interview in February that he was offered a position by an unnamed White House official - a potential violation of federal law - but has not offered any specifics on conversation. Republicans are trying to use the issue against Sestak in the November Senate race.

"It's interesting. I was asked a question about something that happened months earlier, and I felt that I should answer it honestly, and that's all I had to say about it." Sestak said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." "Anybody else has to decide on what they will say upon their role. That's their responsibility."

Yet Sestak confirmed to NBC's David Gregory that the incident did take place.

"I was offered a job, and I answered that," Sestak said. "Anything that goes beyond that is for others to talk about." - Politico Story