Unemployment Continues to Rise

WASHINGTON

(AP) -- Initial claims for unemployment benefits rose last week for the second time in three weeks, a sign that layoffs are rising.

The Labor Department says new claims for jobless benefits jumped by 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 472,000. Analysts expected a small drop, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.

Greater layoffs by construction firms contributed to the increase, a Labor Department analyst said. Home sales slumped last month after the expiration of a popular homebuyer tax credit.

Summer layoffs in many school districts also added to the total.

The number of people continuing to claim benefits rose by 43,000 to 4.6 million, the department said. But the number of people collecting extended benefits

fell by 376,000, as lawmakers have refused to continue the extra aid. - FOX News Story

Police ReOpen Sexual Case against Al Gore

PORTLAND, Oregon -- Police said Wednesday they are reopening an investigation into an Oregon massage therapist's allegations that former Vice President Al Gore groped her at an upscale hotel in 2006.

In a brief statement, the Portland Police Bureau did not say why it was reopening the investigation. Police earlier said they considered the case closed because there was no evidence.

Kalee Kreider, a spokeswoman for Gore, said the former vice president "unequivocally and emphatically" denied making unwanted sexual advances toward the woman and that he welcomed the investigation.

"Further investigation into this matter will only benefit Mr. Gore," Kreider said.

She also said "the Gores cannot comment on every defamatory, misleading and inaccurate story generated by tabloids." - FOX News Story

Democrats join Republicans on Panel to Investigate Oil Spill

Senate Republicans won a vote Wednesday to create a congressionally-appointed panel to investigate the BP oil spill independent of the bipartisan panel already created by the Obama administration.

Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso (R) successfully attached language to a larger oil spill bill that cleared the Energy and Natural Resources Committee that would establish a 10-member panel tasked with studying the causes and implications of the Deepwater Horizon well that’s been spewing crude into the Gulf of Mexico since April 20.

Five Democrats and the panel’s 10 Republican members approved Barrasso’s amendment after a heated debate questioning the expertise and resumes of the members on the Obama-established commission led by former Sen. Bob Graham (D-Fla.) and former EPA Administrator William Reilly.

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) voted for the amendment after citing the pro-environmental credentials of several members of Obama’s panel, including Frances Beinecke, the president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, National Geographic Society executive vice president Terry Garcia, Georgetown University law professor Richard Lazarus and Donald Boesch, the president of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science

“If the shoe were on the other foot, and President Bush were the president, and he submitted a list of names like this to us, we’d say this is not fair,” Landrieu said, urging more participation from officials with industry experience.

Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) countered that another BP investigation panel was “unlikely to shed much new light” on the environmental disaster. But he failed to convince even some of his own Democrats. “I’d air on the side of let’s get another point of view,” said Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire. - Politico Story

Speaker Pelosi Decides Who gets to see the Oil Spill First Hand

Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) wanted to fly 10 lawmakers down to the Gulf of Mexico to see the damage caused by BP’s gigantic oil spill firsthand.

House Democrats said no.

Scalise’s trip was rejected for a variety of bureaucratic and logistical reasons, but it has also opened a new vein of partisan squabbling over who should be allowed to arrange a trip to view the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Republicans want to be able to take trips using their office spending allowance. But Democrats have heard from the Department of Homeland Security, which has asked that Congress organize trips through committees of jurisdiction, to avoid having to cater to a large number of individual lawmakers in a disaster zone, Democratic aides say. GOP leaders say they’ve heard nothing of this.

The squabbling over who gets to travel to the Gulf and on whose dime is the latest sign that congressional oversight of the oil spill has been bogged down by partisanship. Congress has held upward of 20 hearings on the disaster, often duplicative ones each week, as lawmakers struggle to grasp and fully realize the scope of BP’s giant oil spill.

Scalise wants to organize a trip so lawmakers can fully grasp the impact before they vote on oil-drilling regulations. And he doesn't want to do it through a committee, because the members don't fit neatly into specific panels: They stretch across committee, and even partisan, lines.

About two weeks ago, Scalise requested to be able to use his Members Representational Allowance — a fund typically reserved for office expenses and travel back to the district — to go to the Gulf with a group of about 10 other lawmakers.

He sought permission from the House Administration Committee, which regulates office account spending and would have to approve the trip. After a few weeks, Scalise was ping-ponged between several committees. Eventually, John Lawrence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s chief of staff, told Scalise’s chief that “it was unlikely that the request would be granted.” - Politico Story

Democrat Rep. Pete Stark is an Idiot, Claims Border is Secure

A California congressman known for edgy sarcasm mocked an opponent of illegal immigration during a town hall meeting last week, asking, "Who are you going to kill today?" before the constituent, a self-identified Minuteman, posed his question.

Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., no stranger to controversy, mocked the idea that the borders are not secure when asked about the federal government's lack of activity on border security.

"We can't get enough Minutemen armed. We'd like to get all the Minutemen armed so they can stop shooting people here," Stark said.

Eventually, members of the audience urged Stark to offer a serious answer.

"If you knew anything about our borders, you would know that's not the case. Our borders are quite secure, thank you," Stark said, drawing jeers.

Stark resumed his hostile act, asking the Minuteman what he would do to secure the border.

"I would send about about 25,000 troops for one thing and build a wall down so vehicles could not pass," the Minuteman said.

"How high and long would it be?" Stark asked.

"As high and as long as it takes," the Minuteman said, elicting cheers.

Stark said he would start a ladder company with the Minuteman if he designed the wall and doesn't shoot the people coming over.

"But I've got to know how high the wall is and I'll sell a whole lot of ladders for people who want to come," Stark said. - FOX News Story

Not only is this guy an idiot, he mocks a majority of America with his Stupidity. How this guy ever got into office is beyond me. He offers no solutions, and mocks every idea. This is the new America. This is the Change that we have. This is the road we are heading down. This Representative is an example of the out of touch leadership in this Country.

Sen. Franken Decides Supreme Court Nominee Hearings not Important - Takes a nap

He's good enough, he's smart enough, but doggone it — he just can't keep his eyes open for Senate confirmation hearings.

Al Franken, the onetime comedian and current Democratic senator from Minnesota, used his position on the vaunted Judiciary Committee on Tuesday to doodle a lifelike bust of Sen. Jeff Sessions, the committee's ranking Republican, as Sessions raked Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan over the coals.

But it wasn't all fun and games for the former "Saturday Night Live" star — Franken also found time to get in a good nap during the first day of hearings Monday.

Live video from Senate chambers shows a woozy Franken getting some much-needed shuteye as Kagan explains her intellectual approach to life and teachings in her opening statement to the Senate.

But Franken, the most junior member of the Judiciary Committee, had already been forced to sit through an endless round of statements from his senior colleagues on the 19-member panel as they droned on and on and on in the crowded Washington chamber.

When it finally came time for Kagan herself to speak, Franken had apparently had enough.

"I've learned that we make progress by listening to each other," said Kagan hopefully, as Franken slowly closed his eyes and appeared to doze off. - FOX News Story

Obama Still Doesn't Get it - G20 Tells Him Quit Spending / Cut Deficit

(CBS) The G-20 summit concluded in Toronto late Sunday with signs of an economic policy rift between President Obama and other world leaders.

The debate played out against a backdrop of violent protests outside the summit that resulted in more than 500 arrests but no serious injuries.

The president came to Toronto hoping to convince his G-20 colleagues to put more emphasis on stimulus spending to keep the economic recovery alive, reports CBS News chief White House correspondent Chip Reid. For the most part he did not succeed.

The G-20, the top industrialized and developing nations of the world, ended the Toronto summit with a pledge to cut their budget deficits in half within three years. It's something Mr. Obama has been pressing for but he has also urged more stimulus spending in the short-term to keep the recovery going, a position rejected by Great Britain and some other European nations that say cutting debt should be the top priority. - CBS News Story

Obama's Iran Plan Failing - Iran Can Make Some Nuclear Weapons

CIA Director Leon Panetta says Iran probably has enough low-enriched uranium for two nuclear weapons, but that it likely would take two years to build the bombs. - FOX News Story

VP Biden calls Custard Shop Manager a "Smartass"

Vice President Biden called the manager of a custard shop outside of Milwaukee, Wis., a "smartass" after the man asked him to lower taxes.

Biden made the comment Friday after the Kopp’s Frozen Custard shop manager told him that his dessert would be on the house if he lowered taxes.

"What do we owe you?" Biden is heard saying in footage captured by WISN-TV.

"Don’t worry, it’s on us," the manager replied. "Lower our taxes and we’ll call it [the custard] even."

"Why don’t you say something nice instead of being a smartass all the time?" Biden said a few minutes later.

Biden had walked in to Kopp’s mistakenly asking for ice cream instead of custard. - FOX News Story