Democrats Want 8% increase in Discretionary Spending

With growing public concern about the deficit and billions still backed up in President Barack Obama’s economic recovery program, just how do Democrats sell another 8 percent increase in discretionary spending this summer?

Not easily.

As the appropriations debate heats up in the House and Senate this week, one option is to spice the pot with real cuts, if only to show voters that not everything is on automatic pilot and at least some programs are being weeded out.

With each 2010 bill it reports now, the House Appropriations Committee includes a three-part list of terminations, program reductions and new White House initiatives that have been denied. The strategy takes a page from Obama himself — even lifting a few phrases from the administration’s rhetoric. But the results can catch even top Democrats by surprise.

North Carolina Rep. David Price, one of the dozen committee “cardinals,” rose mournfully at a recent committee meeting to protest a $41 million reduction in a favorite education program he helped to create at the National Science Foundation. - Politico Story

How to have an Extended Massive Orgasm - Do Tell

Extended Massive Orgasm – the term itself packs a powerful passion punch. This experience of one orgasmic wave after the next has become the grand dame of climaxes. Those who pursue the extended massive orgasm (EMO) report enjoying more of life’s joys in general. After experiencing one of these massive orgasms, lovers have been known to become nicer and more generous in their relationship.

PHOTOS: 14 Foods to Boost Your Sex Drive.

These results aren’t surprising given that EMO makes for more amazing orgasms. It helps lovers realize heightened intimacy, increased sexual confidence, and better communication skills. So what exactly are the tricks of this tantalizing trade?

An extended massive orgasm can last minutes or hours, offering up blissful sensations at increasing intensities. Here are the key ingredients to making this earth-shattering event happe. - Fox News Story

I know that this isn't exactly the stuff that we talk about on here, but hey who couldn't use a little added information in this area?

Iranian Government - Protestors will be "dealt with in a way that will teach them a lesson."

(CBS) Despite a vicious crackdown by Iran's authorities, CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips reports that there are more ominous signs Tuesday morning that the unrest is continuing.

Iran's official news agency says those arrested in the demonstrations, which have now gone on for a week and a half, will be "dealt with in a way that will teach them a lesson."

According to Iran's state TV, more than 450 people have been arrested and 10 have died in the post-election violence.

The demonstrations may be getting smaller, but those determined enough to continue to take to the streets are paying the price. New amateur video reaching the West via cell-phone and the Internet shows people who have apparently been shot.

IranWatch: Track the latest on the Iran election upheaval.

Security forces - including the hard-line Revolutionary Guards - have warned that any unauthorized demonstrations will encounter what they called a "revolutionary" response, which clearly involves the use force.

Tehran's streets have been flooded with security personnel in an apparent attempt to intimidate potential demonstrators.

And the political hard line continues as well. A spokesman for Iran's Guardian Council - the body appointed by Iran's supreme leader to oversee elections - has declared that there were no irregularities large enough to warrant calling a new vote. - CBS News Story

Iranian Clerics Say Election will Stand - Could this Happen in America?

Iran's state TV reports the country's top electoral authority has ruled out annulling the results of the disputed June 12 election in which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was named the winner.

A spokesman for the Guardian Council, Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei, was quoted by Iran's state-run English language Press TV as saying Tuesday that the organization had found "no major fraud or breach in the election."

"Therefore, there is no possibility of an annulment taking place," he said.

Ahmadinejad's main challenger, Mir Hossein Mousavi, has charged the election was a fraud and insists he is the true winner. His followers have been staging near-daily rallies. In recent days, the government has intensified a crackdown on the protests.

Mousavi has called for an independent probe, alleging the Guardian Council is not neutral and has already indicated support for Ahmadinejad. - CBS News Story

As divided as this Country has become over the past 10 years, could what is happening in Iran happen in America?

I say not only can it happen here, it is perhaps inevitable. We have seen many elections come down to very small differences separating winners from losers. Combine that with the division and partisanship of our Government today, you can see the recipe for disaster.

Obama promised to put aside partisan politics and work together. Had this been the case then that would most definitely have started to reverse the trend. But as with most leaders, they are only willing to be bipartisan when it benefits them. True bipartisanship is when you say we have to do something about widgets, what are your ideas? Then they work together to solve the problem with widgets. Not, we have a problem with widgets and here is what I am doing to fix it, get on board or get the hell out of the way.

Until we can start working as bipartisan officials, we are headed to similar circumstances as Iran. We already have the voting fraud, more votes than voters, we have the division between ideology, and we are quickly reaching a boiling point.

Flood Victims get No Response from Government

West Allis - It was bad enough when last week's torrential rains filled Mike Duvall's basement, swamped his garage and ruined his possessions - but it was the response by his community leaders that really got him boiling.

Duvall and his neighbors in the 5600 block of W. Mitchell St. couldn't get West Allis officials to come out and clean up the sewage that's stuck to the streets and sidewalks or get inspections of their basements or get the Department of Public Works to return phone calls.

But those who could move their cars from wrecked garages to higher ground before the next round of rain on Friday evening did get feedback from the city - in the form of $20 parking tickets.

"It was a complete lack of response. Their response Friday and the rest of the weekend was: 'This was an act of God, good luck,' " Duvall said Monday morning, sitting on a couch he had pulled out onto his porch.

On Monday, the city picked up ruined possessions residents set out but had not yet cleaned the street.

Duvall, who called the city Friday to ask for permission for him and his neighbors to park on the street, was so incensed he gathered petitions asking for a meeting with Mayor Dan Devine and other officials. The mayor and other officials met with them Monday morning and promised to take care of the 15 parking tickets.

Duvall said he hasn't been able to get the city to inspect his home, which We Energies requires before it will hook up his gas again. - JS Online Story

By golly where is George Bush? He hasn't helped us out? Isn't it only George Bush who has failed to respond to a Natural Disaster?

No, the truth is, it is nearly impossible for the Government to be prepared for everything that can happen. Now, not to dimish the poor job that West Allis City Officials did, it is hard to be prepared and act as quickly as everyone would like in situations like this.

Obama See's Biggest Dip in Polling Numbers

Eroding confidence in President Barack Obama’s handling of the economy and ability to control spending has caused his approval ratings to wilt to their lowest levels since he took office, according to a spate of recent polls, a sign of political weakness that comes just as he most needs leverage on Capitol Hill.

The good news for Obama is that his approval ratings — 57 percent in a Gallup tracking poll over the weekend — remain comfortably high by historical standards for presidents.

But the trend lines among a variety of polls over the past several days are unmistakable: Independents and even some Republicans who once viewed him sympathetically are becoming skeptical, and many people of all stripes are anxious about economic and fiscal trends.

Obama’s approval rating has dipped below 60 percent on other occasions, according to Gallup, but though those slumps lasted only a day, this one appears to be more persistent.

So is the intensity of partisan reaction to Obama, who ran on the promise of softening ideological divisions and unifying Americans. On Sunday, a Rasmussen Reports tracking poll found that 32 percent of Americans strongly approved of the president, while 32 percent strongly disapproved. - Politico Story

Obama Administration Can't Explain Savings

The Obama White House cannot explain more than half of today's announced $80 billion in prescription drug savings.

A senior official said the White House estimates $30 billion in savings will be achieved through drug companies reducing by at least 50 percent the cost of brand-name prescription drugs for Medicare beneficiaries who fall into the so-called coverage "donut hole."

The other $50 billion in savings will come from unspecified and unknown changes to drug costs linked to Medicare and Medicaid.

The $80 billion in savings is a 10-year estimate. - FOX News Story

Obama Feeling the Heat - Calls for Press Conference

President Obama will meet the press Tuesday at a critical juncture in his young presidency, as he struggles to push a key pillar of his domestic agenda and faces criticism for the way he is handling the tumult in Iran.

The president has scheduled a press conference for 12:30 p.m. ET at the White House -- it is the fourth of his presidency, but the first outside prime-time and the first from the Rose Garden.

Watch FOX News Channel and FOXNews.com for live coverage of the president's press conference Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. ET.

The short advance notice suggests the administration is feeling pressured to address more fully the myriad developments in Washington and abroad.

On the home front, Obama's push for comprehensive health care reform has run into stiff resistance from Republicans who want the option of a government-run plan stripped from any proposal. They point to last week's Congressional Budget Office cost estimates tagging one proposal at $1 trillion over 10 years and another at $1.5 trillion for the same time period as evidence the plan needs to be reined in.

The president also has carefully measured his response to the turmoil in Iran stemming from the disputed presidential election on June 12, leading to criticism that he's too timid in condemning the Iranian regime and expressing support for the protesters. - FOX News Story

Iranian Revolution Continues

New amateur videos purportedly showing clashes between police and protesters in the wake of Iran's hotly disputed presidential election surfaced Tuesday along with reports that a large-scale general strike was in the works.

Video posted on YouTube appears to show riot police flooding the streets of Tehran in an attempt to disrupt large-scale protests. In one video, groups of police can be seen retreating from protesters throwing objects as a yellow gas is released. Another video shows crowds advancing through streets, stopping traffic.

Click here to see the videos.

Just before the clashes Monday, an Iranian woman who lives in Tehran said there was a heavy police and security presence in another square in central Tehran. She asked not to be identified because she was worried about government reprisals.

"There is a massive, massive, massive police presence," she told The Associated Press in Cairo by telephone. "Their presence was really intimidating."

In another amateur video that was apparently shot at night, shouts of "God is Great" and "Death to the Dictator," are reportedly heard in the darkness. - FOX News Story

Obama Continues Slide in Polls

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday shows that 32% of the nation's voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-four percent (34%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -2. That’s the President’s lowest rating to date and the first time the Presidential Approval Index has fallen below zero for Obama (see trends). - Rasmussen Reports