America Bailing Out Europe?

Concerned that U.S. taxpayers appear to be bailing out profligate European governments, the Obama administration is pushing back this week with a series of arguments that Americans won’t be on the hook for the EU bailout announced early this week.

Perhaps the only thing less popular in Washington than the U.S. Troubled Asset Relief Program bank bailout is the idea that Americans are going to the rescue of financially strapped Greeks.

“The bailout of Greece set a dangerous precedent of using American tax dollars for other European bailouts,” Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) said on Monday.

“With Portugal, Spain and perhaps others to follow in Greece’s footsteps in the near future, this action shows the Obama administration is headed down a dangerous path of bailing out European countries at a time when we face our own debt crisis,” he said.

The United States is involved in the European rescue in two ways.

First, the International Monetary Fund — which is 17 percent financed by American taxpayers — says it is prepared to contribute up to $321 billion to the relief effort, with certain caveats. - Politico Story

May 18th Will be the Best Gauge of Voter Discontent

Never mind Rep. Alan Mollohan's (D-W.V.) primary defeat Tuesday. Avert your gaze from Sen. Bob Bennett's (R-Utah) loss last Saturday. The biggest and most consequential elections don't take place until next week, May 18, a date that ranks as the most important of the election calendar so far.

Just four states — Arkansas, Kentucky, Oregon and Pennsylvania — will go to the polls that day, but the ballot will be packed with marquee elections that will provide the broadest and most detailed data to date about the toxicity of the political environment and the intensity of anti-establishment fury.

And the action doesn’t stop there: Four days later, on May 22, a closely watched special election in Hawaii offers Republicans a serendipitous opportunity to pick up a House seat in one of the most Democratic states in the nation.

While the third week of May isn’t the most crowded in terms of sheer number of elections — that would be the second week of June, when 10 states will hold primaries on June 8 — it’s nevertheless among the most consequential of the midterm election year because it will offer the fullest measure yet of the depths of anti-incumbent hostility. - Politico Story

Voters Continue to Replace Congress and Senate Members with New Faces

AP) Democrat Alan Mollohan became the first member of the U.S. House to be ousted this spring primary season after his opponent mounted a campaign that questioned the 14-term congressman's ethics and support for federal health care reform.

Mollohan conceded Tuesday night, ending nearly 28 years in the House. Unofficial returns showed that with 100 percent of precincts reporting, state Sen. Mike Oliverio carried 56 percent of the votes to Mollohan's 44 percent.

The more conservative Oliverio ran an aggressive campaign, portraying Mollohan as corrupt and out of touch. Conservative media rallied around the 46-year-old financial adviser from Morgantown, as did anti-abortion groups angry over Mollohan's support of health care reform.

Mollohan, 66, said his defeat was proof that negative campaigns still work and called Oliverio's attacks "totally spurious and totally false." But he acknowledged that he faced a "strong headwind" because of the national political climate, voter discontent and anti-incumbent sentiment.

That mood also helped end the 17-year career of Utah Republican Sen. Bob Bennett, who lost a GOP convention on Saturday.

"It's true there is definitely a wave out there, a national mood and wave," Mollohan said after his defeat.

Midterm congressional elections are referendums, he said, "and if people are not feeling good about what's happening, if they don't agree with legislation or they just are concerned, they express it."

Mollohan stood by his record, but acknowledged to about 150 supporters that he could have been marketed better.

Oliverio said his campaign worked because it focused on fiscal responsibility and personal integrity. - CBS News Story

Tornado Watch #151 OK / TX

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
  TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 151
  NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
  350 PM CDT TUE MAY 11 2010
 
  THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
  TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
 
         WESTERN OKLAHOMA
         WESTERN NORTH TEXAS
 
  EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 350 PM UNTIL
  1000 PM CDT.
 
  TORNADOES...HAIL TO 3 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
  GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
  AREAS.
 
  THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 75 STATUTE
  MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 10 MILES SOUTHEAST OF
  CHICKASHA OKLAHOMA TO 45 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF ALTUS OKLAHOMA.
  FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH
  OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU1).

Reporter Slips - Tiger Withdraws With Bulging Dick oops Disc

USA next Greece if Debt Continues

Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) is warning that the United States is well on its way to facing the same type of debt crisis that has crippled Greece.

“We are on a path which will go to where Greece is, there's no question about that, if we don't adjust our present financial house,” Gregg said during an interview Monday night on the Fox Business Network.

“If we continue to spend much more than we take in…we'll double our debt in five years and triple it in 10 years and essentially be where Greece is in about seven years,” he said.

“So we know we are headed in that direction unless we do something about reducing the level of debt and reducing the level of our spending.”

The national debt of Greece amounts to 113 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, equivalent to what the United States owed shortly after fighting the Second World War. The current U.S. debt amounts to roughly 80 percent of the gross domestic product.

Asked when he expects that the U.S. debt situation will reach the crisis level that Greece is currently facing, Gregg said, “we're looking at maybe the outside 10 years, probably closer to seven years before we hit the wall, so to say.”

The Republican senator said that the signs of a crisis are already here – pointing to recent downgraded ratings of U.S. debt. - Politico Story

Fannie Mae Needs More Bailout Money

Mortgage giant Fannie Mae (FNM: 1.06, 0.04, 3.92%) bled another $13.1 billion during the first quarter, prompting the U.S.-owned company to request another $8.4 billion cash infusion from the Treasury Department.

Fannie Mae, which was placed into conservatorship in 2008 amid enormous mortgage losses, said it lost $13.1 billion, or $2.29 a share, last quarter, compared with a loss of $16.3 billion, or $2.87 a share, during the fourth quarter of 2009.

The company blamed the heavy losses on credit-related expenses that remain “at elevated levels” due to weakness in the U.S. economy and the housing market.

“In the first quarter we continued to serve as a leading source of liquidity to the mortgage market, and we made solid progress in our ongoing efforts to keep people in their homes,” CEO Mike Williams said in a statement.

Fannie said it purchased or guaranteed about $191.4 billion in loans during the first quarter and completed 94,000 loan modifications. The company said its purchases and guarantees financed about 516,000 conventional single-family loans and about 61,000 multifamily units.

Due to the heavy losses, Fannie said the Federal Housing Finance Agency has asked the Treasury Department for $8.4 billion on or before June 30. Fannie already received $15.3 billion at the end of 2009. Last week sister company Freddie Mac said it would need another $10.6 billion from the government.

Fannie didn’t shy away from saying it will continue to need cash, saying, “Due to current trends in the housing and financial markets, we continue to expect to have a net worth deficit in future periods, and therefore will be required to obtain additional funding from Treasury.” - FOX News Story

Supreme Court Nominee Not Guaranteed to be Approved

Key Senate Republicans who already voted to confirm Elena Kagan as solicitor general were quick to point out that their previous support does not guarantee they will back her for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court.

Republicans such as Orrin Hatch and Jon Kyl – both yes votes in 2009 on Kagan — blasted statements within minutes of Monday morning's Supreme Court announcement, emphasizing that their previous support was not indicative of what their votes will be when the former Dean of the Harvard law school comes before the Senate for the nation's highest court, likely in July.

“As I made clear when I supported her confirmation as Solicitor General, a temporary political appointment is far different than a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court,” Kyl said. “Every senator has a constitutional duty to scrutinize judicial nominees, and I will take great care in examining her record to ensure that she possess the qualities the American people expect in our Supreme Court Justices.”

The Minority Whip from Arizona joined Republicans Hatch, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, and Richard Lugar of Indiana in confirming Kagan as Solicitor General in a 61-31 in March 2009.

Hatch, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee with Kyl, was also quick to express reticence about Kagan, saying that his decision will not be based in “blind faith” but that he will keep “an open mind” throughout the confirmation process.

“I will examine Ms. Kagan’s entire record to understand her judicial philosophy. My conclusion will be based on evidence, not blind faith. Her previous confirmation, and my support for her in that position, do not by themselves establish either her qualifications for the Supreme Court or my obligation to support her," Hatch said. "I have an open mind and look forward to actively participating in the confirmation process.” - Politico Story

States Fighting Back Against Over-Reaching Federal Government

Utah is itching for a land fight. A battle with Washington over territorial rights and state sovereignty. It wants to spark a revolt in which Western states attempt to wrest control of federal lands within their borders.

The Beehive State might just get its way, too. In March, Gov. Gary Herbert (R) signed a controversial law authorizing the use of eminent domain to capture some of the millions of acres that the federal government owns here. The law was tailor-made to provoke a lawsuit, possibly reaching the US Supreme Court, and to inspire other Western states to enact similar legislation.

While it's unusual for eminent domain to involve the taking of federal lands, this law is a byproduct of many Utahns' frustrations: The US government owns more than 60 percent of the state, thus dictating whether land has been set aside for preservation or can be accessed for mineral deposits.

The law also comes amid a wave of states' rights initiatives nationwide, which are challenging the federal government's authority on gun laws and President Obama's health-care reform.

"In this country, people are awake. They are seeing the encroachment of the federal government more than ever," says Amber Harrison, an activist who traveled last fall to Washington from Vernal, in northeastern Utah. She advocates that the federal government offer more leases on its land for oil and natural-gas drilling. - ABC News Story

AG Holder - Arizona Immigration Law is Not Racist

Attorney General Eric Holder told me the controversial new Arizona immigration law is not racist, but he remains concerned the law could lead to racial profiling. In my “This Week” interview, Holder said, “I don't think it's racist in its motivation. But I think the concern I have is how it will be perceived and how it perhaps could be enacted, how it could be carried out. I think we could potentially get on a slippery slope where people will be picked on because of how they look as opposed to what they have done, and that is I think something that we have to try to avoid at all costs.”

Holder added that immigration is a national problem and “a state-by-state solution to it is not the way in which we ought to go.” - ABC News Story