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).

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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