Peace Prize not What it Used to Be?

Gee, you'd think a U.S. president who won the Nobel Peace Prize might get rave reviews from his party's activists and polite congrats from top Republicans.

But news of Barack Obama's award Friday drew a rebuke from the Republican Party chairman, ridicule from conservative bloggers, and even gripes from some liberals who think he hasn't done enough to wind down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Top Democrats congratulated Obama, of course, but critics abounded on the left and right.

"What has President Obama actually accomplished?" said Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee.

"It is unfortunate that the president's star power has outshined tireless advocates who have made real achievements working towards peace and human rights."

There was praise from two Democrats who also have won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Former President Jimmy Carter, who won in 2002, called Obama's selection a "bold statement of international support for his vision and commitment."

And former Vice President Al Gore, who won two years ago, said Obama's prize was "extremely well deserved."

"I think that much of what he has accomplished already is going to be far more appreciated in the eyes of history, as it has been by the Nobel committee," Gore said.

And some Republicans had kind words, too. "Under any circumstance an appropriate response is to say congratulations," said Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

But GOP Rep. Gresham Barrett, who is running for governor of South Carolina, mocked Obama's prize. "I'm not sure what the international community loved best; his waffling on Afghanistan, pulling defense missiles out of Eastern Europe, turning his back on freedom fighters in Honduras, coddling Castro, siding with Palestinians against Israel, or almost getting tough on Iran," Barrett said.

Several commentators challenged the value of the Peace Prize, noting that Palestinian President Yasser Arafat shared it in 1994.

"What's Obama done?" asked Rick Moran in his blog on American Thinker, a strong advocate of Israel. "What peace has he negotiated? ... I suppose an organization that thought Yasser Arafat worthy of the same prize can't be taken seriously anyway. But they are." - FOX News Story

Democrats Hang With Rangel and his Ethics Problems

In his trademark gravelly New York brogue, Charlie Rangel has been known to say: “I’ll be with you ‘til I can’t be with you.”

Now, even some Democrats who have stuck with him through his messy financial problems are beginning to wonder if they can’t stick with him anymore.

The House ethics committee expanded a sprawling investigation into Rangel Thursday, digging into allegations stemming from an August restatement of his personal finances, in which he under reported hundreds of thousands of dollars in assets. The ethics committee action – which was unanimous — came a day after House Democrats turned back a Republican attempt to force Rangel from his Ways and Means chairmanship while the investigation, now in its second year, is completed.

“There’s growing concern at the piling up here of issues,” said one Democratic lawmaker who asked not to be identified talking about Rangel. “People are willing to give some time to the process, but not an infinite amount of time. There will come a time, if this goes unresolved, when the drip, drip, drip will become a torrent.”

Two Mississippi Democrats, Gene Taylor and Travis Childers, have already bailed on Rangel, voting against him on Wednesday.

Also on Wednesday night, Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Fla., who is running for the Senate, chose not to sign a Black Caucus letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in support of Rangel.

Meek told POLITICO that his vote to refer the Rangel matter to the ethics panel was enough of a statement of his position. - Politico Story

Pelosi Fails in Bid for Ethical and Transparent Congress

Pay your taxes or step down.

That's the message House Republicans are sending to Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., chairman of the powerful tax-writing Ways and Means Committee and subject of a major ethics probe into alleged tax evasion and other violations.

House Republicans on Wednesday tried to pass a resolution to oust Rangel from his chairmanship following the reading of a long and stinging list of alleged wrongdoing. The measure stemmed from a major ethics probe into Rangel's alleged failure to pay his taxes and disclose income on multiple properties -- as much as $1.3 million.

But House Democrats were quick to strike down the measure to remove Rangel, who represents New York's Harlem district, from his post. House Republicans refused to accept defeat of the resolution, and asked for a second recorded vote following the first. The reading of the resolution was interrupted several times, and at one point was challenged by Democrats before being put to a vote.

A representative from Rangel's office on Wednesday blasted the resolution as a "highly partisan effort."

"Let's look at this resolution for what it really is -- a highly partisan effort designed to undermine the important work in Congress on health care reform," the representative, who declined to be named, told FOX News.

"It's also an attempt to circumvent House rules, which provide for a comprehensive, bipartisan ethics committee process for reviewing matters such as these," the Rangel aide said. "The congressman himself initiated the request for the committee to review the issues and the members should let the process work as established by the rules of the House."

House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said the resolution's defeat is "the latest example of Speaker Pelosi breaking her promise to have the most 'open and ethical' Congress in history." - FOX News Story

Democrats Struggle with ACORN Donations

Democratic lawmakers in a handful of states are facing pressure from Republicans to distance themselves from the Service Employees International Union as a result of its ties to ACORN.

Republicans in Kansas, Virginia and Illinois in recent weeks have called on union-backed Democrats to return SEIU campaign contributions, citing the close connection between the union and the community organizing group, whose full name is the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

ACORN has been under fire in the past month after secretly recorded videos showed ACORN employees offering advice on evading taxes, setting up brothels and smuggling illegal immigrants. ACORN has called the actions unacceptable and has fired the workers involved.

The Virginia Republican Party urged Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds to return campaign contributions from the SEIU, one of the biggest financial backers of Democratic candidates. Deeds received a total of $200,000 from the SEIU in 2009, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, which tracks campaign contributions in the state.

"The close, almost symbiotic, relationship that SEIU and Acorn have call into question the propriety of being so closely involved with this union," said Tim Murtaugh, spokesman for the Virginia GOP. A spokesman for Deeds couldn't be reached for immediate comment.

Michelle Ringuette, an SEIU spokeswoman, said the union had suspended all organizing work with Acorn, pending a review of the organization. She said Republicans are engaged in a "smear" campaign against the union. - FOX News

More Questions about Obama's Czar's

WASHINGTON — A liberal Democratic senator questioned the roles of Obama administration policy "czars" Tuesday, but the White House denied it is using these officials to evade congressional scrutiny.

Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., said Congress needs to know whether some of the czars make policy but have no obligation to submit to congressional questioning.

While the Obama administration is hardly the first to name high-level advisers to handle issues like health care and climate change, Feingold said, "It's not good enough to simply say, 'Well, George Bush did it too.'"

Prior to a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing that featured academic experts, Feingold released a letter from White House counsel Gregory Craig that defended the officials.

Craig said some presidents have used such special advisers, or czars, to undermine Congress, but "that is simply not the case in the current administration."

Feingold also was critical of the administration for declining to send a witness to the hearing.

"The White House decided not to accept my invitation ... to explain its position on the constitutional issues we will address today," Feingold said, referring to the Senate's role in confirming top officials.

"That's unfortunate. It's also a bit ironic since one of the concerns that has been raised about these officials is that they will thwart congressional oversight of the executive branch."

Craig's letter broke down the roles of 18 officials questioned by members of Congress.

Eight are in federal agencies whose employees testify regularly before Congress. This group includes Richard Holbrooke, the Afghanistan czar and Ron Bloom, the car czar.

Four more are in the National Security Council, individuals who have no independent authority and whose sole function is to advise the president.

Another four are in the president's and vice president's offices and function as senior White House advisers on health, energy and environment, urban affairs and domestic violence. They are Lynn Rosenthal, domestic violence; Carol Browner, energy and environment; Adolfo Carrion Jr., urban affairs and Nancy-Ann DeParle, health.

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., said the administration has created doubt about its promise of transparency. However, neither Coburn nor Feingold would criticize any specific official.

It's not even clear what constitutes a czar.

"'Czar' is not an official government title of anybody; it is a vernacular of executive branch public administration," said Bradley Patterson, a hearing witness who has served on the White House staff under Republican presidents Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. - FOX News Story

Big Government Deficity, Obama Spending - Bad for America?

Most Americans -- 78 percent -- think the national debt is so large it is hurting the future of the country, including majorities of Democrats (64 percent), Republicans (92 percent) and independents (85 percent).

Moreover, nearly two-thirds (65 percent) think the Obama administration is proposing more government spending than Americans can afford. Some 29 percent disagree.

The political divide is striking: 90 percent of Republicans and 74 percent of independents think the Obama administration is proposing more spending than taxpayers can afford. Among Democrats, that number drops to 39 percent, while over half disagree (55 percent).

These are just some of the findings of the latest FOX News poll. - FOX News Story

Stimulus not Stimulating? More Job Losses

The nation's unemployment rate in September rose to 9.8 percent, its highest level since June 1983, as 263,000 jobs were cut from payrolls, the Labor Department announced Friday.

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Vice president addresses Sept. unemployment rate, which rose to 9.8 percent.

The 263,000 jobs lost during the month were far more than most economists had expected. The consensus forecast was that around 175,000 jobs had been shed in September.

"One job lost is one job too many," said Vice President Biden this morning, flanked by chair of the Council of Economic Advisors Christina Romer; OMB Director Peter Orszag; Director of the National Economic Council Larry Summers; and Executive Director of the Middle Class Task Force Jared Bernstein.

The vice president tried to project optimism that the Obama Administration's policies are having a positive effect on the economy.

"As bad as things are they would be far worse without the recovery plan," and other economic measures put in place this year, Biden said.

Biden used the word "bad" four times. "Today's bad news does not change my confidence in the fact that we are going to recovery," he said. - ABC News Story

I can remember not so long ago Obama and Biden touting the better than expected success of the Stimulus Package.

By the way, what kind of a dumb comment is it when you say that the "Today's bad news does not change my confidence in the fact that we are going to recovery,"? Of course it will recover! Eventually. That is like saying that even though today it is raining, the sun will shine!

WOW!!!! What a bunch of intelligent people we have running this Country!!!

Obama Fails to Deliver the Olympics

The International Olympic Committee picked Rio de Janeiro as the host city for the 2016 Olympic games, after booting out a bid by Chicago in the first round of voting despite personal appeals from the U.S. president and first lady.

Obama's hometown Chicago loses bid for 2016 in the first round.

With this win, Rio becomes the first South American city to host the Olympic games.

In what came as a shock to many and disappointment to the White House, Chicago got the least amount of votes and was eliminated in the first round. Tokyo was cut in the second round.

President Barack Obama and the first lady, who made a whirlwind trip to Copenhagen, Denmark, to bring the 2016 Olympic Games to Chicago, are still in the air and on their way back to Washington, D.C.

At Chicago's Daley Plaza, there was an audible gasp from the crowd when the news was announced. Even people in the press room in Copenhagen were visibly surprised. White House officials called the result "disappointing" but said the president will move on to other issues. - ABC News Story

McCain Furious with Obama Administration over General Testimony?

ABC News' Jonathan Karl reports: Sen John McCain, R-AZ, is furious that General Stanley McChrystal, US Commander in Afghanistan, has given a speech in London and appeared on ‘60 Minutes’ this week - but has not yet testified before Congress about the way forward in Afghanistan.

McCain’s furor is directed at the Obama Administration for not allowing McChyrstal and other top military officials to testify about the recommendations they are making for the way forward in Afghanistan.

In a thunderous speech on the Senate floor, McCain introduced an amendment to the Defense appropriations bill that would require McChrystal to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee before November 15. The amendment would also require testimony from CENTCOM commander General David Petraeus and Admiral James Stravridis, the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO.

“General McChrystal gave a speech in London just yesterday talking about what we needed to do,” McCain said. “So it's ok with the administration for General McChrystal to go on ‘60 Minutes,’ it's ok for him to give a speech at the Institute for Strategic Studies in London, but the administration does not want General McChrystal and General Petraeus before the Senate Armed Services Committee. How does that work?”

McCain hammered President Obama for talking to McChrystal only once during a 70-day period “although the President talks to labor leaders almost on a daily basis, pushing a health care agenda.”

“We need to hear from the architects and the commanders. Now, if the president doesn't want to talk to the commander in the field, General McChrystal, very often … the fact is that we as members of Congress, a coequal branch of government, also have a responsibility in this decision-making process. Now, I respect the president's role as Commander in Chief. I respect the President of the United States making a decision. But I also cherish the role of the United States Senate and House of Representatives in being informed as to the views of our military commanders in whom we place the responsibilities and the lives of our young men and women who are in harm's way,” McCain said. - ABC News Story

Semate Increases It's Own Budget

The Senate voted this afternoon to boost its own budget, in spite of cries of protest from a couple Republicans on the chamber floor that the budget increase would be irresponsible and inappropriate in the current economy.

By a vote of 62 to 38, the Senate voted to approve a legislative appropriations bill. The House passed the bill last week by a vote of 217 to 190 with only five Republicans supporting it. President Obama is expected to sign it shortly.

A measure included in the bill will increase Congress's annual budget by 5.8 percent to $4.7 billion. The bill also includes, however, a stopgag resolution Congress needed to pass to keep the government funded through October. With the fiscal year ending today, the federal government would have effectively shut down for a month if the resolution had not passed.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) took to the Senate floor to protest the new funding included in the measure, which is detailed in Politico. It includes, among other things, $500,000 for a pilot program for senators to send postcards to inform constituents about their town hall meetings.

"Is there any member of the Senate that needs to send out a postcard to tell our constituents that we're having a town hall meeting? Really?" McCain asked with incredulity. - CBS News Story