Jonathan Alter, Bloomberg
You can already hear the rumbling in the distance -- a train of noisy liberal Democrats barreling straight for the White House. They should arrive just in time for President Barack Obama's second inauguration.The president already has his hands full dealing with angry and unrealistic Republicans. Now he's getting reacquainted with their counterparts on the left -- a less ideologically inflexible bunch but not necessarily any more susceptible to reason.
House Passes Sandy Aid
On January - 4 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
The House of Representatives passed $9.7 billion in aid for Hurricane Sandy victims by a 354-67 vote on Friday. All no votes came from Republicans. The Senate is expected to pass the measure later Friday and send it to President Barack Obama.
Obama Signs Defense Bill Into Law
On January - 3 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
HONOLULU -- President Barack Obama has signed a $633 billion defense bill for next year that tightens penalties on Iran and bolsters security at diplomatic missions worldwide after the deadly attack in Benghazi, Libya.
Obama had threatened to veto the measure because of a number of concerns, including limits on his authority to transfer terrorist suspects from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for one year.
But Obama said that although he continued to oppose certain sections of the bill, "the need to renew critical defense authorities and funding was too great to ignore."
The bill includes cuts in defense spending that the president and congressional Republicans agreed to in August 2011, along with the end of the war in Iraq and the drawdown of American forces in Afghanistan.
Back To Hawaii!
On January - 2 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
WASHINGTON, Jan 1 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama departed the White House on Tuesday to resume his Hawaii vacation shortly after Congress approved legislation that raises taxes on the wealthiest Americans and avoids the "fiscal cliff" of across-the-board tax increases and spending cuts.
The president left the White House shortly before midnight. He had cut his vacation short on Wednesday to oversee negotiation of a deal before a year-end deadline.
Cantor Comes Out Against Fiscal Cliff Deal
On January - 1 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
WASHINGTON -- The No. 2 Republican in the House leadership says he opposes a Senate-passed measure to avert the so-called fiscal cliff.
Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor told reporters after a two-hour closed-door meeting Tuesday with his GOP lawmakers that he did not support the bill.
He said House leaders were looking for "the best path forward" and that no decisions had been made.
The Senate passed the measure early Tuesday by a sweeping 89-8 vote. House passage of the measure would send it to President Barack Obama for his signature. The bill would increase taxes on family income exceeding $450,000 and delay across-the-board spending cuts for two months.
House GOP leaders were considering amending the measure and sending it back to the Senate, but that step could produce a deadlock.
Bachmann Mounts Fight Against Obama Order
On January - 1 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
In what will more than likely be the last legislative action Michele Bachmann will make as a representative of the Stillwater area, the Sixth District Congresswoman on Monday introduced legislation that would rescind the portion of President Barack Obama’s executive order that gives members of Congress a pay raise.
Obama’s Lincoln Demurral Has a Hollow Ring
On December - 31 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Carl M. Cannon, RCP
David Gregory: "Is this your Lincoln moment?"President Obama. "Well, no. Look, (a) I never compare myself to Lincoln . . ."In perhaps his most famous skit, comedian George Carlin spoke about the "seven words you can never say on television." For presidents, there is an eighth -- a term also used by Carlin -- that can also be perilous: the word "never" itself.Not to put too fine a point on it, but the record shows that Barack Obama consciously emulates Lincoln, quotes Lincoln, misquotes Lincoln, and most definitely...
David Gregory: "Is this your Lincoln moment?"President Obama. "Well, no. Look, (a) I never compare myself to Lincoln . . ."In perhaps his most famous skit, comedian George Carlin spoke about the "seven words you can never say on television." For presidents, there is an eighth -- a term also used by Carlin -- that can also be perilous: the word "never" itself.Not to put too fine a point on it, but the record shows that Barack Obama consciously emulates Lincoln, quotes Lincoln, misquotes Lincoln, and most definitely...
Obama Urging Illinois Lawmakers To Legalize Gay Marriage
On December - 29 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
President Barack Obama is urging the Illinois General Assembly to legalize gay marriage in his home state as lawmakers are poised to take up the measure as early as this week in Springfield.
Do Democrats Want to Go Over the Cliff?
On December - 28 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Debra Saunders, SF Chronicle
Abandon all hope, ye who watch the "fiscal cliff" drama. There has been serious pressure on House Republicans to buckle and pass the extension of the Bush tax cuts for 98 percent of income tax filers demanded by President Barack Obama.I would have cried, "Uncle." Polls show that voters are predisposed to blame Republicans if Washington falls off the fiscal cliff. I don't see how House Repubs can withstand the onslaught likely to follow Jan. 1, when, thanks to past budget deals, income taxes rise on all workers. Voters might well perceive -- as per a Democratic talking...
Abandon all hope, ye who watch the "fiscal cliff" drama. There has been serious pressure on House Republicans to buckle and pass the extension of the Bush tax cuts for 98 percent of income tax filers demanded by President Barack Obama.I would have cried, "Uncle." Polls show that voters are predisposed to blame Republicans if Washington falls off the fiscal cliff. I don't see how House Repubs can withstand the onslaught likely to follow Jan. 1, when, thanks to past budget deals, income taxes rise on all workers. Voters might well perceive -- as per a Democratic talking...
The Collapse of Public Policy
On December - 26 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Daniel Henninger, Wall Street Journal
If you're looking for optimism as the world turns toward 2013, stay up late watching paid-for television explaining how to turn wrinkles into miracles. Past that, my own reservoir of uplift is a bit dry this year. A famous and successful American optimist, Ronald Reagan, put his finger closer to the problem when he suggested there was little limit to what people could accomplish if government would get out of the way. As Barack Obama flies from Hawaii's beaches to Washington's cliff, there may be four or five liberals who've come to agree with the Gipper. Indeed, a...
If you're looking for optimism as the world turns toward 2013, stay up late watching paid-for television explaining how to turn wrinkles into miracles. Past that, my own reservoir of uplift is a bit dry this year. A famous and successful American optimist, Ronald Reagan, put his finger closer to the problem when he suggested there was little limit to what people could accomplish if government would get out of the way. As Barack Obama flies from Hawaii's beaches to Washington's cliff, there may be four or five liberals who've come to agree with the Gipper. Indeed, a...
Here Comes the Cliff
On December - 24 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Michael Barone, Washington Examiner
Last week, Republicans proved they are not a governing party. Next week we will see whether Democrats are. A governing party would have, reluctantly, passed Speaker John Boehner's Plan B, which would have preserved the current tax rates on everyone with incomes under $1 million.Passage would have put Senate Democrats on the spot, since they voted for a similar measure in 2010. They might have engaged in negotiations with Boehner that could have been more productive than his negotiations with Barack Obama this month and in the summer of 2011.
Last week, Republicans proved they are not a governing party. Next week we will see whether Democrats are. A governing party would have, reluctantly, passed Speaker John Boehner's Plan B, which would have preserved the current tax rates on everyone with incomes under $1 million.Passage would have put Senate Democrats on the spot, since they voted for a similar measure in 2010. They might have engaged in negotiations with Boehner that could have been more productive than his negotiations with Barack Obama this month and in the summer of 2011.
Will Obama Delay ObamaCare?
On December - 20 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Ben Domenech, Orange County Register
As the fiscal cliff discussions in Washington move forward, don't be surprised if you soon hear about President Barack Obama requesting an extension on his signature legislative achievement. It turns out the Obama administration, already well behind schedule in implementing the president's namesake health care law, may want to delay its implementation even further.The cause is a bipartisan group of governors in more than 20 states who have declined to implement the state-based versions of insurance exchanges mandated by Obama's law. Instead, they'll leave that to the...
As the fiscal cliff discussions in Washington move forward, don't be surprised if you soon hear about President Barack Obama requesting an extension on his signature legislative achievement. It turns out the Obama administration, already well behind schedule in implementing the president's namesake health care law, may want to delay its implementation even further.The cause is a bipartisan group of governors in more than 20 states who have declined to implement the state-based versions of insurance exchanges mandated by Obama's law. Instead, they'll leave that to the...
Taxpayers lose more than $13 billion at GM’s current stock price
On December - 20 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Barack Obama saved General Motors with his words—and you paid for it with your money. The Obama administration said the government will sell 40% of its ownership, amounting to 200 million shares, back to GM, and will exit ownership by March 2014.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/12/20/Taxpayers-Take-Hit-On-GM-Buyback
Why Obama Might Be Willing to Go Over Cliff
On December - 13 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Michael Barone, Examiner
Is Barack Obama bluffing when he threatens to go over the fiscal cliff if Republicans refuse to agree to higher tax rates on high earners? Some analysts think so. Keith Hennessey, a former top staffer for the Bush White House and Senate Republicans and a veteran of budget negotiations, argues that Obama's whole second term would be blighted if he allows the fiscal cliff tax increases and sequestration budget cuts to take place next month.
Is Barack Obama bluffing when he threatens to go over the fiscal cliff if Republicans refuse to agree to higher tax rates on high earners? Some analysts think so. Keith Hennessey, a former top staffer for the Bush White House and Senate Republicans and a veteran of budget negotiations, argues that Obama's whole second term would be blighted if he allows the fiscal cliff tax increases and sequestration budget cuts to take place next month.
Now They Tell Us Libya Jihadis Got Our Weapons?
On December - 9 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Ed Morrissey, Hot Air
Oopsie! In what has to be one of the least-shocking outcomes of Barack Obama's Libyan adventure, the New York Times reports that his administration secretly gave approval of weapons shipments to Libyan resistance fighters, only to learn that the weapons ended up arming Islamist terror networks. Who could have seen that coming, right?The Obama administration secretly gave its blessing to arms shipments to Libyan rebels from Qatar last year, but American officials later grew alarmed as evidence grew that Qatar was turning some of the weapons over to Islamic militants, according to...
Oopsie! In what has to be one of the least-shocking outcomes of Barack Obama's Libyan adventure, the New York Times reports that his administration secretly gave approval of weapons shipments to Libyan resistance fighters, only to learn that the weapons ended up arming Islamist terror networks. Who could have seen that coming, right?The Obama administration secretly gave its blessing to arms shipments to Libyan rebels from Qatar last year, but American officials later grew alarmed as evidence grew that Qatar was turning some of the weapons over to Islamic militants, according to...
A Manufactured Crisis to Grow Government
On December - 6 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
George Will, Washington Post
Even Jonathan Swift, who said that promises and pie crusts are made to be broken, might have marveled at the limited shelf life of Barack Obama's promise of a "balanced" deficit-reduction plan "” substantial spending cuts to accompany revenue increases. Obama made short shrift of that promise when he demanded $1.6 trillion in immediate tax increases and mostly unspecified domestic cuts. He also promised to cut $800 billion from 10 years of war spending that will end in two years, which is like "cutting" $800 billion by deciding not...
Even Jonathan Swift, who said that promises and pie crusts are made to be broken, might have marveled at the limited shelf life of Barack Obama's promise of a "balanced" deficit-reduction plan "” substantial spending cuts to accompany revenue increases. Obama made short shrift of that promise when he demanded $1.6 trillion in immediate tax increases and mostly unspecified domestic cuts. He also promised to cut $800 billion from 10 years of war spending that will end in two years, which is like "cutting" $800 billion by deciding not...
The Only Answer Is to Cut Spending
On December - 4 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Doug Bandow, Forbes
The liberty of Americans is at risk when Congress is in session. Unfortunately, members have come back for a lame-duck session. Top of the agenda is dealing with the “fiscal cliff,” the impending expiration of tax cuts and imposition of automatic budget cuts. President Barack Obama wants to increase taxes as part of a deficit reduction package
The liberty of Americans is at risk when Congress is in session. Unfortunately, members have come back for a lame-duck session. Top of the agenda is dealing with the “fiscal cliff,” the impending expiration of tax cuts and imposition of automatic budget cuts. President Barack Obama wants to increase taxes as part of a deficit reduction package
President Obama Needs to Channel FDR
On December - 4 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
David Woolner, Salon
Go to home page Topics: Next New Deal, Barack Obama, Republicans, Republican Party, John Boehner, Politics News It has been well said that “the freest government, if it could exist, would not be long acceptable, if the tendency of the laws were to create a rapid accumulation of property in few hands,...
Go to home page Topics: Next New Deal, Barack Obama, Republicans, Republican Party, John Boehner, Politics News It has been well said that “the freest government, if it could exist, would not be long acceptable, if the tendency of the laws were to create a rapid accumulation of property in few hands,...
Ongoing Conservative Delusions
On December - 2 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Paul Waldman, The American Prospect
Some of them actually believe Romney never made a case for conservatism.There's a phenomenon I've long noticed among liberals dissatisfied with Barack Obama, whereby they'll say, "He's never said X!", with X being some kind of defense of liberal values or articulation of the liberal position on a particular issue. But if you look through his speeches and comments, you'll find that just about every time, he has in fact said whatever it is he's being blamed for never saying. Maybe he hasn't said it often enough for your liking, but the real problem...
Some of them actually believe Romney never made a case for conservatism.There's a phenomenon I've long noticed among liberals dissatisfied with Barack Obama, whereby they'll say, "He's never said X!", with X being some kind of defense of liberal values or articulation of the liberal position on a particular issue. But if you look through his speeches and comments, you'll find that just about every time, he has in fact said whatever it is he's being blamed for never saying. Maybe he hasn't said it often enough for your liking, but the real problem...
The Science Behind Those Obama E-Mails
On November - 30 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Joshua Green, Bloomberg BW
One fascination in a presidential race mostly bereft of intrigue was the strange, incessant, and weirdly overfamiliar e-mails that emanated from the Obama campaign. Anyone who shared an address with the campaign soon started receiving messages from Barack Obama with subject lines such as "Join me for dinner?" "It's officially over," "It doesn't have to be this way," or just "Wow." Jon Stewart mocked them on the Daily Show. The women's website the Hairpin likened them to notes from a stalker.But they worked. Most of the...
One fascination in a presidential race mostly bereft of intrigue was the strange, incessant, and weirdly overfamiliar e-mails that emanated from the Obama campaign. Anyone who shared an address with the campaign soon started receiving messages from Barack Obama with subject lines such as "Join me for dinner?" "It's officially over," "It doesn't have to be this way," or just "Wow." Jon Stewart mocked them on the Daily Show. The women's website the Hairpin likened them to notes from a stalker.But they worked. Most of the...
The Facts About Spending & Taxes
On November - 27 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Thomas Sowell, Investor's Business Daily
If everyone in America had read Stephen Moore's new book, "Who's The Fairest of Them All?", Barack Obama would have lost the election in a landslide.The point here is not to say, "Where was Stephen Moore when we needed him?" A more apt question might be, "Where was the whole economics profession when we needed them?" Where were the media? For that matter, where were the Republicans?
If everyone in America had read Stephen Moore's new book, "Who's The Fairest of Them All?", Barack Obama would have lost the election in a landslide.The point here is not to say, "Where was Stephen Moore when we needed him?" A more apt question might be, "Where was the whole economics profession when we needed them?" Where were the media? For that matter, where were the Republicans?
States Choose Own Paths
On November - 26 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Michael Barone, Washington Examiner
In Washington, Americans have two-party government, with a Democratic president and Senate and a Republican House. We had it before November's election and will have it again for the next two years.Looking back from 2014, we will have had two-party government for most of the preceding two decades, for six years of Bill Clinton's presidency, three and a half years of George W. Bush's and four years of Barack Obama's.But in most of the 50 states, American voters seem to have opted for something very much like one-party government.Starting next month, Americans in 25 states...
In Washington, Americans have two-party government, with a Democratic president and Senate and a Republican House. We had it before November's election and will have it again for the next two years.Looking back from 2014, we will have had two-party government for most of the preceding two decades, for six years of Bill Clinton's presidency, three and a half years of George W. Bush's and four years of Barack Obama's.But in most of the 50 states, American voters seem to have opted for something very much like one-party government.Starting next month, Americans in 25 states...
A Promotion for Misleading the Nation?
On November - 24 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Rich Lowry, National Review
By Rich Lowry - November 23, 2012U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice is set to go straight from misleading the country about a matter of national security to a promotion.A top candidate to replace Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, Rice famously purveyed erroneous information about the Benghazi terror attack on five Sunday shows a few days after the deadly incident.But, hey, these things happen. The conventional wisdom says Republicans should get over it and concentrate their energies on more useful pursuits like caving to President Barack Obama on taxes. We are supposed to believe that...
By Rich Lowry - November 23, 2012U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice is set to go straight from misleading the country about a matter of national security to a promotion.A top candidate to replace Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, Rice famously purveyed erroneous information about the Benghazi terror attack on five Sunday shows a few days after the deadly incident.But, hey, these things happen. The conventional wisdom says Republicans should get over it and concentrate their energies on more useful pursuits like caving to President Barack Obama on taxes. We are supposed to believe that...
Dems Should Give Thanks for Mitt Romney
On November - 23 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Alec MacGillis, New Republic
As Democrats gather for turkey or tofurkey in Brooklyn and Berkeley and, yes, even in Birmingham, they should offer thanks for Mitt Romney. Not just for being a clumsy candidate in a year when a more agile one might have knocked off Barack Obama—but for the broader benefit he served the Democratic Party as a powerful clarifying force.I touched on this after the nominating conventions, but it bears reinforcing now that the election is past. As Ramesh Ponnuru recently reminded us, for decades the Democrats'...
As Democrats gather for turkey or tofurkey in Brooklyn and Berkeley and, yes, even in Birmingham, they should offer thanks for Mitt Romney. Not just for being a clumsy candidate in a year when a more agile one might have knocked off Barack Obama—but for the broader benefit he served the Democratic Party as a powerful clarifying force.I touched on this after the nominating conventions, but it bears reinforcing now that the election is past. As Ramesh Ponnuru recently reminded us, for decades the Democrats'...
