week in Review 7/24/10

Deficit Debacle; Obama Debt Commission Struggling to Achieve Consensus

President Obama has repeatedly promised to tackle the long-term structural deficit of this country, but when? Even his debt commission is at odds over whether it would be better to chip away at the deficit in earnest while the economy remains in such a delicate state, or after stability takes hold.

On Thursday, Mr. Obama signed a bill intended to stem government bloat by reducing federal government waste, fraud and abuse by $50 billion between now and 2012. “We have to challenge a status quo that accepts billions of dollars in waste as the cost of doing business,” the president proclaimed at the White House event.

With a report from the president’s Bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform not due until December, public comments from its members have yet to reveal a consensus view over how to proceed with deficit reduction. Sparing no frankness, Commission Co-chair and former Republican Senator Alan Simpson said recently that the group is comprised of “good people of deep, deep difference, knowing the possibility of the odds of success are rather harrowing to say the least.” Read more.

N. Korea Threatens ‘Physical Response’ to U.S. Drills; Clinton Blasts ‘Belligerent’ Acts

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — North Korea on Friday threatened the United States and South Korea with a “physical response” to planned weekend naval exercises as tensions with the communist nation rose in the aftermath of the sinking of a South Korean warship blamed on the North.

In Vietnam for a Southeast Asian regional security forum, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and a North Korean official traded barbs over the ship incident, the upcoming military drills and the imposition of new U.S. sanctions against the North.

The spokesman for the North Korean delegation to the talks, Ri Tong Il, repeated Pyongyang’s denial of responsibility for the March sinking of the ship that killed 46 South Korean sailors and said the upcoming military drills were a violation of its sovereignty that harkened back to the days of 19th-century “gunboat diplomacy.” Read more.

President Obama, White House react to ‘cable chatter’

President Barack Obama has made a mantra out of insisting he and his White House won’t get caught up in “cable chatter,” with aides proudly insisting they don’t let 24-hour news outlets drive decision-making.

But this week’s forced resignation of a previously obscure Agriculture Department employee is just the latest example of Obama officials reacting to a cable news-driven obsession of the right.

It not only infuriates Obama’s liberal base, which feels like the episodes just reinforce the power of the right to push a damaging story into the mainstream press. But as this week shows, the White House’s touchiness even threatens Obama’s ability to keep control of his own public persona, or steer the national conversation in a way that’s conducive to promoting his message and his agenda. Read more.

10 nations join Mexican opposition to Arizona law, politician says

(CNN) — Mexico has received the support of parliamentary leaders from 10 nations in opposition to Arizona’s controversial new immigration law, the Mexican Senate president said Wednesday.

Mexico and the other nations signed a declaration expressing their “strong condemnation and profound rejection of the law,” said Senate President Carlos Navarrete Ruiz.

The Arizona law, which is scheduled to go into effect later this month, requires anyone being investigated by police for a possible crime to provide proof of legal residency.

Opponents say the measure is discriminatory and invites racial profiling, but supporters say it’s necessary to curb the flood of illegal immigrants in the border state. Read more.

Climate bill on the ropes

The Senate climate bill has been at death’s door several times over the past year. But with the days before the August recess quickly slipping away, the case may truly be terminal now.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has wanted to introduce a sweeping energy and climate bill by next week, and Reid even told POLITICO on Monday night that the package was almost ready to go.

But by Tuesday afternoon, Reid was noncommittal about when a bill would come or what it would contain.

“We’re going to make a decision in the near future,” Reid said, describing plans for a Democratic caucus on the issue Thursday. “We’re really not at a point where I can determine what I think is the best for the caucus and the country at this stage.” Read more.

Republicans See Path to Control of Senate

WASHINGTON—Democrats for the first time are acknowledging that Republicans could retake the Senate this November if everything falls into place for the GOP, less than two years after Democrats held a daunting 60-seat majority.

Leaders of both parties have believed for months that Republicans could win the House, where every lawmaker faces re-election. But a change of party control in the Senate, where only a third of the members are running and Republicans must capture 10 seats, seemed out of the question. Read More.

GOP senators: Obama failing in oil clean-up

Just days after BP temporarily plugged the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, Senate Republicans on Sunday lashed out at the Obama administration for failing to clean up America’s soiled shoreline.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told CNN’s “State of the Union” that the administration was suffering from incompetence.

“This is mainly a failure of the administration,” McConnell said. “BP caused the spill. It’s BP’s responsibility to plug that leak. The federal government has been trying to keep the oil off the shores of the United States. It took the administration 70 days to order [oil-collecting] skimmers down to the Gulf.” Read more.

Week in Review 7/2/10

God Bless This Great Nation

National debt soars to highest level since WWII

The federal debt will represent 62% of the nation’s economy by the end of this year, the highest percentage since just after World War II, according to a long-term budget outlook released today by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

For more detail on the report, check out this post in USA TODAY’s The Oval.

Republicans, who have been talking a lot about the debt in recent months, pounced on the report. “The driver of this debt is spending,” said New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg, the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee. “Our existing debt will be worsened by the president’s new health care entitlement programs…as well as an explosion in existing health care and retirement entitlement spending as the Baby Boomers retire.” Read more.

Son of Hamas Founder Granted Asylum in U.S.

Mosab Hassan was more shocked than anyone when a Department of Homeland Security official announced in immigration court today that government officials had changed their mind about him.

Yesterday they saw him as a “threat to U.S. national security.” Today they say he’s welcome to stay in the United States and become a citizen.

Why the change of heart? DHS officials won’t say, but public pressure, Congressional support for Hassan and the word of an Israeli intelligence agent likely all played a part.

Mosab Hassan was born in the West Bank, the son of one of the leaders and founders of Hamas, the Palestinian militant group considered a terrorist organization by the US. Read more.

Burr-Chambliss bill diversifies energy, avoids cap and trade

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Richard Burr and a Republican colleague have introduced energy legislation they say would help the United States diversify its energy portfolio without the political hurdle of a cap-and-trade system.

The bill would provide a bevy of tax credits and taxpayer-financed support for nuclear plants, electric vehicles, natural gas vehicles and a variety of renewable energy sources.

Unlike the Senate’s better-known energy legislation, though, this bill contains nothing about global warming.

“It’s not a climate bill. It’s not a carbon bill,” Burr said in an interview. “But implemented, it would probably have a bigger impact on the reduction of emissions than the Kerry/Lieberman bill.” Read more.

EDITORIAL: Robbing Peter to pay Paul’s health care

Obamacare is a socialist law designed to take money from some Americans and use it to benefit others. The health care bill signed into law by President Obama is full of hidden time bombs. One costly provision buried in the lengthy reconciliation bill at the last minute has taxpayers covering long-term at-home care for the elderly. Through the so-called Community Living Assistance Services and Support Act (CLASS Act), Americans will find between $150 and $250 taken out of their paychecks each month to cover this program nobody knew about.

Democrats claim this isn’t a controversial program, but if they really believed that, they wouldn’t have had to sneak the provision into the reconciliation bill. But it was snuck in the reconciliation bill only two days before the House vote. Read more.

The Secret Agent Brouhaha

According to mainstream media and the FBI, a major Russian spy ring has been exposed and the members arrested. The suspects are believed to have buried stashes of money and exchanged secret messages in invisible ink, swapped bags in passing at a train station, and used Wi-Fi technology as they openly learned about U.S. policy and sought out confidential information. The tabloids were also given the priceless gift of a young, dashing Russian woman who would make the Bond girls of the movies green with envy. This story is simply bizarre, but it is also banal.

Again, Hollywood and memories of the Cold War have collided. However, it will most likely stop there. Until more information is released, it should be expected that both Russia and the United States will hope this story fades away quickly—both countries have more important things to work on together. Read more.

What did Hoover, Truman, and Eisenhower have in common?

Here is something that should be of great interest for you. Back during The Great Depression, President Herbert Hoover ordered the deportation of ALL illegal aliens in order to make jobs available to American citizens that desperately needed work..

Harry Truman deported over two million Illegal’s after WWII to create jobs for returning veterans.

And then again in 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower deported 13 million Mexican Nationals! The program was called ‘Operation Wetback’. It was done so WWII and Korean Veterans would have a better chance at jobs.

It took 2 Years, but they deported them!

Now…if they could deport the illegal’s back then – they could sure do it today. Read more.

Concerns Over Kagan’s Immigration Views Add to Debate Ahead of Hearing

House Republicans want the Senate to grill Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan on her involvement in a federal challenge to an Arizona immigration law, adding a new layer of questioning into the mix with Kagan’s hearing set to begin Monday.

The immigration issue would be one of several concerns that have developed among Kagan’s critics in recent weeks. Though her nomination has been overshadowed in Washington by other issues ranging from the BP oil spill to the Afghanistan command shake-up, Republicans are looking to throw up hurdles next week to Kagan’s confirmation. She may not be the most controversial nominee, but she’s still got questions to answer and Republicans are not taking a filibuster off the table.

Fourteen Republican representatives on Thursday wrote to the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Jeff Sessions, urging him to press Kagan on her role in the administration’s Supreme Court filing in May challenging a 2007 Arizona law. The law gives the state the right to suspend business licenses of employers hiring illegal immigrants. Read more.

week in Review 6/26/10

Immigration back on front burner due to Ariz. law

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — With the scrawl of a pen, GOP Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona awakened the dormant but explosive issue of illegal immigration, sending shock waves across the political spectrum in an election year when both parties had hoped to sidestep the topic.

Two months after Brewer signed a law instructing police to demand proof of a questionable person’s legal status, voters have refocused on a topic that had faded into the background after Congress failed to overhaul the immigration system in 2007.

Protests have flared. Lawsuits have followed. Arizona boycotts are under way. More than 20 states are discussing similar efforts. Read more.

EXCLUSIVE: AWOL Afghans Found … on Facebook

At least 11 of the 17 members of the Afghan military who went AWOL from an Air Force base in Texas and are considered deserters by their nation have turned up in the exact place you’d expect to find them in the year 2010.

They’re on Facebook.

And, by the look of things, they’re not unlike millions of other young men on the social networking site. One proclaims to be a fan of Paris Hilton and is a member of a group named “FREE Webcam Sex with ME!” Another is a fan of hip hop music, Michael Jackson, the tearjerker movie The Notebook, Family Guy and Sports Center. Another is a fan of soccer and the Godfather. Read more.

Senate Republicans Defeat Jobless Aid Measure Over Deficit Fears

The Senate has failed to reach an agreement to extend weekly jobless benefits, leaving more than a million out-of-work Americans without anunemployment check by week’s end.

The 57-41 loss was a major blow for President Obama and Democrats. They needed three more votes — for a total of 60 — to stop a GOP filibuster.

The rejected bill would also have provided billions of dollars in new aid, protecting the jobs of tens of thousands of state and local government workers as the country begins to emerge from the worst recession in seven decades. Read more.

Alternative Energy Partners (AEGY) CEO Calls for Obama to Take Charge of Climate Bill

“We need to hold British Petroleum responsible for its reckless actions in the Gulf. But to truly solve the problems caused by our dependence on fossil fuels, we must as a nation transition to clean, renewable energy sources. There are so many practical and affordable options; we need strength in leadership to guide the market.

“Yesterday, leading Democratic Senators asked President Obama to take charge of the climate control bill to ensure it passes with strong clean energy provisions. We join the Senators in urging the President to use his influence to advance the legislation quickly and to get the job done. Read more.

McChrystal resigns, but problems persist in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s decision to accept Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s resignation and draft his superior, Gen. David Petraeus, to lead the war in Afghanistan eliminates a source of friction, but it doesn’t address the problems plaguing U.S. policy there.

The change in command, Obama made clear Wednesday, is a change in personnel, not in a policy that’s hampered by, among other things:

The absence of a political strategy.

Rising U.S. casualties.

Growing ethnic tensions.

Endemic political corruption.

The administration’s July 2011 deadline for beginning a troop withdrawal.

A stalled offensive in the country’s second-largest city. Read more.

Ill. official who dealt with Emanuel to testify, IL

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Former Governor Rod Blagojevich’s top aide asked Rahm Emanuel for help in 2006.

Bradley Tusk was Blagojevich’s deputy governor when he asked Emanuel to write a letter to a newspaper defending Blagojevich.

Emanuel is now President Barack Obama’s chief of staff. In 2006, he was an Illinois congressman and political ally of the governor now on trial for political corruption.

Emanuel’s staff asked for Tusk’s help in releasing a state grant on the same day Tusk asked for his favor.

Tusk testified Monday in Blagojevich’s corruption trial about an alleged extortion attempt by Blagojevich involving the grant.

Tusk told The Associated Press after court he didn’t remember the letter to the newspaper.

The White House didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Election-year deficit fears stall Obama stimulus plan

Barely a week after President Obama tried to re-energize his push for more spending on the economy, his agenda is stalled on Capitol Hill, mired in election-year anxiety about the deficit.

Congress has delivered only about a quarter of the $266 billion in “temporary recovery measures” the president sought in his February budget request and ignored much of the rest. There is unlikely to be another “recovery” check for Social Security recipients. Come December, Obama’s “Making Work Pay” tax credit — the signature initiative he regularly touts as a tax cut for 95 percent of Americans — will probably be gone. Read more.

week in Review 6/12/10

Let Freedom Ring

Ronald Reagan’s Responds to Obama’s Campaign Promises

Senators criticize Geithner over stance on China’s currency

WASHINGTON — Democratic and Republican senators alike pilloried Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Thursday for refusing to label China a currency manipulator and for ignoring a congressional mandate to issue a report on China’s exchange-rate practices.

Few issues spark bipartisan agreement in Congress like criticism of administrations for refusing to get tough with China over its fixed exchange rate. Critics charge that China sets the yuan at an unfairly low rate against the U.S. dollar, making American products more expensive in China and Chinese products cheaper here, exacerbating the U.S. trade deficit and holding down U.S. export-driven jobs.

“I’m not sure what this administration’s policy is … and I don’t see a China economic framework,” complained Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., adding that federal agencies lack a cohesive strategy for dealing with China. Read more.

A Message from Ronald Reagan

Dems ask Alvin Greene to pull out of U.S. Senate race

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A day after an unemployed veteran charged with a felony shocked S.C. Democrats by winning the U.S. Senate primary, party officials were still scratching their heads: What happened?

Alvin Greene, 32, didn’t raise any money. He didn’t have a website. And his opponent was a better-known former legislator, Vic Rawl, who was already preparing for the general election.

Greene was considered such a long shot that his opponent and media didn’t even bother to check his background. If they had, they would have discovered he faces a felony obscenity charge after an alleged encounter with a college student last fall. Read more.

Palin’s backing pays off for pals

Some of Sarah Palin’s riskiest endorsements scored major victories Tuesday for the former Alaska governor, showing off her power in Republican primaries.

Palin had four primary endorsements in play – Carly Fiorina, Nikki Haley, Terry Branstad and Cecile Bledsoe – and three won or moved on to a runoff.

Palin served different roles for each candidate – sometimes spotlighting conservatives not well known to the national scene while at others validating conservative credentials to an unsure grassroots and even stepping in to deflect nasty attacks.

Perhaps Palin’s most powerful demonstration came in South Carolina, where her endorsement propelled a major swing in the polls for Haley’s primary campaign for governor and sustained the state representative through accusations of two separate affairs. Read more.

Banking System Collapse: Wake Up America Your Banks Are Dying

U.S. banks are being shut down by federal regulators at a staggering pace this year, and yet most Americans seem completely oblivious to it. In fact, federal officials have already shut down 81 U.S. banks this year, which is about double the number that were shut down at this time last year. So why aren’t more people upset about this?

Well, part of the reason is because the FDIC is doing it very, very quietly. The bank closings for each week are announced every Friday, which means that they pass through the news cycle over the weekend almost unnoticed. For example, banks in Nebraska, Mississippi and Illinois with total deposits of almost $2.3 billion were shut down by federal regulators on Friday. So did you hear about it before now? If not, why not? Shouldn’t the fact that we are experiencing a banking system collapse be headline news? But most Americans are more than happy to remain blissfully ignorant of what is going on. Read more.

Obama Tells Graduating Class, ‘Don’t Make Excuses,’ Drawing GOP Taunts

Don’t point fingers. Don’t make excuses. Don’t pass the buck.

That was the advice President Obama gave to a graduating high school class in Michigan Monday night — advice that sent off an irony alert among Republicans who accuse the president of having “spent his tenure” doing exactly that.

Obama offered his guidance during the commencement speech at Kalamazoo Central High School.

“Don’t make excuses. Take responsibility not just for your successes, but for your failures as well,” he told the graduates. “The truth is, no matter how hard you work, you won’t necessarily ace every class or succeed in every job. There will be times when you screw up, when you hurt the people you love, when you stray from your most deeply held values. Read more.

America’s Election HQ: Primary Races in 11 States Make for Busy Election Day Across Nation

Another round of key primaries will be held on Tuesday and incumbents are finding their seats challenged by political newcomers as well as local and state candidates in a political season marked by an anti-Washington mood.

Eleven states are holding primary contests Tuesday.

Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln faces off against Lt. Gov. Bill Halter in a Democratic primary runoff, while in Nevada Harry Reid will finally get an opponent in the Republican race to challenge the Senate majority leader.

California Sen. Barbara Boxer, who is potentially endangered, will learn her challenger as voters in the state also decide who will win the Democratic and Republican nominations for the seat being vacated by term-limited two-term Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Read more.

First victim of health care overhaul?

A Virginia-based insurance company says “considerable uncertainties” created by the Democrats’ health care overhaul will force it to close its doors by the end of the year.

The firm, nHealth, appears to be the first to claim that the new law has driven it out of business. “We don’t know what the rules are going to be and, as a start-up, our investors need certainty,” nHealth CEO and president, Paul Kitchen, told POLITICO. “The law created so much uncertainty that is beyond our control.”

In a letter to the company’s 50 or so employees last week, executive vice president James Slabaugh said nHealth has stopped accepting new group customers and will terminate all business by Dec. 31, 2010.

“The uncertainties in the regulatory climate coupled with new demands imposed by national healthcare reforms have made it challenging to sustain the level of sales required to remain viable over the long run,” Slabaugh wrote. Read more.

Timing of probe is crucial for Charlie Rangel

With the investigation of Rep. Charles Rangel nearing its second anniversary, the New York Democrat and the House ethics committee face a new challenge — the political calendar.

Rangel, a member of Congress since 1971, filed for reelection Sunday, and the Democratic primary in New York is Sept. 14.

If the ethics committee releases a damaging report on Rangel before the Sept. 14 primary, it could be a death blow to the Harlem congressman’s storied career and open the door to a serious Democratic challenge, Democratic colleagues and party strategists said.

But if the ethics committee’s findings come out after the primary, Rangel will very likely survive and win a 21st term in the House. Still, that timing would raise questions about the ethics committee’s process and whether the investigative panel was too aware of the political calendar. Read more.

Buying the lie: ‘Something for nothing’

I suppose it was just plain greed that got us to this point.

Isn’t that one of the Seven Deadly Sins? So maybe we should not be surprised to see the country brought to its knees by avarice.

But it’s not the “greedy” bankers and industrialists whom we have to blame. Remember, it’s the bankers and industrialists who create the jobs that give the rest of us an opportunity to make something of ourselves in the first place. Sure, some of them will earn their place in hell, but those few people could not bring down the whole country.

For that, we must blame ourselves. Read more.

Five economic clues to 2010 election

Yet again, it’s the economy, stupid.

Political observers of every stripe agree it will be the deciding factor in November’s midterm elections. And between now and Election Day, there will be key milestones to measure just where the economy is heading — and perhaps more importantly, where voters think it is heading.

Here are five indicators that campaign strategists will be watching for:

1. August jobs report

The government’s monthly jobs reports have become the single most important proxy to measure the economic health of the nation and the political health of the Obama administration, with a significant portion of political Washington glued to computer screens at 8:30 a.m. on the first Friday of each month, waiting for the results.

Friday’s number, for example showed that the U.S. economy generated 431,000 jobs, a number that fell short of analysts’ expectations and cast doubt on whether the country is steadily digging itself out of a deep unemployment. Voters will also keep an eye on the unemployment rate, which ticked down to 9.7 percent in May, and they will be looking for signs of progress. Read more.

Week in Review 6/5/10

Without any boundaries, we live in chaos

It’s time to wake up America, and smell the coffee before we become toast! The question, “Is it morning for America, or has our day in the sun passed?” has often been asked.

Well, there is no doubt that dark days have descended on this republic. When President Barrack Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano demean, defame and ridicule the duly elected legislature, the governor, and the people of Arizona for protecting their property, we are indeed in trouble.

All admit they have not read the law. Well, why not apply the government program adopted to encourage children to read, to the executive branch? Read more.

Wake up, America

You might think that Europe’s economic turmoil would inject a note of urgency into America’s budget debate. After all, high government deficits and debt are the roots of Europe’s problems, and these same problems afflict the United States. But no. Most Americans, starting with the nation’s political leaders, dismiss what’s happening in Europe as a continental drama with little relevance to them.

What Americans resolutely avoid is a realistic debate about the desirable role of government. How big should it be? Should it favor the old or the young? Will social spending crowd out defense spending? Will larger government dampen economic growth through higher deficits or taxes? No one engages this debate, because if rigorously conducted, it would disappoint both liberals and conservatives.

Confronted with huge spending increases — reflecting an aging population and soaring health costs — liberals would have to concede that benefits and spending ought to be reduced. Seeing that total government spending would rise even after these cuts (more people would receive benefits, even if benefit levels fell), conservatives would have to concede the need for higher taxes. On both left and right, true believers would howl. Read more.

Right, Left Pan Obama Border Plan

Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) said Sunday that President Barack Obama has so far lacked the “political will” and “political courage” to resolve the contentious issue of illegal immigration.

The liberal Chicago congressman and conservative former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, running for the Republican Senate nomination in Arizona, seemed to agree on one thing, though for very different reasons, in a joint interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press:” The president’s plan to send as many as 1,200 National Guard troops to the Arizona border is more political than practical.

For Hayworth, the troop level is too low to keep illegal immigrants out of the country. For Gutierrez, sending troops to the border is an easy political act that ignores significant questions of what to do with immigrants currently in the country illegally. Read more.

Issa: Explanation of Sestak Deal Is Bad Cover-Up of Crime

A California congressman who called it an “impeachable” offense for the administration to offer Rep. Joe Sestak a job in exchange for his quitting a Senate bid said Sunday the cover-up, as usual, appears worse than the crime.

Republican Rep. Darrell Issa said the explanation for the Sestak affair — that former President Bill Clinton offered the Democratic congressman an unpaid position on an advisory board if he would drop his challenge against party-switching Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter — is not plausible because as a sitting congressman Sestak couldn’t have served on a presidential commission.

“It’s a crime because they’ve admitted that they offered this position … So that begs the real question. Do we believe this is a further cover-up because he’s — they’re now talking about a job that President Clinton himself should have known Sestak couldn’t take? ” he said. Read more.

Netanyahu cancels White House visit

CHICAGO — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cancelled a scheduled meeting with President Barack Obama Tuesday in the wake of Israeli military action to block a flotilla bringing aid to the Gaza Strip. At least 10 people were killed in the attack.

The incident underscores how tenuous and difficult Middle East peace negotiations have been for Obama. It follows a long stretch of mounting tensions between the United States and Israel that had just begun to deescalate as the White House, under fire for taking a hard line with the Israelis, had moved to mend relations.

Obama spoke to Netanyahu by phone between 11 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. Eastern on Monday. Obama “said he understood the Prime Minister’s decision to return immediately to Israel to deal with today’s events. They agreed to reschedule their meeting at the first opportunity,” the White House said in a statement. Read more.

GOP sees a way to revive old debate

President Barack Obama spent the last year insisting he doesn’t want to turn the American health care system into a carbon copy of the government-run British system.

But Obama’s pick to run Medicaid and Medicare — Donald Berwick — is a pediatrician and Harvard University professor with a self-professed “love” of the British system.

Berwick has called Britain’s National Health Service “one of the greatest health care institutions in human history” and “a global treasure.” He once said it sets an “example” for the United States to follow. And his decadelong efforts to improve the NHS were so well-regarded that Queen Elizabeth granted him an honorary knighthood in 2005.

Now Senate Republicans are vowing to press their case against Obama’s sweeping new health care law by challenging Berwick’s nomination — just in time to resurrect the brutal yearlong health reform battle ahead of the midterm elections. Read more.

Brewer Says She’s Ready for Potential Federal Court Challenge Over Immigration Law

Bring it on.

That’s the attitude Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer is taking toward the possibility that the Obama administration could file a legal challenge to her state’s immigration law.

“We’ll meet you in court,” she said in an interview Tuesday. “I have a pretty good record of winning in court.”

Attorney General Eric Holder has said the Department of Justice may challenge the law, which President Obama has called “misguided.” Brewer has staunchly defended the policy — which makes illegal immigration a state crime — and is expected to meet with the president Thursday, a White House official told FoxNews.com. Read more.

Anti-incumbency takes down another congressman

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) – The political shooting-star otherwise known as anti-incumbency fell on Alabama, taking down a first-term congressman who switched from Democrat to Republican just last December.

The hotly-contested health care overhaul was among the issues working against Rep. Parker Griffith, voted out by Republicans Tuesday in the 5th Congressional District in favor of Madison County Commissioner Mo Brooks. With tea party support and the backing of local GOP leaders still bitter about losing to Griffith in 2008, Brooks won Tuesday’s primary with slightly more than 50 percent of the vote in a three-candidate field.

Griffith’s ouster came on a day in which Rep. Artur Davis lost his bid to become Alabama’s first black governor in the state’s Democratic primary and New Mexico’s gubernatorial primary set up a general election to decide who becomes the state’s first female governor. Read more.

US defense chief blames Chinese military for lack of progress in improving ties to US

Singapore (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says China’s military isn’t as interested in developing a better relationship with the United States as its political leaders are.

Gates says he is disappointed that China disinvited him for a proposed visit that he had hoped would signal stronger ties between the U.S. and Chinese militaries.

Gates is in Singapore for three days of security talks with Asian powers. He had hoped to visit China afterward.

Gates says establishing better ties between the militaries could provide clarity and confidence for both sides. He says the U.S.-Chinese military relationship lags behind the political and economic ones.

In a speech this weekend, Gates will tell other Asian powers that the U.S. and China cannot afford to be in the dark about one another’s intentions.

Carville doesn’t regret ripping W.H.

James Carville walked into one of his favorite New Orleans eateries, Eleven 79, Tuesday night — and was stunned to find BP CEO Tony Hayward and Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the two men tasked with stopping the Gulf spill, eating dinner together.

Hayward, looking up from his Gulf shrimp and pasta, wasted no time defending his embattled and vilified company — to the rail-thin Democratic operative who has come to embody the growing popular disgust at BP and the federal government.

“You’ve said some harsh things,” Hayward said, according to Carville, who sat with the pair for about 30 minutes — the time it took the Louisiana-born Democratic consultant to polish off a Maker’s Mark. Read more.

BP’s Shaky Financial Condition Spurs Talk of U.S. Takeover

Each day oil continues to spew into the Gulf of Mexico, investors are shaving billions of dollars off of BP’s value and raising the uncomfortable prospect of the British oil giant collapsing into the arms of the U.S. government as Wall Street and the auto industry did.

A grassroots campaign called Seize BP is protesting in more than 50 cities from Thursday through Saturday. And a former labor secretary has urged President Obama to take over BP, at least temporarily, until the oil spill is stopped.

Analysts said it appeared unlikely that the U.S. could or, if even possible, would take over BP in the event of its demise but didn’t rule out the possibility.

James Gattuso, a senior research fellow in regulatory policy at the conservative Heritage Foundation, told FoxNews.com that it is more likely that a British bankruptcy court would put BP into receivership and continue the cleanup efforts. Read more.

US National Deficit Hits $13 Trillion

So just how big is the U.S. national debt in 2010? Well, according to the U.S. Treasury Department, on June 1st, the U.S. National Debt was $13,050,826,460,886.97. For those not used to seeing such big numbers, that is over 13 trillion dollars. To give you an idea of just how much a trillion dollars is, if you had started spending one million dollars every single day when Christ was born, you still would not have spent one trillion dollars by now. And yet somehow the U.S. government has accumulated a debt of over 13 trillion dollars. This is a debt that we have callously placed on the backs of future generations of Americans. Somehow we have the gall to expect our progeny to pay off the biggest mountain of debt in the history of the world. What we have done to future generations is beyond sickening.

But hey, if you are feeling especially generous today, the federal government is actually taking online donations that will go towards paying off the national debt. Read more.