Week in Review 04/24/10

Obama: Drop Bailout Fund

The Obama administration told Senate Democrats Friday to drop a proposed $50 billion fund designed to finance the liquidation of a big financial institution facing collapse, a victory for Senate Republicans opposed to government-supervised and government-funded corporate bailouts.

“The fund was not in our original proposal we announced almost a year ago and we don’t feel it is an essential part of final legislation,” a senior administration source told Fox. “The President will only sign a bill if it passes the test of putting an end to bailouts.”

President Obama also issued a veto threat on regulatory reform, saying he will reject legislation that “does not bring the derivatives market under control in some sort of regulatory framework.” Read more.

Gates Warns U.S. Lacks Strategy on Iran Nukes

WASHINGTON – A memo from Defense Secretary Robert Gates to the White House warned that the United States lacks a nimble long-term plan for dealing with Iran’s nuclear program, according to a published report.

Gates wrote the three-page memo in January and it set off efforts in the Pentagon, White House and intelligence agencies to come up with new options, including the use of the military, The New York Times said in its Sunday editions, quoting unnamed government officials.

White House officials Saturday night strongly disagreed with the comments that the memo caused a reconsideration of the administration’s approach to Iran. Read more.

Palin Taken Aback by Obama’s ‘Like It or Not’ Remark

Washington, Ill. (AP) – Sarah Palin criticized President Barack Obama on Saturday for saying America is a military superpower “whether we like it or not,” saying she was taken aback by his comment.

“I would hope that our leaders in Washington, D.C., understand we like to be a dominant superpower,” the former Alaska governor said. “I don’t understand a world view where we have to question whether we like it or not that America is powerful.”

Obama said earlier this week that the United States must do its best to resolve conflicts around the world before they grow too serious. Read more.

Ruffin Poole reaches plea deal

RALEIGH — Ruffin Poole, a longtime aide to former Gov. Mike Easley who is accused of 57 corruption counts, has reached a plea deal with prosecutors, court records say.

A hearing on the plea deal is set for 2 p.m. today before U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle.

The terms of the plea deal are not yet known.

Officials could not be reached or have declined to comment.

Boyle must accept the deal before it is considered final and, if past cases are an indication, he will question both side at today’s hearing.

The deal would avert a trial that was set to begin in just two weeks.

Perdue’s approval ratings slipping again

Gov. Bev Perdue’s approval ratings have tumbled backward after showing slight improvement during the first three months of the year, according to Public Policy Polling.

The Democratic polling firm found that 28 percent of those surveyed approve of the job Perdue is doing, while 52 percent disapprove. That’s down from a 32-47 split a month ago.

The anti-incumbent sentiment among voters remains strong, and Perdue, a Democrat, didn’t even break 50 percent approval within her own party: 44 percent of Democrats approve, while 33 percent disapprove.

“If Perdue’s numbers continue to be this poor, she’s likely to be a drag on Democratic legislative candidates this fall,” PPP Director Tom Jensen wrote.

The firm’s survey this month found voters preferring Republican legislative candidates 45 percent to 42 percent, thanks to a 47 percent-to-18 percent lead among independents.

OBAMA’S CZARS

Get to know the Czars who are making key decisions that affect your daily life and your future. Wake Up America! This is the backbone of our government who have not been elected, but self picked by Obama to “fundamentally change our Country.” These people are not for a free America, but a government run, socialistic redistribution of wealth. So far they run our banks, automotive industry, Healthcare, Wall Street, and Education. They are not going to stop until they takeover all of American industries. Read more.

2010 Primary Dates By State

Our Movement to rescue America from radical socialism and extreme liberalism starts with your votes. Here are the 2010 primary voting dates by state. Make sure you put these dates on your calendar and you are registered to vote. Then start to vote the liberals and socialists out of our Congress – Both State and Federal. See chart.

US and Europe rethink role of Cold War alliance

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is heading to a meeting of NATO ministers in Estonia at a time when the 61-year-old organization is suffering from a kind of mid-life crisis.

Almost 20 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the 28-member North Atlantic Treaty Organization is in the midst of an intense self-examination, trying to rethink its basic purpose.

NATO was founded to blunt the long-extinct threat of a Soviet invasion of Western Europe.

Now it finds itself divided on many fronts: doubts among some members about its combat mission in Afghanistan, unease with the continuing presence of U.S. nuclear weapons in Europe, prickly relations with Moscow and concerns about the wisdom of expanding NATO deeper into Russia’s backyard. Read more.

Illinois Democrat Pressures Obama to Tackle Immigration Legislation

Forget the Tea Parties. President Obama and Democratic leaders in Congress have another rebellion on their hands — led by a fellow Democrat from Obama’s homestate.

Illinois Rep. Luis Gutierrez is turning up the volume on his already piercing criticism of the Obama administration for failing to tackle immigration reform and is now threatening to rally Hispanics to stay home on Election Day.

Gutierrez took his criticism a step further Tuesday, holding a news conference on Capitol Hill with other Latino lawmakers to slam a bill making its way toward the governor’s desk in Arizona that would give state officials broad new powers to arrest people suspected of being illegal immigrants — a bill Gutierrez blames in part on Obama. Read more.

Middle age: Earth Day hits 40

Forty years ago, when Sen. Gaylord Nelson launched the first Earth Day, the United States was an environmental disaster area.

Air pollution was unchecked — cars and factories filled our skies with toxic smoke. The same was true of waterways. Lake Erie was so polluted it was declared dead. The oil-slicked Cuyahoga River in Cleveland had caught fire a year earlier. Vehicle fuel efficiency was a novel idea.

That year, Republican President Richard Nixon signed into law the Clean Air Act and the National Environmental Policy Act and approved the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, all sent to him by a Democratic-Congress. Two years later, he signed the Clean Water Act. Read more.

Poole pleads guilty to tax evasion, will cooperate

RALEIGH — Ruffin Poole, an aide to former Gov. Mike Easley, pleaded guilty to a single count of income tax evasion Monday, sparing himself a trial on 57 counts related to corruption.

As part of his plea agreement, Poole will cooperate with investigators, suggesting that federal prosecutors have their sights firmly set on higher ranking members of Easley’s administration, possibly Easley himself.

“I trust that Mr. Poole’s cooperation will be valuable,” said U.S. Attorney George Holding just after the hearing. “I can promise that we will use the information. We will follow the evidence to wherever this investigation leads.”

U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle accepted the plea, and said he will suspend further proceedings in the case until the federal government has concluded its investigation. Read more.

Brown thinks Palin qualified, backs Romney now

WASHINGTON (AP)– Sen. Scott Brown says he thinks former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is qualified to be president but right now he’s supporting former Gov. Mitt Romney for the 2012 Republican nomination.

As for his own ambitions, he say “absolutely in 2012″ he’s ruling out any run for the presidency. And in an NBC interview Friday, Brown said “I’m not even going to jump” at a question about whether he would seek the presidency later on.

Brown said, “I’ve been here three months … and I’m very focused on doing my job.” Asked if he regretted bolting the Republican caucus recently to support Democrats on a jobs bill, he said, “I don’t really care. .. I’m going to be the independent person I have always been.”

Lindsey Graham: Immigration would kill climate bill

A top Senate negotiator on climate change believes that a sudden turn by Senate Democrats to immigration could “destroy” any hope of a major climate and energy bill this year.

“This comes out of left field,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), after hearing that Democratic leaders may now push immigration reform ahead of a climate bill. “I’m working as earnestly as I can to craft climate and energy independence, clean air and jobs, and now we’re being told that we’re going to immigration. We haven’t done anything to prepare the body of the country for immigration.”

“This destroys the ability to do something on energy and climate,” he added, questioning whether the Senate could take up both immigration and climate before November. Read more.

S.B. 1070 Is Now State Law

After much heated discussion, following lengthy protests and in the wake of both national and local support and criticism; Gov. Jan Brewer signed S.B.1070 into law just moments ago, referring to the new law as “another step forward in protecting the state of Arizona.” Governor Brewer also stated that the bill was the state’s only choice given the federal government’s failure to secure the nation’s borders.

In contention with Arizona’s new law on Immigration Enforcement is the constitutionality of the measure. The bill includes the authority of local police departments to directly inquire about citizenship, while further enabling police officers to stop suspect illegals under “reasonable suspicion.” The problem this poses is a simple one. In Arizona the overwhelming majority of those in the state illegally are Mexican. The fear is people of Mexican heritage that are in the state legally will be stopped solely to assess their citizenship based on profiling practices. Many in opposition to the bill stand against it solely for this one reason. Gov. Jan Brewer stated she will be signing an executive order to provide training to officers to avoid civil rights violations stating, ”I will not tolerate racial discrimination or racial profiling in the state of Arizona,” She also emphasized an amendment in the bill that prevents law enforcement personnel from using race as the only reason to implement the law. It is important to note in the arguments opposing this bill, this amendment within the bill is never referred to. Read more.

Week in Review 01/23/10

After Rocky First Year, Geithner Faces Another Test in AIG Bailout Hearing

The Treasury secretary is back in the hot seat, for bailout decisions he made about AIG while he was head of the New York Federal Reserve — and it has created a firestorm that some critics hope will mark the end of his tenure. Timothy Geithner’s tenure as Treasury secretary got off to a rocky start, to say the least. There was the revelation during his Senate confirmation last year that he once failed to pay taxes. There were the questions surrounding his role at Freddie Mac during an accounting scandal. And later, there were the calls from some lawmakers for his resignation for what they deemed as a poor response to the U.S. economic crisis. Read more.

House Democrats don’t like Plan B

House Democrats privately worry that the rank-and-file would reject a doomsday strategy that requires them to approve the Senate health care bill if Republican Scott Brown wins in Massachusetts on Tuesday. “Progressives and conservatives in the caucus won’t go for it,” one aide predicted on Monday. But they may not have another choice if the party loses its critical 60th vote in the Senate. If Brown beats Democrat Martha Coakley in the special election to fill the seat recently occupied by the late-Ted Kennedy, one alternative has the House passing the bill the Senate approved just before Christmas last year, with a promise to make additional changes through the upcoming budget process. Read more.

Hunt urged Obama to put Wright behind him

A new documentary about Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in North Carolina discloses that former Gov. Jim Hunt urged Obama to distance himself from his controversial pastor.

In April 2008, at the height of the controversy over Obama’s pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Hunt called Obama’s North Carolina campaign. He advised Obama to publicly profess his Christianity, love of country and denounce his pastor if he were to have any chance of winning the state’s May 6 primary.

“I made it very clear … you can either win this campaign, or you can lose it,” Hunt told the film’s producer, journalist Cash Michaels. Read more.

Estimates shore up Marco Rubio’s claim about illegal immigrants with visas

The statement “Close to half of the folks in this country illegally, entered legally (but) overstayed (their ) visas.” Marco Rubio on Thursday, in interview with Glenn Beck The ruling Florida U.S. Senate hopeful Marco Rubio has hit the big time — Glenn Beck’s radio program. During a wide-ranging interview Thursday, Rubio said that he thinks Republicans need to be the party that supports and promotes legal immigration. Then, he added: “Close to half of the folks in this country illegally, entered legally (but) overstayed (their) visas,” Rubio said. Read more.

Under Obama, U.S. has taken a step back in war on terror

Why is the Obama administration providing a despicable Nigerian Muslim terrorist named Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab with sacred American constitutional rights? Why is Obama going to prosecute him in an American civilian court? Why did Team Obama read this scoundrel his Miranda rights? On Christmas Day 2009, nearly 300 people escaped death solely because the terrorist’s detonator failed to ignite his underwear bomb. In just one year the Obama administration has made America significantly less safe. I stated before Obama’s election that he would weaken America. It was my theory then. But it is certainly no longer in doubt. Obama is so busy trying to socialize America that he has completely taken his eye off of his most important duty: to keep America safe. Read more.

Scott Brown roars to Senate upset win

State Sen. Scott Brown has pulled a Bay State bombshell by upsetting his Democratic rival to capture the open U.S. Senate seat by a 5-point margin. Brown, 50, of Wrentham, will roll into Washington as the nation struggles with health-care reform. But Brown has vowed to be “the 41st Senator” that will defeat the measure. Democrat Martha Coakley, the state’s attorney general, has gone down in a stunning defeat. Brown has won 52-47 percent, with 89 percent of the precincts reporting. Independent Joseph L. Kennedy finished way back with 1 precent of the vote. Read more.

Senate Democrats Propose $1.9T Increase to U.S. Debt Limit

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats on Wednesday proposed allowing the federal government to borrow an additional $1.9 trillion to pay its bills, a record increase that would permit the national debt to reach $14.3 trillion. The unpopular legislation is needed to allow the federal government to issue bonds to fund programs and prevent a first-time default on obligations. It promises to be a challenging debate for Democrats who, as the party in power, hold the responsibility for passing the legislation. The record increase in the so-called debt limit is required because the budget deficit has spiraled out of control in the wake of a recession that cut tax revenues, the Wall Street bailout, and increased spending by the Democratic-controlled Congress. Last year’s deficit hit a phenomenal $1.4 trillion, and the current year’s deficit promises to be as high or higher. Read more.

John Edwards admits paternity

John Edwards admitted this morning to being the father of Frances Quinn Hunter, the two-year-old daughter of his former mistress Rielle Hunter.

The admission comes after more than two years of rumors and tabloid hounding and an investigation into campaign money federal authorities suspect circulated around Edwards’ mistress. Edwards, former North Carolina senator and failed presidential candidate, has repeatedly denied being Frances Quinn Hunter’s father since August 2008.

“It was wrong for me ever to deny she was my daughter, and hopefully one day, when she understands, she will forgive me,” Edwards said in a statement. That statement was released to NBC’s Today show and The News & Observer. Read more.

House Democrats reluctant to take up Senate health-care reform bill

Determined to enact a health-care reform bill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi struggled Wednesday to sell the Senate version of the legislation to reluctant Democrats, even as party moderates raised doubts about forging ahead without bipartisan support. Republican Scott Brown’s victory Tuesday in a Senate special election in Massachusetts blindsided President Obama and Democratic leaders, who had nearly reached the finish line on an ambitious overhaul of the nation’s health-care system and were beginning to turn their attention to other challenges, namely creating jobs and lowering the deficit. Read more.

Obama Seen as Anti-Business by 77% of U.S. Investors

Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) — U.S. investors overwhelmingly see President Barack Obama as anti-business and question his ability to manage afinancial crisis, according to a Bloomberg survey.

The global quarterly poll of investors and analysts who are Bloomberg subscribers finds that 77 percent of U.S. respondents believe Obama is too anti-business and four-out-of-five are only somewhat confident or not confident of his ability to handle a financial emergency.

The poll also finds a decline in Obama’s overall favorability rating one year after taking office. He is viewed favorably by 27 percent of U.S. investors. In an October poll, 32 percent in the U.S. held a positive impression. Read more.

51 charges for former Easley aide

Ruffin Poole, a longtime senior aide to former Gov. Mike Easley, corrupted his office by taking trips, liquor, money and other gifts from people he helped with state government action, a federal grand jury charged Thursday.

In a wide-ranging indictment, Poole was charged with 51 counts that include extortion, bribery, racketeering, fraud, money laundering and engaging in transactions in “criminally derived” property. Many of the charges in the indictment from the grand jury flow from Poole’s interference in environmental permits, in some cases for projects in which he had invested. Read more.

Obama concedes health overhaul hit ‘buzz saw’

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama, two days after signaling retreat on a massive health care overhaul, discounted the small-bore approach Friday and pledged to press for ambitious changes despite running into a “bit of a buzz saw” of opposition.

Even as the president sought to bring the public and nervous Democrats back on board, a leading member of his party suggested Congress slow it down on health care, a sign of eroding political will in the wake of Tuesday’s Republican election upset in Massachusetts.

Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., who ushered the overhaul legislation through the Senate’s health committee last year after the death of his friend, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, said Obama and lawmakers could “maybe take a breather for a month, six weeks.” Read more.

Week in Review 01/16/10

Muslim Mafia: CAIR’s Ties to Terrorism

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, has long been accused of having ties to terrorists. Now the group may be facing its most serious charges yet.

Four Republican lawmakers, led by Rep. Sue Myrick of North Carolina, are calling for a federal investigation into CAIR. At a press conference on Capitol Hill, they cited explosive new documents contained in a new book about CAIR called “Muslim Mafia.” View video.

Rules change as Congress’ veterans depart

WASHINGTON — Congress is breaking down under the pressures of a number of modern, rapidly changing political dynamics.
Among them: the rise of hyper-partisanship magnified by today’s Internet, talk radio and cable TV ideologues; the drawing of legislative district lines to maximize partisan purity and to avoid making lawmakers have to appeal to voters of all stripes; and the passing from the scene of legislative veterans who came of age politically in the pre-technology age and who were schooled in the art of compromise.
This week’s news that veteran Sens. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., wouldn’t seek re-election added their names to a growing roster of old-timers who once made the Capitol tick. Read More.

Myrick talks terrorism in a series on YouTube

U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick says the American people aren’t being told the truth about terrorism.

In the wake of a failed attack on a plane bound for Detroit in December, Myrick warns on two new videos that citizens haven’t been told that some people are willing to blow themselves up to hurt Americans, that jihadists exist who want to destroy western democracies, that extremists are being radicalized through the Internet.

Myrick, a Charlotte Republican, has launched an ongoing YouTube video series. In the first video, called “Beyond Terrorism: The Whole Story,” she warns that extremists may live in our midst, perhaps even in our government. View video.

GOP: Response to Reid remark shows double standard

WASHINGTON — Republicans on Sunday accused Democrats of a double standard by accepting Sen. Harry Reid’s apology for racial remarks about Barack Obama instead of demanding Reid’s ouster as majority leader.

In a private conversation reported in a new book, Reid described Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign as a “light-skinned” African-American “with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.”

Reid, D-Nev., apologized to Obama on Saturday, and the president issued a statement accepting the apology and saying the matter was closed. Read more.

Soles decides not to seek another term

TABOR CITY – For the past 42 years state Senator R.C. Soles (D-Pender, Columbus, Brunswick) has had a seat in Raleigh in the General Assembly but all that will change this year as the state’s longest serving member has decided not to seek another term.

Sen. Soles’ announcement came last week in a press release where he stated, “After careful consideration I have decided not to seek re-election to the Senate.”

For the past several months Sen. Soles, 72, has been under the investigation by the SBI in regards to the shooting of a former client at his home outside Tabor City in August, and allegations a few weeks earlier that he tried to molest a teenager 12 years earlier. Read more.

Stimulus money sent to phantom ZIP codes in North Carolina

RALEIGH — The federal government sent 2.5 million stimulus dollars to North Carolina ZIP codes that don’t exist.

The information came from the government’s own Web site — Recovery.gov. The site was set up to track the distribution of the $787 billion made available by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

It lists 479 North Carolina ZIP codes as the destination of $4.2 billion in grants, contracts, and loans. Four of those ZIP codes — 24858, 28389, 23854, and 27600 — are nowhere to be found on U.S. Postal Service maps. In the four ZIP codes, the Web site reports, the $2.5 million created 0.5 jobs all told. Read more.

N.C. Rep. Sandra Spaulding Hughes won’t seek re-election

N.C. Rep. Sandra Spaulding Hughes won’t seek re-election in House District 18 this year, she said in a news release.

Hughes, a retired teacher and consultant, cited “personal and family reasons” for deciding not to try to go back to Raleigh for another term. She said public service is an important part of her life and that she appreciates the support and trust of residents in the district, which includes parts of New Hanover and Pender counties. Read more.

N.J. to vote on bill to let illegal immigrants pay in-state tuition

(CNN) — Both houses of the New Jersey legislature plan to vote Monday on a controversial bill backed by Democrats that would qualify illegal immigrants for in-state tuition at public colleges and universities.
Supporters hope to pass the measure before Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine leaves office. Gov.-elect Christopher J. Christie, a Republican who takes office January 19, has said he opposes the bill.
On Thursday, a Senate vote on the legislation was postponed.
After hours of heated debate January 4, the bill passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee, 7-4, and the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, 8-6. Both votes were along party lines.
To qualify under the bill, New Jersey high school graduates who are illegal immigrants must be enrolled at a public university or college and file an affidavit with the institution stating that they have applied for legal immigration status or will do so when eligible. Read more.

Obama Team Has Too Many Vacancies, Report Says

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama has filled key government jobs about as fast as the Bush administration, but too many top positions — about 40 percent — remain vacant nearly one year after Obama took office, says a report being released Wednesday.

While the study by the Partnership for Public Service praised Obama for a well-organized transition last year, it also knocked the president’s team and Congress for filling top posts too slowly. Among them: the Transportation Security Administration and the Customs and Border Protection agency — two agencies tasked with keeping terrorists off planes, a key area of failure in the attempted Christmas Day airliner attack. Read more.

Small Business Owners End 2009 Downbeat

The sentiment of U.S. small business owners stalled in December, hurt by weak sales and worries about government policies, according to a survey released on Tuesday.

The National Federation of Independent Business said its small business optimism index fell for the second straight month, dropping 0.3 point to 88.0 in December.

“Continued weak sales and threatening domestic policies from Washington have left small business owners with little to be optimistic about in the coming year,” said the federation’s chief economist, William Dunkelberg, in a statement. Read more.

The Man Who’ll Kill “Obamacare?

(Weekly Standard) Ask a typical 50-year-old Republican running for office when and why he became a Republican, and you’ll likely hear a nostalgic story related to Ronald Reagan. Ask GOP Senate candidate Scott Brown, and he replies, “I’d really have to check that far back. I really don’t have the time, nor do I care” to do “all this self-analysis. “He says he’s “fiscally more in tune with the Republicans,”but hastens to add that “recently Republicans have kind of lost their way” on such matters.

Welcome to Massachusetts, where Democrats outnumber Republicans three to one and where state senator Brown, who’s making a bid for Ted Kennedy’s seat in the January 19 special election, would rather point out similarities between himself and JFK and sometimes even Barack Obama. Republicans and Tea Party activists are nonetheless flooding the phone banks and knocking on doors for Brown. “The pro-life movement is really excited,” says John Rowe of Massachusetts Citizens for Life. Yet Brown declares on his website that abortion is a decision that should be made by a “woman in consultation with her doctor, “i.e., he’s (moderately) pro-choice. Read more.

Time For A Change? Obama’s Mistakes Say So

I’ve been focusing on how President Obama’s radical ideology and programs are destroying America, as we know it. (“Wake Up Before Obama Destroys America” and “Obama and His Aides Dismantling U.S.” (Dec. 13 and Dec. 19, 2009, respectively) in The Bulletin). Recent developments, however, have suggested that America is not only in danger from Mr. Obama’s ideology and programs, but also from the sheer incompetence that Mr. Obama and his appointees have brought to the White House and that the Democratic Congress has brought to recent legislative misadventures. After the Christmas day terrorist attack, Mr. Obama and his Homeland Security Secretary demonstrated gross incompetence beyond belief and beyond imagination. This means America faces a deadly cocktail of gross incompetence combined with radical ideology, running contrary to American values and America. Read more.

Onine advertisers: Boucher putting Internet

infrastructure at risk

The online advertising industry’s top lobbyist blasted Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) for “misunderstanding” how interactive media work, saying his proposed bill to protect consumers’ online privacy is horribly misguided. Interactive Advertising Bureau president and CEO Randall Rothenbergsaid in an op-ed that such a bill will stunt the growth of the online media market and put 3.1 million jobs at risk. “Advertising is the engine of the consumer economy, and fundamentally the only way American shoppers can compare prices, discover products, and learn about new stores and sales in their neighborhood – and the sole way businesses can get this information to them,” Rothenberg wrote. “Yet the Congressman wants to legislate its elimination.” Read more.

Senator’s Company Receives a Slice of $25 Million Pie

Basnight Construction was awarded subcontracted work on part of the new $25 million Jennette’s Pier project currently under construction in Nags Head. The amount of money the construction company is being paid and the scope of work being performed are currently undisclosed.

President Pro Tempore Marc Basnight (D-Dare) was the leading advocate to push the multimillion dollar project through the General Assembly in 2009. Due to his efforts, House Bill 628, “Aquarium Satellite Areas Funding” was able to fly through the Legislature and receive unanimous approval from lawmakers. Later attempts to strip funding for the pier were blocked through procedural motions by House and Senate leadership. Read more.

Critics Question $705,000 For Art

View video.

Perdue Silent on Unfunded Medicaid Mandate

RALEIGH — In July, Gov. Bev Perdue said she would oppose a federal health care bill that placed additional financial burdens on the states. “We are all hungry for a solution,” she said, “but the absolute dealbreaker for me as governor is a federal plan that shifts costs to the states.” Six months later, Congress is finalizing a bill that would do just that by expanding Medicaid — the government health program for the poor. The federal government and the states share the costs of Medicaid, so any new obligation eventually would be borne, at least in part, by state taxpayers. And so far, Perdue has neither opposed the legislation nor stated any strong objections to the financial toll the bills being negotiated in Washington would take on North Carolina residents. Read more.

Democrats’ Rocky Mountain high takes a tumble in Colorado

Barack Obama claimed the party’s presidential nomination at a football stadium here, in a state where Democrats had won the governorship, both houses of the state Legislature, and were about to pick up both U.S. Senate seats.

Now President Obama and his party’s approval ratings in the West are lower than elsewhere in the country. Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter Jr. abruptly announced last week that he would not seek reelection. The state’s junior senator is, like Ritter, trailing badly in the polls. Analysts think Democrats could even lose their majorities in the Legislature.

“To lose this state at this moment, almost across the board, is a pretty profound statement that that party is in deep trouble,” said Floyd Ciruli, a Denver-based independent pollster. Read more.

Brown Takes Lead Over Coakley in Massachusetts Race, Poll Shows

Republican candidate Scott Brown has taken the lead over Democrat Martha Coakley in the race for the Massachusetts Senate seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy, the latest poll shows.

The Suffolk University/7News poll showed Brown leading Coakley by 4 percentage points. Brown had 50 percent, Coakley had 46 percent and independent candidate Joseph Kennedy, who is not related to the late senator, had 3 percent.

The race is still within the 4.4-point margin of error, but David Paleologos, the university’s political research center director, said in a statement that the survey shows Brown has “surged dramatically.” Read more.

NC state Sen Charlie Albertson won run this year, adding to list of Democratic departures

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Another long-serving Democrat in the North Carolina Senate isn’t seeking re-election this year.

Budget-writer Sen. Charlie Albertson said Friday he won’t seek another term so he can spend more time with his family.

The 78-year-old Duplin County Democrat said he’s tired after being in the Legislature for 22 years and wants to see if there’s something else out there that interests him. Read more.

Week in Review 12/19/09

Senate Dems struggle to get health care on track

WASHINGTON (AP) – Sen. Joe Lieberman strongly rebutted charges Monday that he flip-flopped to oppose the expansion of Medicare as part of health care legislation, as Democratic leaders struggled to getPresident Barack Obama’s top domestic initiative on track for passage by Christmas.

“Contrary to the claims of anonymous aides, Senator Lieberman told (Majority Leader Harry) Reid on Friday that he had problems with the Medicare provision,” said Marshall Wittman, a spokesman for the Connecticut Independent.

“This position was also told to negotiators earlier in the week. Consequently, Senator Lieberman’s position came as no surprise to the Democratic leadership. Any contrary charge by aides who cowardly seek to hide under the cloak of anonymity is false and self-serving,” he added. Read more

Time Is Running Out for Climate Change, U.S. Negotiator Says

The chief negotiator for the U.S. at the climate summit in Copenhagen says leaders have made some progress, but that it is not enough and time is running out to come up with deal that all countries can agree on.

“We don’t have very much time,” said Todd Stern. “The clock is ticking it like a big hourglass. We’ve made some progress, but we still have a long way to go.”

The rift between rich and poor nations remains a major sticking point. Read more.

Bart Gordon retiring

Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) announced he’s not running for re-election this morning, becoming the fourth House Democrat from a politically-competitive district to announce retirement plans in the last month.
“I feel honored that the people of Middle Tennessee have allowed me to serve them for the past 25 years,” said Gordon. “Every decision I have made in Congress has been with their best interests in mind. I hope the people here at home feel that I have served them as well as their good advice and views have served me.

“When I was elected, I was the youngest member of the Tennessee congressional delegation; now, I’m one of the oldest. In fact, I have members of my staff who weren’t even born when I took office. That tells me it’s time for a new chapter.”

Gordon becomes the tenth House Democrat to retire this election cycle, with over half of them in districts Republicans plan to aggressively contest. His announcement follows the post-Thanksgiving retirements of Reps. Dennis Moore (D-Kan.), John Tanner (D-Tenn.) and Brian Baird (D-Wash.) – all of whom represent politically-competitive districts. Read more.

GOP brings concerns on jobs, climate

House Republican leaders used a trip to the White House Wednesday to deliver a letter to President Barack Obama expressing concern with plans for a new economic stimulus bill, cap-and-trade legislation and the president’s trip next week to Copenhagen.

At the White House for a meeting on jobs, the Republicans struck a cautionary note in their hand-delivered letter, writing that government intervention was not the way to create jobs.

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.), House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-Ind.) and Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.) also expressed concerns about a “binding emissions reduction scheme” they believe would cost U.S. jobs, referring to the administration’s plans for a political agreement on emissions standards that’s likely to be discussed at the U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen. Read more.

Inconvenient Truth for Gore as Arctic Ice Claims Don’t Add Up

There are many kinds of truth. Al Gore was hit by an inconvenient one yesterday.

The former vice president, who became an unlikely figurehead for the green movement after narrating the Oscar-winning documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” became entangled in a new climate change row.

Gore, speaking at the Copenhagen climate change summit, stated the latest research showed that the Arctic could be completely ice-free in five years. Read more.

Guantanamo Detainees Will Be Moved to Illinois

WASHINGTON (AP) — Taking an important step on the thorny path to closing the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the White House plans to announce Tuesday that the government will acquire an underutilized state prison in rural Illinois to be the new home for a limited number of terrorist suspects held at Guantanamo.

Administration officials as well as Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin and Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn will make an official announcement at the White House.

Officials from both the White House and Durbin’s office confirmed that President Barack Obama had directed the government to acquire Thomson Correctional Center in Thomson, Ill., a sleepy town near the Mississippi River about 150 miles from Chicago. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid pre-empting Tuesday’s announcement. Read more.

Obama gives himself a B-plus — an A-minus if health care passes

In giving himself “a solid B-plus” for his presidency to date, President Obama also showed how high a political premium he places on new health care legislation.

“B-plus because of the things that are undone. Health care is not yet signed. If I get health care passed, we tip into A-minus,” Obama told Oprah Winfrey during Sunday’s night’s broadcast of Christmas at the White House: An Oprah Primetime Special.

Obama and aides are keeping a watchful eye on efforts by Senate Democrats to forge a health care compromise. Read more.

NC State senator won’t run for re-election, says he’ll leave

office after 18 years

State Sen. David Hoyle has decided not to seek a 10th term in the General Assembly and will leave office next December after representing Gaston County for 18 years.

“I didn’t intend to serve for as long as I have,” Hoyle said Wednesday. “I thought I’d serve for 10 or 12 years, but the citizens kept electing me.”

Hoyle, D-Gaston, took office in 1993 and was re-elected eight times, fending off Republican challengers in his heavily conservative home county. Of Gaston’s five delegates to the General Assembly, Hoyle is currently the lone Democrat. Read more.

Editorial – Soles has met his term limit

The events of 2009 should send a strong message to state Sen. R.C. Soles Jr. that it’s time to bow out. The window for a graceful exit, however, has passed. The choice now may be to leave or wait to be forcefully removed from office.

A Columbus County grand jury has recommended indicting the longtime senator in connection with a shooting on his property. His guilt or innocence in that matter will be decided in the courts. But the court of public opinion cares little about legal technicalities such as a conviction.

Soles’ reputation – always a little suspect since his first indictment in the Colcor investigation of corruption in his home county – has been tarnished to the point that he can no longer represent his constituents effectively or with honor. He turns 75 this month. For the good of his district and the integrity of the N.C. Senate, such as it is, he should throw in the towel while he has a chance to leave on his own terms. Read more.

Iran’s Motives

Now that the Iranian government has taken a clear stand — in effect ignoring the international community and all agreements — it’s time for a resolution on the nuclear question. The only issue left for the international community to decide is which course of action to initiate.

More diplomacy, sanctions or other nonmilitary measures will, at this point, only fail. The Iranian regime has prepared for most conceivable outcomes. One example: the agreement between Venezuela and Iran that has Iran receiving 20,000 barrels of petrol daily. This agreement was forged in September in preparation for possible sanctions against Iran by the international community. Read more.

Climate Talks Sail Into Rough Seas

COPENHAGEN — Nothing seems to be going smoothly as the U.N. climate negotiations reach their climax here.

Inside the Bella Center, a bloc of major developing countries clashed with the conference’s Danish hosts today over rumors that a new last-minute proposal was being put together among a small group of key countries.

The United States, with instructions from the White House, challenged a separate draft agreement to tackle climate change floated in the early morning hours by a special ad hoc U.N. panel.

And amid the snow flurries outside, Copenhagen transit officials temporarily shut down the main Metro train station at the conference center as police fired tear gas at hundreds of protesters who tried to storm the heavily guarded site. Read more.

Angry liberals: Why didn’t Obama fight?

More than anything else in Barack Obama’s presidency so far, health reform has exposed a get-a-deal-at-any-cost side of Obama that infuriates his party’s progressives.

And as Democrats tried to salvage health reform Tuesday, some liberals could barely hide their sense of betrayal that the White House and congressional Democrats have been willing to cut deals and water down what they consider the ideal vision of reform.

“The Senate version is not worth passing,” former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean told POLITICO, referring to plans to strip the latest compromise from the bill, a Medicare buy-in. “I think in this particular iteration, this is the end of the road for reform.” Read more.

Copenhagen or Hopenhagen? Socialism by any other name is still socialism

Iran may be upset with Obama but Hugo Chavez still praises his name. Wake up America, global warming is not about protecting the environment any more than universal health care is about health care for all. Our government is being deceitful by covering their interior motives with layers of what appears to be good deeds and humanitarian efforts. Everybody wants to clothe the homeless, feed the poor and help the sick. But if you peel back these layers of good intentions you still wind up with a ball of manipulation.

The President is on his way to Copenhagen today to commit the US’s “fair share” into the 10 billion dollar ‘world money pot’. This money is the redistribution of wealth from the nations that have supposedly ruined developing countries with their greenhouse gasses. Senator John Kerry promises this, “I will tell you right now, 100 percent, we are going to pass major climate and energy legislation that is going to have an impact on emissions…the concerns that kept us out of Kyoto back in 1997 are still with us today, and we need to preempt them here in Copenhagen.” Read more.

Poll: Americans Overwhelmingly Oppose GITMO Transfer

A new poll released by Gallup shows that nearly two-thirds of Americans oppose the idea of closing the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba and moving terrorist suspects held there to prisons in the U.S.

This may be problematic for President Obama, who plans to do just that. Earlier this week, it was announced that the federal government would acquire the Thomson Correctional Center (pictured at left), an underused state prison in the rural town of Thomson, Illinois, and use it to hold Guantanamo Bay detainees as well as federal prisoners.

Sixty-four percent of Americans said they opposed the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to U.S. prisons, and only 30 percent of Americans said they supported it. These numbers have remained fairly constant since May, when 32 percent believed detainees should be transferred to the U.S. and 65 percent did not. Read more.

Dems use vote to tweak GOP on troops

The early-morning Republican opposition to a procedural vote on the Defense department’s spending bill is giving some Democrats a rare opportunity to bash the GOP on its support of the troops.

Some of the same rhetoric that has been used to paint Democrats as weak on national security is now being used against Republicans, who voted en masse against the measure in a move to delay voting on health care overhaul legislation.

Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska), less than a year into his first term in Washington, had some harsh words for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). He called their Friday news conference “somewhat shameful” after McConnell said he knew that the spending bill would pass but voted against ending the debate. Read more.