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 6/19/10

Not Another Czar!

Big Government: In a “fireside chat” to quell concerns about the Gulf oil disaster, the president announced the appointment of an oil czar. Is more bureaucracy the answer to every problem?

The media elite just can’t comprehend the anger of the Tea Party movement. The New York Times this week enlisted a professor of philosophy to write an article with a resounding conclusion: “In truth, there is nothing that the Tea Party movement wants; terrifyingly, it wants nothing. .. . (T)hey are nihilists.”

In fact, the Tea Party movement is pretty clear about its demands, exemplified by a protester’s placard with a photo of a crying baby and the message, “Stop Spending My Money — I Haven’t Even Earned It Yet!” Read more.

Dem Lawmakers Challenge Pentagon on Afghan War

WASHINGTON (AP) — A schism deepened Wednesday between U.S. war leaders and Congress as lawmakers — crucial Democrats among them — challenged Pentagon assertions that progress is picking up in Afghanistan.

“I wouldn’t call it eroding,” Democratic Sen. Carl Levin said of once-solid Democratic support for President Barack Obama’s war strategy. “But there’s a lot of fair concern.”

Congressional hearings stepped up pressure on the Pentagon, with Defense Secretary Robert Gates complaining about negative perceptions taking root in Washington about the war. Another top military official acknowledged feeling “angst” about the conflict.

But military leaders said the U.S. effort is advancing. “I think that we are regaining the initiative,” Gates told a skeptical Senate panel. “I think that we are making headway.” Read more.

Obama’s Oil Spill Speech Turns to Energy Policy, Fueling Capitol Crossfire

President Obama tried Tuesday night in his Oval Office speech to rally the nation behind his efforts to tackle the Gulf oil spill, but by also highlighting his energy agenda, he set off reaction on Capitol Hill that could risk turning the disaster into a political football.

Obama, trying to take control of a crisis that has slowly eroded support for his administration, pointed to the relief efforts already under way and said the government would hold BP responsible. But later in his 18-minute speech, he turned his focus to the need to “seriously tackle our addiction to fossil fuels.”

“We can’t afford not to change how we produce and use energy, because the long-term costs to our economy, our national security, and our environment are far greater,” Obama said in the first Oval Office address of his presidency.

The speech came 57 days after the April 20 explosion at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that killed 11 workers and sparked the crisis, in which millions of gallons of oil already have spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. The speech also served as a prelude to Obama’s meeting Wednesday with BP executives at the White House.

Republicans accused the president for using the oil spill to push his legislative agenda. Read more.

Sestak silence worries Pa. officials

Four weeks after claiming the Pennsylvania Senate nomination, Rep. Joe Sestak continues to have an awkward relationship with many leaders of the state’s Democratic establishment — with the two-term congressman so far neglecting to check many of the boxes that ordinarily would be routine for a candidate trying to unify his party after a hard-fought primary.

It’s been nearly a month since the May 18 primary, and key local party leaders have not been in close contact with Sestak. His unorthodox campaign organization is unnerving Democratic officials, and his public comments suggest he hasn’t forgotten the rough treatment he received from the White House and the state party establishment, both of which worked furiously to deliver the nomination to party-switching Sen. Arlen Specter. Read more.

How’d we lose Brazil, Turkey and Lebanon?

After 17 months of diplomacy, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice was only able to get 12 of the 15 countries on the United Nations Security Council to vote to place increased sanctions on the Islamic Republic’s illegal pursuit of nuclear weapons. Yesterday, on Fox News Sunday, Rice jumped to defend the Obama Administration’s lackluster performance by claiming that previous Iran resolutions were not unanimous during the Bush Administration and that there were “abstentions”. Her strategy to minimize the Bush team’s performance in order to make her own poor performance look better isn’t factual. After so much hype about President Barack Obama’s foreign policy engagement strategy, the Obama UN resolution was remarkably weak, took too long to get and received less support than Bush’s team got in producing FIVE Security Council resolutions on Iran. Read more.

Gulf fuels new energy-bill push

President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies plan a major new push for a broad global-warming bill, fueled in part by public outrage over the BP disaster, according to top aides.

Joel Benenson, a pollster for the Democratic National Committee and Obama’s presidential campaign, argues in a new briefing for top Capitol Hill officials that a comprehensive energy bill “could give Democrats a potent weapon to wield against Republicans in the fall.”

Read the briefing.

“The oil spill is intensifying the public’s desire for clean energy investments and increased regulation on corporate polluters,” Benenson writes in the briefing, which he prepared on behalf of the League of Conservation Voters.

“In the aftermath of the spill, people firmly believe Congress needs to do more than just make BP pay. Even when pressed with opposition messaging that now is not the time for some ‘job killing energy tax,’ people coalesce around comprehensive clean energy reform. Consequently, support for a comprehensive energy bill is very high. With the right messaging, that support holds strong in the face of harsh opposition attacks.” Read more.

Company Bidding to Help Manage Tower at Ground Zero Has Arab Ties

Nearly nine years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the bi-state agency that operates the World Trade Center is looking for a private partner to help manage the 1776-foot office tower that is being built at Ground Zero — and one of two companies under consideration may have ties to the Middle East.

The bidding process for private partners for the “Freedom Tower” has been whittled down to two companies: Durst Organization and Related Companies, Fox News legal analyst Peter Johnson Jr. reports.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will soon decide which partner will manage and help market the tower, which has been renamed One World Trade Center. The partner will invest at least $100 million onto the office tower and memorial building.

Related Co. is an international real estate group whose investors include Goldman Sachs; MSD Capital, LP; Mubadala Development Company; Kuwait Investment Authority; and Olayan Group, according to the company’s website. Read more.

Pakistan’s main spy agency still supports Taliban despite US pressure, says report

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s main spy agency continues to train, fund and arm the Taliban despite U.S. pressure to sever ties with the group that Islamabad helped rise to power in Afghanistan in the 1990s, said a research report released Sunday.

The findings could raise tensions between Pakistan and the U.S., which has provided billions of dollars in military assistance to Islamabad since 2001 to help fight the Taliban. U.S. officials believe Pakistan’s support is key to defeating the insurgency.

But the country’s powerful Inter Services Intelligence agency, or ISI, continues to work closely with the Taliban and is even represented on the group’s leadership council, said the report, which was issued by the London School of Economics and is based on interviews with more than a dozen unnamed Taliban commanders. Read more.

Obama pushes for $50b in local aid

President Obama Saturday asked Congressional leaders to “urge swift action” on legislation he called crucial to shoring up small businesses, and to averting “massive layoffs of teachers, police and firefighters.”

In a letter to Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnell and John Boehner, the president said that more spending is needed immediately to avert a devastating double dip recesssion, and that concerns about the deficit, while important, may have to wait. For now, he said, the federal government needs to spend money to provide immediate economic aid to the still-struggling economy, and especially to states that otherwise may have to lay off workers to fill their own budget holes. “We are at a critical juncture on our nation’s path to economic recovery,” Obama said, deeming it “essential that we… build momentum toward recovery, even as we establish a path to long-term fiscal discipline.” Obama called the extenders legislation the Senate is considering, along with small business legislation he’s proposed as well as rebates for home improvements and additional tax credits for clean manufacturing, “cost-effective ways of spurring job creation.” The total package of state and local aid the president is pushing Congressional leaders to pass would cost $50 billion, according to the Washington Post. 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.

Week in Review 5/15/10

Americans look for Supreme Court to restrain federal power, not expand it

The breathtaking expansion of government — highlighted by record federal spending and a dramatic new federal role in the health-care system — is a source of deep concern across the political spectrum. People are increasingly worried that Washington is exceeding the limits set by the Constitution, asserting too large a role in American life.

So when President Obama announces his next Supreme Court nominee, the American people will want to know whether he is choosing someone who is committed to the text of the Constitution and the vision of the Founding Fathers, or whether his nominee is an activist who will shed a judge’s neutral, constitutional role to push a progressive policy agenda. Read more.

Utah US Rep. Matheson forced into Dem primary

Claudia Wright captured 45 percent of the vote Saturday at the Utah Democratic Party convention. Matheson won 55 percent of delegates’ votes – not the 60 percent he needed to avoid a primary. Matheson is Utah’s lone Democrat in Congress and has never had to run in a primary before.

President Obama’s home-state headache

President Barack Obama’s enemies like to call him a creature of the “Chicago machine,” but when it comes to the politics of his home state of Illinois, the White House doesn’t seem to know where the gears are.

Indeed, Chicago has delivered an unending stream of embarrassment, frustration and discomfort to the administration of its favorite son, from an indicted governor to a failed Olympics bid to a series of smaller political blows.

In the latest encounter with political quicksand, the White House — already burned by a series of failures to fill Obama’s Senate seat with a chosen candidate — has been forced to proceed with extreme caution toward the damaged Democratic Senate nominee, Alexi Giannoulias, waiting to see if he drops out even as some of its allies want the White House to take a heavier hand. Read more.

Outrage: Obama Administration Targets Military for Pay Reductions

President Barack Obama — who came to power with the help of government employee unions across the nation and has lavished on them hundreds of billions in stimulus funds to keep them on federal, state and local payrolls with no strings attached — is moving to cut spending on salaries for military personnel.

This weekend The Washington Post headlined story, “Pentagon Asking Congress to Hold Back on Generous Increases in Troop Pay,” disclosed that the Obama administration is “pleading” with Congress to give military personnel a much smaller increase in pay than lawmakers have proposed.

The Pentagon contends that Congress simply has been too generous with troops during the past decade. Read more.

National Democrats blew it

The Democratic big boys in Washington mishandled North Carolina by waiting too long for Congressman Bob Etheridge to decide whether to run, by not either backing Marshall or, if they didn’t like her chances, clearing the field for Cunningham. As Burr keeps building his $5 million war chest, the runoff will put the Democrats further behind. Read more.

To Kill an America

You probably missed this in the rush of news, but there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper, an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American.

So an Australian dentist wrote an editorial the following day to let everyone know what an American is . So they would know when they found one. (Good one, mate!!!!)

‘An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish , Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani or Afghan.

An American may also be a Comanche, Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the many other tribes known as native Americans. Read more.

After Arizona, why are 10 states considering immigration bills?

Given the anger sparked by Arizona’s immigration bill nationwide – including protests and calls to boycott Arizona – the campaign promises of Colorado gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis could be seen as a bit of a surprise.

He has vowed to follow Arizona’s lead and pass a tough new anti-illegal immigration law. “We are stopping the retreat. No more retreat,” he said in a local radio interview. “Federal government, if you are not going to do it, we are going to do it.”

Mr. McInnis’s comments are but one example of how the Arizona firestorm has hardly scared off politicians in other states around the country. In some cases, it might actually be encouraging them. Read more.

History warns Obama on primaries

President Barack Obama is deeply enmeshed in the Pennsylvania Democratic Senate primary.

The White House promised full support to GOP Sen. Arlen Specter when he switched to the Democratic Party a year ago. So Obama’s team had approached Rep. Joe Sestak, the primary challenger now gaining on Specter, in an effort to ward off this intraparty contest.

Obama is entangled in other Democratic primaries, as well. His White House has endorsed incumbent moderate Democrats in a handful of key midterm races. It has actively intervened in support of Sens. Michael Bennet of Colorado, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas. Read more.

GOP: Medicare pick favors ‘rationing’

Senate Republicans revived their health care “rationing” theme Wednesday evening as they fired their first salvo in what’s expected to be a fierce battle over the confirmation Donald M. Berwick to be administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Republicans say Berwick supports the idea of rationing health care, a charge they deployed to stir public anger against the Democrats’ health care overhaul. While they focused on the public insurance option that ultimately was dropped from the legislation, they also said that a series of programs that made it into the final legislation, such as the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, would also lead to denying health care to save money.

“Dr. Berwick is the perfect nominee for a president whose aim has always been to save money by rationing health care,” Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) said Wednesday. Read more.

Blagojevich lawyers subpoena Sen. Harry Reid

WASHINGTON–Lawyers for former Gov. Blagojevich have subpoenaed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nv.) in to testify at his federal corruption trial, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.

“Ex-Governor Blagojevich’s counsel contacted Senator Reid’s counsel regarding service of a subpoena related to Mr. Blagojevich’s pending trial, as he has apparently contacted many others. As a routine legal matter, Senator Reid’s attorney accepted service. This action does not mean that Senator Reid will testify at trial,” Reid spokesman Jim Manley told me.

Last month, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) revealed that he was also subpoenaed by Blagojevich’s defense team. “Given the former Governor’s previous antics regarding this case, it’s no surprise he is casting a wide net – apparently from the President down to dogcatcher,” said Durbin spokesman Joe Shoemaker. Read more.

Underground broker network a bane in terror probes

NEW YORK (AP) – Long before there was MoneyGram and Western Union, people in South Asian countries often used an informal network of brokers, called an “hawala,” to transfer money over long distances when it was too inconvenient or dangerous to send cash by courier.

Today, the centuries-old system still exists and is used to move billions of dollars annually in and out of countries like Pakistan,Afghanistan and Somalia — often to the chagrin of U.S. law enforcement.

A federal law enforcement official told The Associated Press that terror suspect Faisal Shahzad is believed to have tapped into such a network to help fund a plot to detonate a car bomb in Times Square on May 1. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. Read more.

Week in Review 04/10/10

Obama takes on talkers

Barack Obama’s tongue-lashing of conservative talk-show titans Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck this week could prove a winner for both sides.

The president gets a boost with his base and may win over some independents by tying his political opponents to two of the nation’s most polarizing figures.

But the conservative talkers get presidential confirmation that they’re at the center of the political debate — together with a collection of sound bytes that will fuel their shows for days to come. Read more.

Republicans dispute course of financial overhaul

WASHINGTON (AP) – End the public lifeline for large financial institutions, Republicans are demanding as they push back against Democratic efforts to set new rules for the financial industry.

The GOP is trying to fight many of the changes that President Barack Obama and majority Democrats want. Legislation would give the government authority to split up big financial companies and force the industry to pay for its most massive failures.

Republicans have offered alternative legislation that calls for new bankruptcy proceedings to dismantle failing institutions. Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California, a member of the House Financial Services Committee, said that creating more federal agencies and putting taxpayers on the hook for more bailouts will not help revive the economy. Read more.

Hundreds show president their anger, frustration

Charlotte — President Barack Obama’s motorcade, headed to Charlotte’s airport Friday, passed through an American political divide that seemed as wide as six-lane Carowinds Boulevard.

On the corner anchored by the Tilted Kilt pub, a couple of hundred tea party protesters lined the street. “Throw them out! Throw them out!” they chanted, and stabbed thumbs down as the president passed. A hand-lettered sign, one of dozens, waved: “Somewhere in Kenya a village is missing its idiot.”

Across the boulevard, a largely black crowd sprinkled with the red, white and blue of a few Obama detractors squinted into the midday sun and shouted back: “Obama! Obama! Obama!” Read more.

Senate challenges signal deep unrest

How deep does the anti-Washington sentiment run? The number of senators in both parties facing serious primary challenges this year — a figure that has grown in the past six weeks — offers a clue.

Five senators, three Democrats and two Republicans, face the real prospect of being denied their party’s nomination this year: Sens. Bob Bennett (R-Utah), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.).

In most cases, the incumbents are still the front-runners. But the mere fact that their challengers are within striking distance is notable, given the rarity of senators being denied renomination by their party. Read more.

White House Denies Charges of Caving to China on Currency

A prominent Democratic senator on Sunday suggested that the Obama administration was letting China slide on possible currency manipulation in exchange for help on Iran sanctions — something the White House flatly denied.

Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter, reacting to news that the White House was delaying its report to Congress on whether China is manipulating its currency, told “Fox News Sunday” he’s concerned the administration could be missing a chance to help U.S. workers get on a level playing field.

The report was originally scheduled for release by April 15, around the time Chinese President Hu Jintao is visiting Washington for nuclear talks. Read more.

US unveiling new, more restrictive nuclear policy

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Obama administration is unveiling a new nuclear weapons policy that seeks to narrow the circumstances under which the United States would use such weapons while preserving long-standing assurances of nuclear protection for allies, U.S. officials said.

It is a delicate balance that the administration will describe in a policy document, called a nuclear posture review, to be released Tuesday following a full year of deliberation led by the Pentagon in consultation with allied governments.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and Joint Chiefs chairman Adm. Mike Mullen planned to unveil the new policy at a noon Pentagon briefing. Read more.

Berger’s Proposal

On Monday, Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger proposed a bill meant to expose patronage and misconduct in state government.

The state’s personnel law is among the most secretive in the country regarding disciplinary actions, hiring information and employment histories of public employees. North Carolina, for example, appears to be the only state that bars the public from learning pay raises and prior positions, a recent News & Observer series, Keeping Secrets, found.

The problems with the personnel law’s secrecy were exposed by investigations into the administration of former Gov. Mike Easley. N.C. State University officials, for example, cited the personnel law in not disclosing the governor’s efforts to create a job for his wife at N.C. State. The law also initially hid an improper pay deal given to NCSU Provost Larry Nielsen. Nielsen stepped down after controversy surrounded his hiring of Mary Easley. Read more.

North Carolina Candidates Gear Up in Swing Districts

RALEIGH — The North Carolina General Assembly could look much different in 2011. At least, that’s what Republicans hope.

For the first time in over a century, the minority party has a shot at wresting control of the legislature from Democrats, and it’s banking on a string of competitive races to do it.

Retirements, resignations, and shifting political dynamics make 10 seats in the Senate and 20 in the House vulnerable to GOP challenges this year. Political experts say a sluggish economy, anger over health care reform in Congress, and corruption could propel Republican candidates into office. Read more.

Republicans Slam Obama Judicial Nominee Over 117 Omissions From Record

Senate Republicans on Tuesday slammed one of the Obama administration’s most controversial judicial nominees for failing to initially disclose more than 100 of his speeches, publications and other background materials — an omission the Republicans called unprecedented and a possible attempt to “hide his most controversial work.”

They said Goodwin Liu’s nomination to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is in “jeopardy” in light of the problem.

The complaint came after Liu, a Berkeley law professor, gave the Senate Judiciary Committee a bundle of supplemental material that contained 117 things he left out after his February nomination. Read more.

Obama Clash With Karzai Raises Concerns Ahead of Kandahar Offensive

WakeUpAmerica.com asks why President Obama is agitating and bullying the President of a country that has 30,000 US troops inside its country. Wake Up Obama. Your recent foreign policy actions have put Americans at a heightened state of risk – Israel, Russia, Iran, China, and now Afghanistan “ISLAMIC EXTREMISTS.”

Here is the story reported by Fox News.

Timing is everything. And for the out-in-the-open feud between President Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the timing is very, very bad. Read more.

Iran’s president attacks Obama on nuclear “threat”

(Reuters) – Iran’s president issued a scathing personal attack on U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday, calling him an “inexperienced amateur” who was quick to threaten to use nuclear weapons against U.S. enemies.

Commenting on new U.S. policy restrictions on the use of atomic weapons which sent a stern message to nuclear-defiant Iran that it remained a potential target, hard-line Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told Obama that Iran would not yield to threats.

“Obama made these latest remarks because he is inexperienced and an amateur politician,” Ahmadinejad said on Iranian television. “American politicians are like cowboys. Whenever they have legal shortcomings, their hands go to their guns.”

Obama made a diplomatic overture to Tehran soon after taking office in 2009, urging it to “unclench its fist.” Read more.

Volcker on the VAT

Kudos for candor to Paul Volcker, the former Federal Reserve Chairman and current White House economic adviser, for admitting what other Democrats also know but don’t want to admit until after the November election: The political class is preparing to pass a European-style value-added tax. Read more.