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.

week in Review 5/29/10

Easley aide: Shred letter

A top state public information officer says that he was directed by close staff of former Gov. Mike Easley to shred a letter that had been sent in 2007 to Easley from the mayor of Southport.

Ernie Seneca, who worked in several high public information positions for Easley and now oversees communications for statewide crime control agencies, said the directive came from Easley’s press office. He said he was not certain who in that office told him the letter should be shredded but thinks it was Sherri Johnson, then the governor’s press secretary.

Seneca routed the letter, dated Nov. 29, 2007, to a deputy secretary at the state Department of Transportation with the instruction to “shred this after reading.” Seneca said it was a copy of the letter, not the original. Read more.

Republican Djou wins Hawaii special

Republican Charles Djou won Hawaii’s special House election Saturday, providing a timely boost to a party unnerved by a decisive Democratic victory in a Pennsylvania special House election Tuesday.

Djou got 39 percent of the vote, according to unofficial returns, followed by state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa at 30 percent and former Democratic Rep. Ed Case at 27 percent.

Djou will serve out the remainder of the term in the seat left vacant by former Democratic Rep. Neil Abercrombie, who resigned to run for governor. Read more.

N.C. vital in U.S. politics

The Washington gossip has Charlotte on the short list of cities being considered as the site of the 2012 Democratic National Convention.

When Barack and Michelle Obama wanted to kick back for a weekend, they headed for Asheville’s Grove Park Inn. Vice President Joe Biden was seen chowing down at Bullock’s Bar-B-Que in Durham earlier this spring. Senate Majority leader Harry Reid raised money at the Umstead Hotel inCary Friday night.

What this all suggests is that North Carolina has become a player in national politics.

There was once a time – say three years ago – when North Carolina was out of the loop, off the beaten track, in other words, a backwater, when it came to national politics. Read more.

Palin Links BP Donations to Obama to Explain Gulf Spill Response

President Obama’s oversight of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill may have been hampered by his relationship to BP, former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said Sunday in the opening salvo of a verbal cage match with White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.

Appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” Palin suggested that the White House is too cozy with the oil industry because of contributions to candidate Obama during the 2008 presidential race.

“I don’t know why the question isn’t asked by the mainstream media and by others if there’s any connection with the contributions made to President Obama and his administration and the support by the oil companies to the administration,” Palin, a Fox News Channel contributor, said on “Fox News Sunday.” Read more.

Obama Tells Military: Prepare for N. Korea ‘Aggression’

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House said Monday that President Barack Obama “fully supports” the South Korean president and his response to the torpedo attack by North Korea that killed 46 South Korean sailors.

The administration said it endorsed President Lee Myung-bak’s demand that “North Korea immediately apologize and punish those responsible for the attack, and, most importantly, stop its belligerent and threatening behavior.”

Seoul can continue to count on the full backing of the United States, the White House said.

“U.S. support for South Korea’s defense is unequivocal, and the president has directed his military commanders to coordinate closely with their Republic of Korea counterparts to ensure readiness and to deter future aggression,” the White House said. Read more.

Sestak confirms WH job offer to get out of Senate race

Rep. Joe Sestak, winner of the Pennsylvania Democratic Senate primary, is refusing to provide more information on what job he was offered by a White House official to drop of that race, although he confirmed again that the incident occurred.

The White House was backing incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) in the primary. Sestak acknowledged in an interview in February that he was offered a position by an unnamed White House official – a potential violation of federal law – but has not offered any specifics on conversation. Republicans are trying to use the issue against Sestak in the November Senate race.

“It’s interesting. I was asked a question about something that happened months earlier, and I felt that I should answer it honestly, and that’s all I had to say about it.” Sestak said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “Anybody else has to decide on what they will say upon their role. That’s their responsibility.” Read more.

Experts: ‘Doc fix’ a budget band-aid

The Medicare “doc fix” is back in play on Capitol Hill, and its mere mention provokes a torrent of scorn and vitriol rarely seen among the generally mild-mannered community of policy mavens who inhabit the nation’s think tanks and universities.

“It’s one of the worst pieces of legislation I’ve ever seen,” said Stuart Altman, a former adviser to Congress on Medicare who now teaches health policy at Brandeis University. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt so vindictive about a piece of legislation in my life.”

“It’s a charade,” said Henry J. Aaron, a health policy analyst at the Brookings Institution. “Congress takes care of things but doesn’t actually do anything. They haven’t been willing to write up the full cost of changing the system, so the projected deficits don’t look as bad as they are.” Read more.

Our view on federal spending: In Congress, ‘emergency’ is what you don’t want to pay for

Memo to congressional Democrats: It’s not 2008 or 2009 anymore. Then, when the nation was facing financial catastrophe, it made sense to borrow as much as necessary to stave off economic depression.

OPPOSING VIEW: Vital aid fuels recovery

Those days are over. Now it’s time to start making choices about what’s vital, and for those programs that are, paying the bills instead of borrowing.

You’d think that with the soaring national debt emerging as a major issue in this fall’s elections, congressional leaders wouldn’t need this kind of reminder. But they began this week pushing two big new spending bills that together would cost more than $230 billion over 10 years. The initial plan, according to one estimate by the Congressional Budget Office, was to pay for less than one-fifth of that and borrow the rest. Read more.

Congressman: White House Job Offer to Sestak May Be an ‘Impeachable’ Offense

Rep. Joe Sestak’s allegation that the White House offered him a job to drop out of the Pennsylvania Senate primary race against Arlen Specter is a crime that could lead to the impeachment of President Obama, Rep. Darrell Issa said.

But the decision by the Pennsylvania congressman not to elaborate on a so-called deal also could become a political problem as Sestak tries for the U.S. Senate seat.

The White House reportedly is going to formally address the allegation in the next few days. In the meantime, Issa, R-Calif., is one of many inside and outside Washington who want the Democratic Senate primary candidate to explain in detail what offer the White House made. Read more.

U.S. Spending on Food Stamps at All-Time High, Sparking Debate Over Welfare

The U.S. is now spending more on food assistance than at any time in its history, sparking a debate over whether the roughly 40 million people now receiving the latest version of food stamps at a cost of $73 billion a year are a symptom of a weak economy or are part of a long-term expansion in welfare and related programs.

Food stamp supporters say the record-high spending is simply a reflection of the economic downturn over the last two years.

“The program is expanding because we are realizing a significant downturn in the economy,” said Ambassador Eric Bost, who ran the food stamps program in the first years under President George W. Bush. “The food stamp or the SNAP program, as it’s referred to now, responds to the changing economic conditions of the country.” Read more.

More troops will guard border

LOS ANGELES — President Barack Obama will send up to 1,200 National Guard troops to the Southwest border and seek increased spending on law enforcement there to combat drug smuggling after demands from Republican and Democratic lawmakers that border security be tightened.

The decision was disclosed after Obama met Tuesday with Republican senators, several of whom have demanded that troops be placed at the border. The move also reflects political pressure in the president’s own party with midterm election campaigns under way and what is expected to be a tumultuous debate on overhauling immigration law coming up on Capitol Hill.

The troops will work on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support, analysis and training, and will support efforts to block drug trafficking, The Associated Press reported. They will temporarily supplement Border Patrol agents until Customs and Border Protection can recruit and train additional officers and agents to serve on the border, according to a letter Tuesday from top administration security officials to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich. Read more.

Stressed Out or Tone Deaf? Obama Chicago Vacation Raises Eyebrows

Presidents are never really off the clock, even when they go on vacation. But President Obama’s decision to skip the traditional Memorial Day ceremony in Arlington while on his second vacation since the BP oil spill began has some wondering what the schedule says about his priorities.

On “vacation,” Obama still holds staff meetings, occasionally attends local events and often gets his “relaxation” time swallowed up by pressing national and international business — his vacation to Hawaii in December coincided with the attempted Christmas Day airline bombing. The retreat this weekend is marked by a side-trip to Louisiana to inspect the damages from the oil spill.

But some conservatives, still smarting over the criticism George W. Bush fielded for his frequent trips to Crawford, Texas, say Obama’s trip to Chicago over Memorial Day weekend is conspicuously poor in its timing. Read more.

Obama’s New National Security Strategy Abandons Bush’s Unilateralism

President Obama’s new national security strategy stresses the importance of a cooperative international response to global conflicts and moves away from the Bush administration doctrine of striking preemptively and acting alone if deemed necessary to protect the country.

Obama’s emphasis on exhausting diplomacy first was reflected in his decision to have Secretary of State Hillary Clinton roll out the security strategy on Thursday at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

“One of our goals coming into the administration was … to begin to make the case that defense, diplomacy and development were not separate entities,” Clinton said. “Indeed they had to be viewed as part of an integrated whole.” Read more.

Week in Review 5/22/10

Cafferty Slams Obama and Dems For Their Response To Arizona Immigration Law Video

Senate primaries will test depth of anger at incumbents

WASHINGTON — Voters in four states will go to the polls Tuesday in primary elections that could offer the best window so far into the level of anti-incumbent, anti-establishment sentiment in the electorate.

Arkansas, Kentucky, Oregon and Pennsylvania hold primaries Tuesday, and political observers are paying close attention to all but Oregon, where incumbent Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden is expected to win handily.

Democrats and Republicans are sweating over Senate contests in Arkansas, Kentucky and Pennsylvania, which are considered prime tests of voter discontent with incumbents and the power of the tea party movement. Read more.

Pence: No European bailouts

Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), the third-ranking House Republican and a possible 2012 presidential candidate, will use a speech Friday before the National Rifle Association to highlight his opposition to using American tax dollars to bail out European countries.

Seizing on conservative anger toward the federal government’s financial assistance for U.S. banks and auto companies and the recent headlines about Greece’s economic woes, Pence and a group of other House Republicans have introduced symbolic legislation that would halt American involvement in any International Monetary Fund aid to European Union nations.

“I just don’t believe American taxpayers should be forced to bear the risk of nations that have avoided making tough choices,” Pence said in an interview previewing his remarks to the gun-rights group’s convention in Charlotte. Read more.

See No Radical Islam, Hear No Radical Islam

On May 13, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) confronted Attorney General Eric Holder about whether radical Islam was the motivating factor in the terrorist plots against the United States over the past year. Rather than acknowledge the religious-ideological threat posed to us, Holder continued the Obama Administration’s pattern of trying to avoid using terms like “radical Islam” and “Islamic terrorism.”

Rep. Smith repeatedly prodded at Holder, who tried to fend off the attack by saying, “There are a variety of reasons why people do things. Some of them are potentially religious.”

Unsatisfied with the lack of clarity, Rep. Smith continued to ask him, “Are you uncomfortable attributing any other actions to radical Islam?” Holder replied by saying, “No, I don’t want to say anything negative about a religion…” Read more.

Five who flipped on health care

They were the difference makers on health care reform: House Democrats who flipped from opposing the plan to supporting it, delivering a win on President Barack Obama’s signature domestic issue.

Now, they are also among the Democrats’ most vulnerable incumbents, and none is building a reelection message around their famous vote.

That runs counter to the advice of Democratic pollster John Anzalone and House Democratic leaders, who argue incumbents should highlight popular provisions. “I’d go to camera and say this is why I took this vote — I took it for the people of this district because it’s wrong to be dropped for pre-existing conditions. You shouldn’t be dropped because you’re sick,” Anzalone said. Read more.

Palin Calls Huntsman Out

Even though Jon Huntsman, Jr. stopped pretending not to run for president to become President Obama’s ambassador to China, associates of the former Utah Governor say that he will return to the U.S. as a proud Republican and will probably try to position himself for a 2016 run. The thinking is that the GOP will have shaken off the willies by then and be ready to modernize. In any event, Sarah Palin has today called out Amb. Huntsman in a Tweet, which marks the first time, I believe, that Palin has referenced a fellow Republican and potential presidential aspirant in a provocative way. She’s referring to reports that Assistant Sec. of State Michael Posner intended to admit to China that the United States’s human rights record wasn’t always exemplary, citing the Arizona immigration law is an example. This humility, apparently, is a way for the administration to ease into a discussion of China’s human rights’ record. Such is the outrage of the day for conservatives … and even neutrally, comparing China’s regular and brutal and unapologetic detention of political dissidents to the temporary detention of citizens caught without papers is … a tough case to make. Here’s Palin’s Tweet:

AZ’s pro-border security law invokes apology to China(w/its human rights violations)by U.S. State Dept;Surely Ambassador Huntsman disagrees?

Anti-terror funds belong in N.Y.

There’s not much of an argument, surely, over the very uneasy reality that New York City is the most vulnerable place in America to terrorism. Any doubts about that ought to have been erased in the aftermath of a foiled car bombing in Times Square two weeks ago.


The devastation and carnage that Faisal Shahzad’s failed plot might have brought have to be considered in the context of all the death and trauma that did occur in the attacks on the World Trade Center in 1993 and again on Sept. 11, 2001.

Why can’t there be a similar sense of unanimity and clarity of purpose, then, in the nation’s determination to protect New York City from subsequent acts of terrorism? What ought to be a united front within the federal government instead reveals strains and divisions over whether the city is getting its appropriate share of homeland security money. Read more.

Obama endorsements don’t seem to help Democrats

WASHINGTON (AP) — The role of endorser in chief isn’t working so well for President Barack Obama.

Sen. Arlen Specter became the fourth Democrat in seven months to lose a high-profile race despite the president’s active involvement, raising doubts about Obama’s ability to help fellow Democrats in this November’s elections.

The first three candidates fell to Republicans. But Specter’s loss Tuesday to Rep. Joe Sestak in Pennsylvania’s Democratic senatorial primary cast doubts on Obama’s influence and popularity even within his own party – and in a battleground state, no less. Read more.

Joe Sestak defeats Arlen Specter, Rand Paul wins, Democrats claim victory in PA special election

Pennsylvania Rep. Joe Sestak defeated Sen. Arlen Specter in the Democratic Senate primary, a large-scale political upset that ends the career of one of the enduring figures in Pennsylvania politics.

“This election is about you,” said Sestak in his victory speech. “This is what democracy looks like: a win for the people, over the establishment, over the status quo, even over Washington, D.C.”

Specter, who is 80 years old and has served since 1980 in the Senate, called it a “great privilege” to have served in the Senate and added that he would “be working very, very hard for the people of the commonwealth in the coming months.” Read more.

The Arizona Immigration SB 1070 Bill

Click here to read the 16 page bill.

Senators press for National Guard troops on border

WASHINGTON (AP)– Homeland Security and Pentagon officials are at loggerheads over a plan to send National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, even as President Barack Obama is pledging to bolster security there.

The Guard stalemate has festered for nearly a year, and frustrated lawmakers are demanding action to stem the spread of violence and drug trafficking that has spilled across the border into their states. The inaction raises questions about whether the White House is convinced the federally funded deployment is necessary, or whether border states will be forced to bear the costs of dispatching the Guard troops on their own.

Speaking at the White House on Wednesday with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, Obama said the U.S. is committed to standing with Mexico against the drug cartels. Read more.

Missouri Auto Parts Dealer Khalid Ouazzani Pleads Guilty of Funding Al Qaeda

An auto parts dealer in Kansas city who had sworn allegiance to Al Qaeda pleaded guilty on Wednesday of participating in conspiracy to provide financial support to the terror outfit.

The 32 year old dealer, Khalid Ouazzani, became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2006, admitted sending $23,500 to al-Qaeda between August 2007 and mid-2008.

He had spoken with others about ways to help al Qaeda including plans to support them in their fight in Afghanistan, Iraq or Somalia, US Attorney Beth Phillps did not think that Khalid poses a threat to the Kansas city area. Read more.

Legislation Will Hurt Small Business SB829

The House Commerce, Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee will consider legislation on Wednesday that will augment the power and widen the profit margins of large corporations at the expense of small businesses and citizens. The bill, Regulation of Appraisal Management Companies (SB829), will, as currently written, place onerous regulations and assess fees on these companies that will disproportionately affect small business and bolster the market share and power of large corporations.

To qualify for registration, companies must register with the state, pay a filing fee of $5,000 and pay a subsequent annual free of $2,500. Large companies will much more easily be able to pay these registration fees while smaller appraisal management firms, the small businesses that create jobs, opportunity and wealth for many North Carolinians, will be burdened excessively, perhaps to the point of being unprofitable. Furthermore, companies that are able to pay the fee will simply pass along the added expense to consumers, making it more expensive for North Carolinians to do business. Read more.