Classic's Crap

Antiwar groups and other liberal activists are increasingly concerned at signs that Barack Obama's national security team will be dominated by appointees who favored the Iraq invasion and hold hawkish views on other important foreign policy issues.

The activists are uneasy not only about signs that both Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates could be in the Obama Cabinet, but at reports suggesting that several other short-list candidates for top security posts backed the decision to go to war.

"Obama ran his campaign around the idea the war was not legitimate, but it sends a very different message when you bring in people who supported the war from the beginning," said Kelly Dougherty, executive director of the 54-chapter Iraq Veterans Against the War.

The activists -- key members of the coalition that propelled Obama to the White House -- fear he is drifting from the antiwar moorings of his once-longshot presidential candidacy. Obama has eased the rigid timetable he had set for withdrawing troops from Iraq, and he appears to be leaning toward the center in his candidates to fill key national security posts.

The president-elect has told some Democrats that he expects to take heat from parts of his political base but will not be deterred by it.

Aside from Clinton and Gates, the roster of possible Cabinet secretaries has included Sens. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) and Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), who both voted in 2002 for the resolution authorizing President Bush to invade Iraq, though Lugar has since said he regretted it.

"It's astonishing that not one of the 23 senators or 133 House members who voted against the war is in the mix," said Sam Husseini of the liberal group Institute for Public Accuracy.

Classic's Crap

President-elect Barack Obama will not move for months, and perhaps not until 2010, to ask Congress to end the military's decades-old ban on open homosexuals in the ranks, two people who have advised the Obama transition team on this issue say.

Repealing the ban was an Obama campaign promise.

Mr. Sarvis told The Washington Times that he has held "informal discussions" with the Obama transition team on how the new president should proceed on the potentially explosive issue.

"If it's part of a larger package, it has a better chance of getting passed," he said.

The incoming administration is well aware of how President Clinton botched the same issue 15 years ago. Shortly after taking office in 1993, the president ordered the Pentagon to rescind the regulation that excluded gays.

"What's the reality for the new administration?" he said. "Financial crisis. Economic upheaval. Health care reform. Environmental challenges. Where does 'don't ask, don't tell' fall in all this? I would say it is not in the top five priorities of national issues."

"Americans for Job Security attempted to advertise on the CBS Network but our advertisement titled 'Secret' was denied. It is one part of a serious and ongoing public policy debate on the Employee Free Choice Act. According to our media buyers, CBS officials cited the appearance of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whom the advertisement shows in visual form only, as one of the primary reasons for the denial of the advertisement. One CBS representative felt that viewers would be 'confused' by its contents within their program. The advertisement was approved by other broadcast networks."

The Early Years of Seeing the Unseen
By Alexis Madrigal Write to the Author
11.21.08

What are the social consequences when science allows us to see things that had previously been invisible?

Scientists have revealed microscopic life, nanoscale molecules and galaxies billions of light-years away. These images have revolutionized the disciplines in which they were made, but they also transformed the public's imagination, giving common people new things to think and dream about.

The intertwined social, scientific and artistic impacts of 19th century photography is the subject of a new exhibit, Brought to Light Photography and the Invisible, 1840-1900, at San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art.

This gallery looks at some of the more astounding images and stories from the exhibit.

Left:
Hermann Schnauss, Electrograph of a brass wire gauge, 1900 As the men of industry attempted to harness electricity for profit, the public — which knew electricity primarily as lightning — had to be persuaded that this powerful, invisible force was something to invite into their homes. Electrographs like this one, produced by exposing a photographic negative with electricity, helped the public visualize and understand the mysterious electromagnetic waves that scientists were discovered populating the air.

"This is a moment where [scientists] are trying to harness electricity for practical purposes, but the general public was kind of skeptical," said Corey Keller, curator of the Brought to Light exhibit. "Their experiences with electricity were generally through lighting, which they knew could burn things down and kill you, if you weren't careful. So a great deal of time and money was spent trying to make electricity understandable and approachable."

Photo courtesy San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

IRVINE, Calif. -- Kelley Blue Book, the leading provider of new- and used-vehicle information, has announced the all-new 2009 model-year vehicle winners of its annual Best Resale Value Awards, which recognize current and upcoming vehicles for their projected retained value five years from now. Since depreciation (or loss of value) is typically a car-buyer's primary expense during ownership, these awards, like all of kbb.com's new and used vehicle information, are designed to help consumers make more informed car-buying decisions.

Kelley Blue Book's Best Resale Value Awards are based on projections from the Kelley Blue Book Residual Value Guide researched by an expert staff of automotive market analysts. These prestigious awards honor vehicles expected to maintain the greatest proportion of their original retail price after five years of ownership. Low-volume vehicles and vehicles with a Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price of more than $60,000 are excluded from award consideration, except in the luxury and high-performance categories.

UPDATE: Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, were arrested by FBI agents on federal corruption charges Tuesday morning.

Blagojevich and Harris were arrested simultaneously at their homes at about 6:15 a.m., according to Frank Bochte of the FBI. Both were transported to FBI headquarters in Chicago.

In one charge related to the appointment of a senator to replace Barack Obama, prosecutors allege that Blagojevich sought appointment for himself as secretary of Health and Human Services in the new Obama administration, or a lucrative job with a union, in exchange for appointing a union-preferred candidate.

Another charge alleges Blagojevich and Harris conspired to demand the firing of Chicago Tribune editorial board members responsible for editorials critical of him in exchange for state help with the sale of Wrigley Field, the Chicago Cubs baseball stadium owned by Tribune Co.

classicman;512114 wrote:

Illinois Gov. Blagojevich, chief of staff, arrested


It gets worse, much worse. Read on.

dar512 wrote:

I'm hoping that someday Illinois can have a governor who is not both stupid and criminal.

Shawnee123;512310 wrote:

The goings-on of Governor Blagojevich begs the question:

Why do all corrupt politicians have such bad hair? I mean it probably wouldn't be bad hair but they make it bad with large chunks hairsprayed into an unnatural state of surrender.

We could use this criteria in making voting decisions: guys got bad hair, he's going to be corrupt. However, because all politicians with bad hair are corrupt it does not necessarily follow that all bad politicians will have bad hair: Bush's hair wasn't bad at all. However, bad hair = no vote.

I mean, who do guys like this think they're fooling with the bouffant combover?

Mwwwothaaa! Tell your children not to walk my way...

A BOFFIN too busy to find real love has INVENTED his idea of the perfect woman – a female ROBOT.
Inventor Le Trung, 33, created Aiko, said to be “in her 20s” with a stunning 32, 23, 33 figure, shiny hair and delicate features.
She even remembers his favourite drink and does simple cleaning and household tasks.
"Fem-bot" Aiko, who has cost £14,000 to build so far, is a whizz at maths and even does Le’s accounts.

Le, a scientific genius from Brampton in Ontario, Canada, said he never had time to find a real partner so he designed one using the latest technology.

He said he did not build Aiko as a sexual partner, but said she could be tweaked to become one.

“People have mixed reactions when they meet Aiko,” he said.

“They either love or hate her. Some people get angry and accuse me of playing God. Once someone threw a rock at Aiko. That really upset me. “But many people are fascinated by her.
"Women are generally impressed and try to talk to her. But the men always want to touch her, and if they do it in the wrong way they get a slap.”

Women are generally impressed and try to talk to her

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A utility worker on Thursday found the skeletal remains of a child in Orange County in a wooded area located less than half a mile from the home of George and Cindy Anthony, whose 3-year-old granddaughter, Caylee, has been missing since mid-June, authorities said.
The remains, located inside a garbage bag, were discovered by the worker around 9:30 a.m. near South Chickasaw Trail and Suburban Drive, less than four-tenths of a mile from the Anthonys' home on Hopespring Drive.
Orange County sheriff's deputies said it's too early to tell if the remains are that of Caylee.

Local 6 News reporter Jessica D'Onofrio confirmed that the remains are likely that of a girl. D'Onofrio said the worker saw the garbage bag, opened it, saw the remains of a child and called 911. The skull was found nearby, and there was duct tape in and around the garbage bag, D'Onofrio reported.

"Deputies did respond to that area, and once we were on the scene, we determined that we do have the remains of a young child. Obviously, our concern is that it's in close proximity to some recent activity in that part of the county, and it's incumbent upon us to determine what we have," said Orange County sheriff's spokesman Jim Solomons, referring to the Casey Anthony case.

The age and gender of the remains are not known.

As the clock ticks down to Barack Obama's inauguration, the US president-elect has kept silent on the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its latest deadly turn in the Gaza Strip.

Obama transition officials have ventured little more than saying their boss is "monitoring" the situation in Gaza, where at least 460 people have been killed in eight days of air raids before a ground offensive began Saturday.

In the same period, Gaza militant rockets have killed four Israelis and wounded several dozen people.

"The president-elect is closely monitoring global events, including the situation in Gaza," his national security spokeswoman Brooke Anderson said in a statement after the ground assault got underway.

But she offered no further comment on the violence in Gaza and used a phrase repeated often by Obama and his aides: "There is one president at a time and we intend to respect that."

HungLikeJesus;506244 wrote:

That should make UG giddy.

classicman;518773 wrote:

Nor is the economy...yet, but he has plenty to say about that.

2009-2010 will rank with 1913-14, 1933-36, 1964-65 and 1981-82 as years that will permanently change our government, politics and lives. Just as the stars were aligned for Wilson, Roosevelt, Johnson and Reagan, they are aligned for Obama. Simply put, we enter his administration as free-enterprise, market-dominated, laissez-faire America. We will shortly become like Germany, France, the United Kingdom, or Sweden — a socialist democracy in which the government dominates the economy, determines private-sector priorities and offers a vastly expanded range of services to many more people at much higher taxes.

Obama will accomplish his agenda of “reform” under the rubric of “recovery.” Using the electoral mandate bestowed on a Democratic Congress by restless voters and the economic power given his administration by terrified Americans, he will change our country fundamentally in the name of lifting the depression. His stimulus packages won’t do much to shorten the downturn — although they will make it less painful — but they will do a great deal to change our nation.

In implementing his agenda, Barack Obama will emulate the example of Franklin D. Roosevelt. (Not the liberal mythology of the New Deal, but the actuality of what it accomplished.) When FDR took office, he was enormously successful in averting a total collapse of the banking system and the economy. But his New Deal measures only succeeded in lowering the unemployment rate from 23 percent in 1933, when he took office, to 13 percent in the summer of 1937. It never went lower. And his policies of over-regulation generated such business uncertainty that they triggered a second-term recession. Unemployment in 1938 rose to 17 percent and, in 1940, on the verge of the war-driven recovery, stood at 15 percent. (These data and the real story of Hoover’s and Roosevelt’s missteps, uncolored by ideology, are available in The Forgotten Man by Amity Shlaes, copyright 2007.)
Obama’s record will be similar, although less wise and more destructive. He will begin by passing every program for which liberals have lusted for decades, from alternative-energy sources to school renovations, infrastructure repairs and technology enhancements. These are all good programs, but they normally would be stretched out for years. But freed of any constraint on the deficit — indeed, empowered by a mandate to raise it as high as possible — Obama will do them all rather quickly.

But it is not his spending that will transform our political system, it is his tax and welfare policies. In the name of short-term stimulus, he will give every American family (who makes less than $200,000) a welfare check of $1,000 euphemistically called a refundable tax credit. And he will so sharply cut taxes on the middle class and the poor that the number of Americans who pay no federal income tax will rise from the current one-third of all households to more than half. In the process, he will create a permanent electoral majority that does not pay taxes, but counts on ever-expanding welfare checks from the government. The dependency on the dole, formerly limited in pre-Clinton days to 14 million women and children on Aid to Families with Dependent Children, will now grow to a clear majority of the American population.

House Democrats propose to spend $550 billion of their two-year, $825 billion "stimulus bill" (the rest of it being tax cuts). Most of the spending is unlikely to be timely or temporary. Strangely, most of it is targeted toward sectors of the economy where unemployment is the lowest.

The December unemployment rate was only 2.3% for government workers and 3.8% in education and health. Unemployment rates in manufacturing and construction, by contrast, were 8.3% and 15.2% respectively. Yet 39% of the $550 billion in the bill would go to state and local governments. Another 17.3% would go to health and education -- sectors where relatively secure government jobs are also prevalent.

If the intent of the plan is to alleviate unemployment, why spend over half of the money on sectors where unemployment is lowest? Another 22.5% of the $550 billion would go to social programs, such as expanding food stamps and extending benefits for the unemployed and subsidizing their health insurance.

Mr. Zandi's current estimates have government employment growing by 330,400 over two years as a result of the House bill (compared with 244,000 in Bernstein-Romer paper). Yet even that updated figure still amounts to only 8.3% of total jobs added, even though state and local governments are to receive 39% of the funds ($214.5 billion). Spending $214.5 billion to create or save 330,400 government jobs implies that taxpayers are being asked to spend $646,214 per job.

Does that make sense?

In short, a growing body of evidence suggests that a dollar of extra spending is likely to lift nominal income by less than a dollar, arguably much less. Several studies suggest the multiplier may be less than zero after a couple of years, because private investment (including housing) eventually falls by more than government spending rises. Another $550 billion of deficit spending on top of a deficit already above $1 trillion is likely to prove more dangerous than helpful to an economy already overloaded with risky debt.

January 28, 2009
Davis-Bacon Wage Provisions Depress the Economy
by James Sherk
WebMemo #2253
Congress has included a little-known provision in the economic stimulus legislation that wastes tax dollars and costs jobs. All $188 billion worth of construction projects funded in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (H.R. 1) must pay Davis-Bacon prevailing wage rates. This requirement will inflate construction costs by $17 billion and depress the economy.

If, on the other hand, Congress paid market wages, the same appropriations would fund more projects and create more jobs. Alternatively, Congress could give every American household a $150 tax rebate for the same cost. Including the Davis-Bacon requirements gives some workers a windfall with no benefit to the public. Before extending prevailing wage requirements to the stimulus bill, Congress should require the Department of Labor to use an accurate and scientific methodology to calculate prevailing wages.

The Davis-Bacon Act

The Davis-Bacon Act requires federal construction contractors to pay at least the prevailing wage rates for non-federal construction projects located in the same areas as their federal project. Supporters consider Davis-Bacon an important means of preventing the government's buying power from distorting construction labor markets. In areas where the government is the largest buyer of construction services, it could use its negotiating power to lower construction wages.

Contrary to its purpose, the Davis-Bacon Act distorts construction labor markets. Davis-Bacon wages bear little relation to market wages, because the government's prevailing wage estimates are wildly inaccurate. In some cities, Davis-Bacon rates are much higher than market wages. In Long Island, New York, for example, market rates for plumbers are $29.68 an hour.[1] Davis-Bacon rates, however, are $44.75 an hour--51 percent more than what the market demands.[2] In other cities, Davis-Bacon wages are significantly below market rates. For instance, Davis-Bacon rates for carpenters and plumbers in Sarasota, Florida, are $6.55 an hour, a figure below Florida's minimum wage of $7.21.[3] Nationwide, Davis-Bacon rates average 22 percent above market wages and inflate the cost of federal construction by 10 percent.[4]

Davis-Bacon in the Stimulus

H.R. 1 applies Davis-Bacon restrictions to all construction projects directly or indirectly funded in the legislation--over $188 billion worth of projects.[5] The new schools, highways, hospitals, and other construction in the act will be built by contractors paying inflated Davis-Bacon rates. This requirement will add $17 billion to construction costs.[6]

Depresses the Economy

Davis-Bacon restrictions ensure that the infrastructure spending--such as that provided for in H.R. 1--will yield as little economic benefit as possible. The $17 billion is spent paying a premium for work that employees would do at market wages. Without Davis-Bacon inflating costs, construction spending would go farther, funding more projects and creating more jobs. Including Davis-Bacon restrictions in the stimulus bill lines the pockets of some workers at the cost of both fewer jobs and fewer schools and highways built.

Davis-Bacon restrictions are also an inefficient and ineffective way to increase American's purchasing power. There is no economic reason to give federal construction workers--but no other workers--inflated wages. If Congress wants to spend $17 billion to increase American's purchasing power, it could use that money to give every American household a $150 tax rebate.[7] Such a rebate would broadly benefit all workers instead of just those who happen to work in construction.

Flawed Estimates

Davis-Bacon wages badly distort construction markets and federal spending because the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor uses unscientific and inaccurate methods to calculate wage rates.[8] Indeed, the inspector general has found three significant flaws that distort Davis-Bacon rates[9]:

Unscientific Methodology. The Wage and Hour Division does not use a scientific random sample of construction contractors.
Survey Errors. The inspector general's office found errors in 100 percent of audited returned survey forms.
Outdated Surveys. It takes over two years to conduct a survey and then years to update the survey after its completion. In some counties, Davis-Bacon rates have not been updated since the 1970s.
These flaws cause Davis-Bacon wages to bear little resemblance to market wages. There is no reason for Congress to pay workers on $188 billion worth of construction projects wages that are based on unscientific, inaccurate estimates.

Recommendations to Congress

The Davis-Bacon Act inflates the wages of some construction workers and depresses the wages of others. Including it in the stimulus bill will drive up construction costs by $17 billion and cost jobs on projects that could have been funded with that extra money. Therefore, Congress should strip Davis-Bacon requirements from the stimulus bill.

If Congress intends to keep prevailing wage requirements in the stimulus legislation, it should at least ensure that prevailing wages are scientifically estimated. Congress already spends over half a billion dollars a year on the Bureau of Labor Statistics, an agency that accurately estimates wage statistics using scientific methods. At the very least, Congress should require the Department of Labor use scientific estimates to calculate Davis-Bacon rates.

James Sherk is Bradley Fellow in Labor Policy in the Center for Data Analysis at The Heritage Foundation.

Clodfobble;528415 wrote:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the money that goes to state and local governments get spent at least partially on infrastructure, which is what brings the manufacturing and construction jobs back?

When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe,
we shall become as corrupt as Europe.
Thomas Jefferson


The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those
who are willing to work and give to those who would not.
Thomas Jefferson


It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes.
A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world.
Thomas Jefferson


I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the
government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.
Thomas Jefferson


My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.
Thomas Jefferson


No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.
Thomas Jefferson


The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear
arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.
Thomas Jefferson


The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Thomas Jefferson


To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.
Thomas Jefferson


Very Interesting Quote

In light of the present financial crisis, it's interesting to read what Thomas Jefferson said in 1802:

'I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.'

Are SNL's accusations of Obama being a do-nothing president accurate? Let's run down the list of the nine promises SNL lampooned President Obama for doing "nothing" on to see where he actually stands.

1. Close the American military prison at Guantanamo Bay: In one of his first acts as president, Obama signed an order mandating the close of the notorious lockup by January 2010. On Sunday, White House National Security Adviser James Jones said that he was "hopeful" that the White House would meet that deadline. Several legal and logistical questions remained to be answered, however, including the fate of the remaining detainees.

2. Pull all troops out of Iraq: In February, Obama told congressional leaders that he wanted all troops out of Iraq by August 2010. On June 30th of this year, a large number of troops were pulled out of the country, a move that was understated here in the U.S., but was met by dancing in the streets in some parts of Iraq. At the time of the withdrawal, the American military leadership refused to put a number on how many troops remained, though some have estimated that number remains as high as 124,000.

3. Improve the situation in Afghanistan: In a recent interview with CBS' "60 Minutes," General Stanley McChrystal, America's top commander in Afghanistan, said that things had become "a little worse" than he had originally anticipated in Afghanistan, adding that "the breadth of the violence, the geographic spread of violence, is a little more than I would have gathered." Wednesday marks the eighth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion, and last Sunday saw the deadliest single battle for American soldiers in Afghanistan since 2001. The administration is currently divided over how to change course in Afghanistan, weighing McChrystal's request for as many as 40,000 more troops against other options.

4. Reform the nation's health care system: This year's health care reform debate has been one of the more contentious debates in American history. Originally, the president set an August deadline for Congress to pass legislation for him to sign. That obviously didn't happen. However, on Friday night the Senate Finance Committee finally released its mammoth health care bill -- the last panel to do so, with a committee vote potentially coming as early as the middle of this week -- setting the stage for an even more intense national debate as the full Senate and House finalize legislation.

5. Cut down on global warming: Prior to the onset of the raucous health care reform debate, the centerpiece of the Administration's efforts to stem the increase of global warming, the Cap and Trade bill, was on the legislative fast-track. However, over the weekend Carol Browner, Obama's global warming czar, said that passage of the bill prior to December's Copenhagen Climate Change Conference was unlikely.

6. Reform the nation's immigration policies: In August, President Obama, under intense pressure from supporters for not moving fast enough on the issue, announced that he would have an immigration bill in Congress by the end of the year, though it likely wouldn't be voted on until 2010. Saying that "demagogues" who "suggest that any form of pathway for legalization for those who are already in the United States is unacceptable" would attempt to obstruct his efforts, the president added, "Am I going to be able to snap my fingers and get this done? No."

7. Changing the military's policies on gay soldiers: In his first week in the Oval Office, President Obama announced that his Administration would have to study the "implications for national security" before he could attempt to repeal the present "don't ask, don't tell" policy initiated by the Clinton administration in 1993. On Sunday, White House National Security Adviser James Jones reiterated Obama's commitment to fulfilling this campaign promise, but added that the president has "a lot on his plate" and would get around to addressing the issue at the "right time."

8. Placing limits on executive powers: In the early days of his presidency, Congressional Quarterly praised Obama for appearing as if he was "rejecting some of Bush's most expansive executive power claims" in the White House. However, that sentiment quickly evaporated among Obama supporters and opponents, with Salon's Glenn Greenwald noting in April that the White House had "explicitly claimed to possess the very presidential powers that Bush critics spent years condemning as radical, lawless and authoritarian."

9. Prosecute those who facilitate torture: In April, President Obama announced that his Administration would not bring charges against those who carried out acts deemed as torture upon U.S. terror detainees, but rather might seek to prosecute the Bush Administration officials who drafted the documents justifying the use of torture as lawful. In August, Attorney General Eric Holder followed through by announcing the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate whether or not the interrogations of suspected terrorists broke any laws.

So, taking all of this into consideration, are SNL's satirical criticisms of President Obama's do-nothingness valid? Probably not, mainly because, as illustrated by the old adage about how one shouldn't watch sausage or legislation get made, the process of "change" and getting anything done in Washington is a long and messy one, and Obama is merely nine months into his term as president. But that doesn't mean that Saturday's SNL skit was humorless, which, for once, it most definitely was not.

Excluding Lobbyists From Administration:

"That's why -- for the first time in history -- my administration posts our White House visitors online. And that's why we've excluded lobbyists from policy-making jobs or seats on federal boards and commissions," the president said tonight.

It is true that the Obama administration became the first to implement a policy disclosing visitors to the White House, but the claim on lobbyists isn't quite right.

Obama signed an executive order in January 2009 barring lobbyists who became members of the administration from working on matters they lobbied on for two years or in agencies they lobbied during the previous two years.
But the president waived the rule for Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn, who was a registered lobbyist for the defense contractor Raytheon before being appointed in January.

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk was a lobbyist for investment bank Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., and law and lobbying firm Vinson & Elkins LLP in Austin, Texas.

The Obama administration has granted waivers for additional officials who had previously worked as lobbyists. In February, the administration signed waivers for Jocelyn Frye, former general counsel at the National Partnership for Women & Families, and Cecilia Muñoz, the former senior vice president for the National Council of La Raza, allowing them to work on issues for which they lobbied.

Reporters say the White House is thin-skinned, controlling, eager to go over their heads and stingy with even basic information. All White Houses try to control the message. But this White House has pledged to be more open than its predecessors, and reporters feel it doesn’t live up to that pledge in several key areas:

— Day-to-day interaction with Obama is almost nonexistent, and he talks to the press corps far less often than Bill Clinton or even George W. Bush did. Clinton took questions nearly every weekday, on average. Obama barely does it once a week.

— The ferocity of pushback is intense. A routine press query can draw a string of vitriolic e-mails. A negative story can draw a profane high-decibel phone call or worse. Some reporters feel like they’ve been frozen out after crossing the White House.

— Except toward a few reporters, press secretary Robert Gibbs can be distant and difficult to reach — even though his job is to be one of the main conduits from president to press. “It’s an odd White House where it’s easier to get the White House chief of staff on the phone than the White House press secretary,” one top reporter said.

— And at the very moment many reporters feel shut out, one paper

— The New York Times — enjoys a favoritism from Obama and his staff that makes competitors fume, with gift-wrapped scoops and loads of presidential face time.

A few days later, Gibbs said at one of his briefings, “This is the most transparent administration in the history of our country.”
Peals of laughter broke out in the briefing room.
The press’s bill of particulars boils down to this:

Dodging questions

If you cover City Hall, you talk to the mayor. If you cover the Yankees, you’ll hang around Derek Jeter’s locker. The White House is no different, and aides past routinely filled that need by letting the press pool toss the president a couple of questions every so often, usually at one of the various events that fill his calendar every day.

Not Obama. He has severely cut back the informal exchanges with the press pool, marking a new low in presidential access.

The numbers speak for themselves: During his first year in office, President Bill Clinton did 252 such Q & A sessions — an average of one every weekday. Bush did 147. Obama did 46, according to Towson University professor Martha Kumar.

“Too many of the president’s meetings are ‘no coverage’ for my taste,” said ABC’s Ann Compton. “That is a stark reduction in access for us.”

“It's clearly the case that they're playing favorites,” said Bloomberg’s Chen, when asked about the White House’s relationship to the Times. "It's kind of par for the course. Some people understand that — none of us really like it — but that's the way the administration does business."

Gibbs denied an “unnecessary advantage” to the Times, while saying it has far more reporters covering topics of interest to the White House than most outlets. Times Deputy Washington Bureau Chief Dick Stevenson said it would be “absurd” to suggest the Times doesn’t get access in certain instances that others don’t.

But Stevenson said, “like every other journalist in Washington, I would say there’s a lot more they could do in terms of access for us and everyone else. While we appreciate the instances in which they cooperate and are accessible, there are plenty of cases where they’re not terribly accessible or responsive.”

While the Obama administration’s decision to stiff-arm Fox News caused a huge dust-up for a time last year, his back-benching of The Wall Street Journal has barely generated a peep. The Journal’s White House reporter, Jonathan Weisman, occasionally vents his frustration over the near freeze-out that has left the Journal with a single exclusive interview since Obama took office.

Another event that riled many in the press corps took place March 20. The Washington Examiner's Julie Mason confronted former Newsweek correspondent Richard Wolffe, author of a highly favorable book about the Obama campaign, when he attempted to join the White House pool on the Saturday before Congress's big health care vote.

"You're not in the pool," Mason recalled telling Wolffe. "You shouldn't be joining." Mason said Wolffe claimed that he was there courtesy of "a special invitation from the Obama administration." Wolffe is working on a second book on the Obama administration.

"Are you working for them officially now?" shot back Mason.

“The White House wants their friend to be in the pool and we don't know what recourse we have,” Mason later told POLITICO. “It's just completely unfair to the press corps and flies in the face of the concept of a free press."

One current focus of press corps ire are gauzy video features the White House’s staff videographer cranks out, taking advantage of behind-the-scenes access to Obama and his aides, such as a recent piece offering “exclusive footage” of first lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden touring Haiti.

“I think someone out there might mistake them for news, as opposed to slick publicity handouts for the White House,” said Compton. “To me, they’re mocking what we do.”

One of the most irritating practices of the Obama White House is when aides ignore inquiries or explicitly refuse to cooperate with an unwelcome story — only to come out with both guns blazing when it takes a skeptical view of their motives or success.

“You will give them ample opportunity on a story. They will then say, ‘We don’t have anything for you on this.’ Then, when you write an analytical graph that could be interpreted as implying a political motive by the White House, or something that makes them look like anything but geniuses, you will get a flurry of off-the-record, angry e-mails after you publish,” one national reporter said. “That does no good. If you want to complain. Engage!”

Asked about some of the more aggressive tactics, including complaints to editors, Gibbs said, “We have to do some of those things. ... I certainly believe anyone who goes to an editor does so because it’s something they feel is very egregious. I don’t think people do it very lightly.”

Some reporters say the pushback is so aggressive that it undermines the credibility of Obama’s aides. “The willingness to argue that credible information is untrue is at its core dishonest and unfortunately calls into question everything else the press office says,” one White House reporter said.

Edward Luce of The Financial Times drew the ire of Obama aides for a couple of articles arguing that decision making in the Obama administration is extremely centralized. Neither piece was a devastating indictment of the White House, but they prompted a furious reaction.

“I was just in awe of the pummeling Ed took from top White House people,” said policy blogger and New America Foundation senior fellow Steve Clemons. He began talking to White House reporters and came away convinced that what he calls an “extremely unhealthy” relationship has developed in which the White House generally cooperates only with reporters who are willing to write source greasers or other fawning articles.

Gibbs referred questions about the Luce stories to McDonough. “Who’s Ed Luce?” McDonough said. “I’m not familiar with that.”

WASHINGTON -- Rick Bayless, the Chicago superstar chef, was Twittering from the White House kitchen about today's Obama White House state dinner honoring Mexican President Felipe Calderon and his wife, Margarita Zavala. Until the Tweets stopped.

He was given the unpaid honor of being a guest chef, working the state dinner -- the second of the Obama administration -- alongside of White House House chef Cristeta Comerford.

The White House press operation wanted to downplay the glamor aspect of the state dinner; these are tough economic times.

Bayless talked about the dinner in interviews -- he gave up a few facts about what he may be cooking -- his Oaxacan mole, for example. "He's been blabbing," wrote the Washington Examiner "Yeas and Nays" column. "He's done interviews with the New York Times and NPR, revealing bits and pieces of the menu."

On Tuesday morning Bayless, an inveterate Tweeter wrote, "Thanks 2 the 100s of well wishers! Ready 4 day 2 n rather small White House kitchen. Chef was challenged by some ingred, but last arrive 2day."

He flew to Washington on Monday from Chicago and when he arrived, he Twittered, "Just arrived in DC. Headed to the White House kitchens. I have to say: I'm a little nervous."

After he checked out the White House kitchen -- which is fairly small -- Bayless Twittered, "The White House staff could not be nicer & more professional! Most worried about ingredients, but all will b here 4 big day!"

But after his Tuesday Tweet early in the morning, Bayless was shut down on Twitter.

Last year, when the Obamas entertained the prime minister of India, Manmohan Singh, the guest chef, Marcus Samuelsson, a big name in the cooking world, was neither seen nor heard from and asked not to give interviews about the dinner in advance. He was not allowed to appear at the press preview of the dinner.

The White House at first was keen on limiting reporting opportunities from the state dinner, but Tuesday eased up on a restrictions. Michelle Obama and Mrs. Zavala will visit an elementary school in the Maryland suburbs of Washington with students from Central and South America on Wednesday morning. That is the picture of the day the East Wing wants.

At first, the White House was not planning any advance event to preview the dinner. Last year on the afternoon of the India dinner, the East Wing set up sample table settings; the first lady arranged for a briefing on the history of state dinners for the group of girls she is mentoring.

In a reversal, the White House now will allow a pool to see the dinner set up in the East Room "for a few minutes" and to see "for a few minutes" the tent on the South Lawn where more guests will be invited for dessert and entertainment.

classicman;657229 wrote:

thats not what this was.

WASHINGTON — Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., wants the government to finish building the 700-mile fence between the U.S. and Mexico. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., wants to end the health insurance industry's antitrust protection. West Virginia's two senators want help with mine and oil rig safety.

They all want to add these things to the financial regulatory overhaul bill that's moving through the Senate, even though their ideas have little or nothing to do with oversight of financial markets.

Senators have proposed 326 amendments to the bill, whose chief purpose is to revamp the system that's regulated financial institutions since the Great Depression, but failed to prevent the current deep recession.

The bill could be the last major legislation this Congress approves — and draw enormous media attention — before November's congressional elections. That's why it's attracting a lot of extraneous amendments.

"A lot of senators see this bill as a good forum, and they see the session winding down after this," said David Arkush, the director of Congress Watch, a watchdog group.

Shawnee123;657250 wrote:

Alright, I'll stay out. I apologize. I just think I did have a point about decorum.

Spexxvet;657268 wrote:

Seriously Classic, you're at the point where you'd be critical of government if congress passed a bill eliminating all taxes, and Obama signed it.

A couple of weeks ago you mentioned how you thought you might lose your job soon. I hope you don't, but if you do, I hope you'll be appretiative that there's a government that'll help you support your family until you can get another job.

classicman;657313 wrote:

BS.

Kwame Kilpatrick was sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison this morning by Wayne Circuit Judge David Groner, who said the former mayor engaged in "contemptible behavior" by hiding assets from the court.

Groner chastised Kilpatrick before imposing the sentence, which included a minimum of 18 months in prison.

"Probation is no longer an option. The terms of your earlier probation no longer apply. That ship has sailed," Groner said. "This is all because of the actions of you, Mr. Kilpatrick. You were convicted ... all because you lied under oath. That lie ... was part of a broader attempt to cover up your misdeeds while serving as mayor.
"You challenged this court's authority," Groner said. "You attempted to utilize semantics and exploit loopholes. The broader context of this issue is that your family living expenses -- including living in a million-dollar home, driving a brand new Escalade and purchasing elective surgery for your wife -- you have made it perfectly clear that it's more important to pacify your wife than comply with my orders."

Kilpatrick will get 120 days credit for time he served in 2008-2009 in the Wayne County Jail. That means he will serve 14 months in a Michigan prison before he can apply for parole.

Spexxvet;657331 wrote:

No. IMHO, you've gotten to the point where you can't see the positive in anything they do. Just saying.

classicman;658359 wrote:

One other thing, and I think I've mentioned this before. I think it should be mandatory that the press put a symbol next to their name. Not once does it state what party this guy was from. I'm not going to say its a "liberal media issue" but I do find it odd that when some politician has something to say about an issue or is making a speech, whatever, their name and party is almost always listed.

classicman;658400 wrote:

The BS meter just broke - You are so full of shit your eyes are brown.

I think it should be mandatory that the press put a symbol next to their name.)

FAIRFAX, Va. � The wife of Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana has pleaded guilty to drunken driving in a crash with a parked car in Virginia.

The Virginia judge suspended a 30-day jail sentence but in a hearing Friday placed severe restrictions on Charlene Lugar's driver's license for the next year.

The 77-year-old was charged in November after hitting an unattended car in her McLean neighborhood in the Washington suburbs. Police spotted Lugar about two miles away, still behind the wheel while smoke rose from the hood of her Buick.

Court records indicate her blood-alcohol level was 0.11, above the legal limit of 0.08.

The senator's office declined comment. After the arrest, Lugar's office issued a statement saying he and his wife were "deeply sorry."

classicman;660012 wrote:

Charlene Lugar, GOP Senator's Wife, Pleads Guilty To Drunk Driving In Crash

Link
I guess that apparently extends to family members as well.
No bias there :eyebrow:

TheMercenary;660230 wrote:

The media of today are so far up the Dems ass they all look brown.

Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-N.C.) appeared unreceptive to the question of an anonymous reporter this weekend, when he grabbed the self-identified "student" after he asked the congressman if he "fully supported the Obama agenda."

Etheridge appears visibly irritated and immediately asks, "who are you?" before knocking the interviewer's camera to the ground.

In the next shot, Etheridge grabs the reporter's wrist and continually asks him to identify himself. The cameraman replies, "we're just here for a project...we're just students."

Let’s recap what we saw on this video. A sitting Congressman–a presumed living extension of James Madison and other founding fathers–was asked on a public street whether he supported the President’s agenda. His response was to hit away a video camera and assault a student. The age of Pericles this ain’t.

Etheridge held a press conference today to once again apologize, calling his actions "unacceptable."(video at left)

"No matter how partisan and no matter how difficult things get sometimes, that's no excuse for my response," he said. "I came today to say I'm sorry."

Etheridge said the confrontation happened after he came out of a meeting in Washington, D.C.

"The truth is, I had a long day, it was the end of the day -- but that's not the issue," he said. "I've been through a lot of tough situations... I've been spat at, pushed on and threatened before, and that's no excuse for... not walking on by."

Etheridge said he still did not the identity of the students in the video. Asked whether he thought Republicans set up the confrontation, he responded, "I'll let you find that out. Maybe somebody will, I'm not going there."

The Democratic National Committee is going there, Politico reports.

"Motives matter, and I think you can see who was behind this," DNC spokesman Brad Woodhouse told Politico. "This was a Republican party tracking operation. If it wasn't a party tracker or intern, why is the face blurred and why is the source hidden? You know if it had been a right wing blog, they'd identify themselves and they'd be booking this person on TV all day... If that doesn't tell you this is a Republican Party hatchet job nothing will."

classicman;663133 wrote:

Video here

Does it really matter - the guy snapped and assaulted the young man. He could have easily done the right thing and kept walking.

TODAY’S REPUBLICANS ARE AMERICA'S ENEMY WITHIN

Republicans ARE practicing seditious DEMAGOGUERY and anti-democracy OBSTRUCTIONISM intended to destabilize our economy for purposes of political exploitation.

Republicans AREN'T making a sincere effort to STOP the bleeding THEIR incompetent leadership and failed policies created. Instead, they're using inflammatory lies and accusations as a smokescreen to conceal their subversive agenda, which is to cause President Obama and America to fail so they can blame Democrats for the consequences of THEIR calamitous mismanagement.

Republicans ARE preposterously professing that THEIR disgraceful political WHORING had nothing to do with the banking, real estate, stock market and employment catastrophes that resulted.

Republicans ARE trying to hamstring Democrats to prevent them from repairing the damage caused during a Republican presidency that was irresponsibly enabled by Republican Senators and Representatives.

Republicans ARE offering ridiculous arguments meant solely to disrupt and prevent progressive change. They'd rather divide America and create political gridlock than endure the political consequences of effective Democratic governance.

Republicans AREN'T the LOYAL OPPOSITION; they ARE the ENEMY WITHIN whose mercenary priorities have eroded their moral and ethical standards to the point that depravity and betrayal have become their preferred modus operandi.

It's one thing to advocate their conservative beliefs; it's another thing entirely to willfully sabotage America's government because a successful Democratic presidency would not be vulnerable to the greed, fears and hatreds that have produced and sustained the despicable Republican anti-government corporatism and anti-Christian faux theocracies that are poisoning and crippling American society.

If a person gets caught fishing without a license, in most cases, it results in a fine of perhaps a few hundred dollars.
For those aboard Citation, however, the infraction represents a setback of nearly $1 million.

The vessel's anglers had been participating in the 52nd annual Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament, June 11-19 off North Carolina. Andy Thomossan landed what was by far the biggest fish: an 883-pound marlin, a tournament record.

The team on Saturday was declared winner of the prestigious competition, and there was plenty of celebration.

However, there also was a post-event lie-detector test, after which it was revealed that one of the hired crew did not possess a valid fishing license, available in North Carolina for only $15, or $30 for non-residents.

That was a violation of tournament rules and after lengthy deliberation, according to Evans Kistler of the Carteret County News-Times, tournament officials late Tuesday disqualified the catch and and denied the Citation team the winning purse.

End of celebration.

"No record. No money. No fish. No nothing. Yep, it's a nice ending to the story isn't it?" Thomossan told the Jacksonville Daily News. "He failed to get a fishing license, but we didn't know it. He told us he had it. He didn't. So you take a man at his word, you know?"

That man is Peter Wann. According to the state's fisheries division, he went out and bought a license after the catch of the monster marlin, bringing more shame to his team. He'll be fined $35 and ordered to pay court costs totaling $125.

The new winners are those who fished aboard the vessel Carnivore and caught the second-largest marlin, weighing 528.3 pounds. They net a grand total of $999,453.

Michael Topp, one of Citation's owners, figured the tournament board would not rule in Citation's favor.

"I think the Big Rock committee is doing what they have to do," he said. "I understand that. I'm a retired colonel. I know about rules."

A Fort Lauderdale cop is out of a job after he put a paper bag over the head of a spitting mad perp.

Part-time reserve Officer John Wezkiewicz had been with the force 20 years before he was sent home last month, according to the Sun-Sentinel.

The incident that got him fired happened Nov. 1, when a man, Gerald Feldhaus, was arrested outside Yolo Restaurant on Las Olas for trespassing and resisting arrest.

"He was spitting and screaming as he would look and yell at other people," Wezkiewicz told investigators.
Rather than use a department-issued hood designed specifically for prisoner control, Wezkiewicz used a brown paper bag.

"Poor judgment prevailed concerning his decision to utilize a brown paper bag," Capt. Rick Maglione wrote in a report on the incident.

Claiming Wezkiewicz "shed a negative light" on the department, the report said using the hood instead would not "be falsely perceived as an attempt to humiliate an individual."