Posted by
Gabrielle Cusumano on Saturday, March 28, 2009 2:33:02 PM
Obama and the Democrats to use the "reconciliation rule" to cram his 2009 Budget through?
Congress: Unity or division?
Posted: Thursday, March 26, 2009 9:11 AM by Domenico Montanaro
Excerpted from: http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/03/26/1866774.aspx
Obama went to Capitol Hill yesterday to meet with Senate Democrats, and he got this headline from the AP: "Democrats unify around Obama budget." But: "Even so, both the House and Senate versions lack specifics for any of the administration's signature proposals. And Democrats decided to cut spending -- and exploding deficits -- below levels envisioned in the plan Obama presented less than a month ago."
The New York Times: “Just before midnight, the House Budget Committee voted, 24 to 15 along party lines, to approve its spending plan, sending it to the full House for consideration next week. While both the House and Senate plans protect the president’s top priorities, neither would extend a middle-class tax cut championed by Mr. Obama beyond 2010 unless a source of revenue to pay for it is identified. And though Mr. Obama laid out specific plans to raise $634 billion over 10 years for a down payment on national health care reform, lawmakers provided only a framework for the White House and Congress to move forward, provided that the health initiative does not raise the debt.”
The Wall Street Journal looks at more budget differences between the Obama administration and Democratic Congress. “Democratic leaders in both chambers are pushing packages that call for narrower deficits and less spending than proposed by the White House… Significantly, both the House and Senate decided to abandon a White House request for additional money for the Wall Street rescue. The two chambers also don't intend to invoke special legislative powers -- known as ‘reconciliation’ -- that would allow climate-change legislation to avoid a filibuster in the Senate.”
“Still up in the air is whether legislation designed to expand access to health care, another major Obama administration priority, will receive those filibuster-proof protections. The House budget does provide such protection, and sets a Sept. 29 deadline for committees to act on a bill. The Senate budget, however, is silent on the issue.” Excerpted from: http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/03/26/1866774.aspx
Obama Soaks the Rich: Churches, Day Care, Homeless Shelters, Soup Kitchens
Posted by Mike Bates on Saturday, March 28, 2009 1:56:17 PM
The Washington Post's 44 blog today carries the item "Obama Town Hall Questioners Were Campaign Backers." Authored by Garance Franke-Ruta, the article notes:
But while the online question portion of the White House town hall was open to any member of the public with an Internet connection, the five fully identified questioners called on randomly by the president in the East Room were anything but a diverse lot. They included: a member of the pro-Obama Service Employees International Union, a member of the Democratic National Committee who campaigned for Obama among Hispanics during the primary; a former Democratic candidate for Virginia state delegate who endorsed Obama last fall in an op-ed in the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star; and a Virginia businessman who was a donor to Obama's campaign in 2008.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Hillary's Incredible Ignorance
Obama’s not the only amateur, apparently
During her recent visit to Mexico, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made an unexpected stop at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and left a bouquet of white flowers “on behalf of the American people,” after asking who painted the famous image.
The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was miraculously imprinted by Mary on the tilma, or cloak, of St. Juan Diego in 1531. The image has numerous unexplainable phenomena, such as the appearance on Mary’s eyes of those present in the room when the tilma was opened and the image’s lack of decay.
Mrs. Clinton was received on Thursday at 8:15 a.m. by the rector of the Basilica, Msgr. Diego Monroy. Msgr. Monroy took Mrs. Clinton to the famous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which had been previously lowered from its usual altar for the occasion.After observing it for a while, Mrs. Clinton asked “who painted it?” to which Msgr. Monroy responded “God!”
Who painted it? Didn’t anyone brief Hillary on the history of the Guadalupe apparition? As it turns out, no one should have had to brief the Secretary of State. She told the Monsignor that she had visited once before, thirty years ago. She must have thought it was just a good place to take tourist pictures... Excerpted from: http://hotair.com/archives/2009/03/28/obamas-not-the-only-amateur-apparently/